what could this be?

I agree with it being a Pastel.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Low quality pastel.

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This is my thought, as well.

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Originally Posted by Alicia

This is my thought, as well.

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I can see that . When does a nice looking normal become a poor looking Pastel ??


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

I can see that . When does a nice looking normal become a poor looking Pastel ??

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This will be a terrible description, and I really hope someone better are explaining things will chime in . . . But here goes nothing . . .

Of course, a nice normal doesn't "become" a poor pastel -- there are nice normals that look better than the pastel in this thread (which may be in shed, looking at it again). A pastel is always genetically a pastel, with one copy of the pastel gene.

Pastels have a look that goes beyond color. They get a lot of credit as a color morph, but they are a pattern morph, as well. It kinda comes down to looking at a lot of snakes and developing an "eye" for mutations. That's the big thing.

Many, if not most, pastels will have flames and/or some degree of blushing throughout the pattern.

Pastels tend to have a different look to their alien heads, even reduced pastels. The general look of the face will be lighter and the nose is almost always pale -- the dark area of the muzzle usually doesn't come all the way down to the heat pits at full color, if that makes sense. The ocular and nasal stripes on a pastel tend to be lighter relative to the color of the main alien heads to a greater degree than in a normal. Often, it's the same color or lighter than the best part of the snake's blotches. Similar with the dorsal markings, albeit less strikingly. Pastels frequently have a "brown-out line" through their lateral markings. The one in this thread has it a little, poorly, and quite low on the body.

Then, of course, the eye tends to be lighter. Pastels' eyes are greenish, from grey-green to hazel-green. There will be orange around the pupil in some. They really remind me of true hazel eyes in a person, color-wise. There will be a dark line through the iris.

That's all I can immediately articulate. Like I say, hopefully someone better at wording things will chime in and clear up what I'm sure I've missed :oops:

I really, really appreciate the comments and thoughts. I didn't expect so many!


So this snake is labeled as one of those fancy things from Petsmart. A good petsmart, one with care for their animals. He looks like he's coming into a shed soon, but I wasnt totally sure. The employee I talked to said that their "fancy" stuff comes from a list, and the vendor doesn't tell them which morph it is.

I got to see the list, and a bunch of morphs are on it. If it's not a normal, my thought was low quality calico. It didn't quite pick up, but the pink color of the sides. It's more of a pink color, but it's fading out now.

My first thought was that it was a fancy normal, and that the total fit it. I came back after thinking about the high pink and wondered if it was a sugar or a calico.


I didn't think of a low quality pastel. If I did get it, it would be in 3 more months when they drop the price. I just thought that was neat. I like the dripping side markings. I'm new to ball python stuff sp everything is cool to me, lol.

Thanks for this forum, and thanks for putting up with me. ☺ :D