Pastel Question

Hello, Im thinking I may get a pastel next season. I love the pastels that have orange on them but i have never seen a pic of an adult pastel that has orange. Does the orange color go away as they get older? If its something they grow out of then maybe I'll go with a lemon... There are just sooo many people offering pastels with so much varity I dont know how I'll ever make a decision. Thanks

JT

here's a couple pics, first pic he was a baby second pic is 1 1/2 yrs. later.
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/.../bppics001.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../bppics004.jpg

pastels can vary alot, try to pick the best looking baby no matter which line. there are awesome looking lemons,graziani,bell,vpi and they are also so-so looking ones in each line. i look for bright color,a faded head,alot of fading in the pattern and i'm a sucker for odd patterns. hope this may help some.

vaughn

How can u tell if it is pastel, what are the differences

The color and pattern is the difference. Pastels generally have an orange or yellow color with blushing. Their eyes are also light colored and their pattern is busy.

Here is a good comparision to a normal bp:
http://www.ballpythonmorphs.com/imag...jungle/08l.jpg

A pastel is a good morph to go with if you are just starting out with breeding. The genetics behind the pastel morph is unique as well, being that it is a co-dominant trait. A normal pastel is sort of like being a het (even though het isn't the right word at all) for a recessive gene, because if you breed two pastels, you have a 25% chance of producing a Super Pastel. What makes it different is that because it is a co-dominant trait, the "het" form shows itself as a normal pastel.

The co-dominant pastel gene is similar to that of a spider, except that the spider gene is purely dominant, and there is no "super" spider manifestation if two spiders are bred together, you'd just get 100% spiders in the clutch. If you bred 2 pastels, you'd get 25% normal, 50% pastels, and 25% super pastels.

Actually heterozygous is the right word for a pastel and for a spider. Remembering that both have unmatched pairs of genes for their respective mutations (the definition of het) would help you to remember that spider X spider has a chance of producing normals too.