Identifying a low-white calico

I just purchased a low-white calico (It's my first calico) and I want to make sure I haven't made a mistake. What are some signs to look for in the low-whites? I'll pos pics and tell me If I'm paranoid or if I need to change this decison... He was offered to me as a good deal because I purchased a spider from the breeder as well and I kind of jumped on it lol
These are pics from the breeder:


http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...retend/019.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...retend/020.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...retend/044.jpg

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Originally Posted by Lesserlove

I just purchased a low-white calico (It's my first calico) and I want to make sure I haven't made a mistake. What are some signs to look for in the low-whites? I'll pos pics and tell me If I'm paranoid or if I need to change this decison... He was offered to me as a good deal because I purchased a spider from the breeder as well and I kind of jumped on it lol

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Looks like a calico to me. I recommend shopping the snake and not the deal in the future. It's not a calico I would buy. Low whites can throw high whites, and vise versa, but I want to be proud whenever I open my tubs :gj:. My low white calico does that to me because she's got fantastic colors, and people still point them out :P.

Comforting to hear, thanks :p Yeah I know he isn't much of a looker but I knew there was a chance he'd throw high whites and the deal I got him for I was like why not. As my starter I'm happy with him

Yep he's a calico. I'm a big fan of dark snakes and think he looks pretty cool :) I like his funky pattern!

Low quality calico but a calico none the less :(
I am breeding a low white sugar from a friend on here, simple man, and she's smokin hot imo.
You don't need to have a high white to have a beautiful calico/sugar.

She's glowing here, very light compared to normal, but the pattern is what I'm getting at.
Your example is really dark with lots of spots in the aliens, not what I would consider as a nice example of the morph.
http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps8a6db5c3.jpg
http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/a...psc778ad3e.jpg

While you don't "need" to have a high white calico in order to possibly produce high white babies, I'm sure it doesn't help your odds to be purposefully breeding a low white calico in the hopes of magically getting a bunch of high whites.

Me personally, I would not breed low white calicos like the ones pictured above. I want to represent the morph to the best of my ability. Selective breeding plays a key role in ball python morphs and I think pairings using low white calicos with the hopes of produce high whites, is not the best course of action.

Breed it if you must, but I would look out for something more visually stunning to try and pass on the genetics of that animal.

I'm just fearful that what has happened to the pastel gene is going to start happening to other morphs. It is rare for me to come across a stunning actually YELLOW pastel. I believe this is party due to the fact that people are not breeding them selectively. They are buying the cheapest animal and breeding for low quality pastels (AKA: $$$). Most of the pastels I see at shows nowadays are a disgrace to the pastel gene.

Now I'm not trying to say that the variations within morphs are not valuable; for example the Pied gene varies greatly and I love both the low white and high white pieds. The problem occurs when a pastel doesn't appear much different than a light blushed normal, or a calico with so little white it might as well be a normal. I actually love the variation within the pastel gene: lots of blushing vs. very little blushing. But the browning out of pastels is what is really prevalent as an undesirable trait. So why, if it is so undesirable, do I see 90% of pastels look browned out after their first shed? It should not be that hard to find a pastel that is actually yellow and only develops some slight brown spotting as it ages.

So for calico the most desirable trait is that high white speckling. So why would you continue to breed low white calicos? I'm not trying to tell you what you should and shouldn't breed. This is completely up to the individual. I'm just very interested in this conversation of breeding less than desirable animals.

Not everyone is in love with the high whites. The OP's Calico is a bit on the dark side for my taste,
but not a terrible calico. I originally bought my pair of low white F&F Calicos because I thought they were HOT,
not because they were cheap, they were not.


http://i45.tinypic.com/10qw7bn.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/mh3udv.jpg

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

It should not be that hard to find a pastel that is actually yellow and only develops some slight brown spotting as it ages.

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This really is true! I hope I don't steer the conversation further away from calicos, but it REALLY is difficult to find a top notch, grade A pastel! I found an ad not too long ago with some fantastic pastels, and I had to really TRY to not buy them DX... I need more space!

Back to calicos, I think my calico has some jet blacks, but she also has some bright oranges and yellows. The sire of her had such a weird look to him, but the babies produced by him were a mix of gorgeous high white/high orange calicos, as well as low white and high orange calicos. I was too late to buy the super high white calico female, but I was lucky enough to pick out the colorful one that I got! It really helped to know that the line of calicos I'm working with eat like champs :cool:.

To the OP, as long as you're happy with him, I'm happy for you and I congratulate you on your new pickup :gj:!!! New snakes are always fun to get :P

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Originally Posted by qegalpal

Not everyone is in love with the high whites. The OP's Calico is a bit on the dark side for my taste,
but not a terrible calico. I originally bought my pair of low white F&F Calicos because I thought they were HOT,
not because they were cheap, they were not.


http://i45.tinypic.com/10qw7bn.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/mh3udv.jpg

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Those are nice calicos. Not a lot of spots, great color, reduced pattern. I'd say they hit all the other requirement for a calico besides the high white. I would breed these animals because I believe all the other calico traits they exhibit are great.

I got a good chuckle out of this silly comment ...

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While you don't "need" to have a high white calico in order to possibly produce high white babies, I'm sure it doesn't help your odds to be purposefully breeding a low white calico in the hopes of magically getting a bunch of high whites.

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Everyone has their opinions, but you show how little you know about the topic when you make comments like that :rolleye2:
I guess low white pieds shouldn't be breed either? smh


To the OP's snake, forget the high/white low white crap, it's just not a very nice example IMO.