Pastels - do any stay truly bright into adulthood?

I've found pastels are tricky to pick out the best ones. Take this pair for example. They are both the same age (2 yrs) and are both from "dirty" lines (i.e. they're not NERD or Grazini, etc. - they're from mixed lines that had been crossed and then outcrossed). The male is the browner one and the female is the bright one. When I got them both, he was actually brighter and more vibrant than she was. But as you can see, she's VERY bright and he's browned out a lot. I'm hoping that she keeps her color and passes it on to some of her offspring.

But a year and a half ago when I got them, I never in a million years expected them to turn out the way they did.

Anyways, back to your original question, yes there are pastels that don't brown out. I do think they're in the minority though and that its hard to tell which ones will and won't when they're hatchlings.

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...e/DSC_0003.jpg

All Pastels will brown out some more, some hardly noticeable but they all do. To what degree they will get into adulthood will vary, it depends what Pastel you picked out.

Wow, I love your female! I can't believe she's 2 and still looks that great! That's pretty much what I'm looking for in a male: good bright yellow colouration with minimal browning. I'm not super concerned with lineage, as long as it's a great looking and healthy snake. The issue with not knowing what hatchlings will look like is what pushes me towards getting older snakes. For my pastel male I want an 07 at least, preferably an 06-04, that way I can tell what the snake is going to look like as an adult.

This is one of the guys I'm considering right now. He's got nice yellow sides and odd browning down his back, and I think the light borders around the dark scales are actually kind of neat looking. He's a proven 04 NERD lemon, and I think he's quite sexy. I'm still looking though, especially after seeing how hot your female is :) I'd like to find one more like your female, with all that yellow, but I do like this guy:
http://market.kingsnake.com/image/840345.jpg

The search continues! Penelope's true love is out there somewhere :)

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Thanks for the compliments. She is bright, but who knows what will happen in the next couple of years. That pastel (and based on the pic I'm 99% sure I know who's it is) is very nice looking. He has nice deep yellows.

And if you are very concerned about color, then an adult will definitely be the way to go as you'll have a good idea of its adult color.

If she still looks that good at 2 years, I would bet she'd stay really nice. She's one of the nicest subadult pastels I've seen!

I guess I should give credit - that gorgeous snake I'm considering is from Tom Thompson. I'm waiting for photos of another 06 male I'm looking at, and then I'll have to make my decision!

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If you can find one, a Citrus Pastel would be a good bet.

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Originally Posted by panthercz

If you can find one, a Citrus Pastel would be a good bet.

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Another vote for a citrus! I bought an '05 male from Amir Soleymani who is still very bright for his age! He also has EXTREME blushing! I tried to upload a picture, but it said invalid file.