So about that Evil Orange...?

I picked up a little pastel female last year, wee thing.

High orange, and got her in a trade with a smokin' spider female.

I really had mediocre hopes for this girl, but have to say, that as much as I love high blush and flames, I can really appreciate a nice black/yellow contrast on a pastel.

As she has matured she is just turning into a really sharp little snake. I expected her to brown out, but she is just getting more contratst by the month. Where she is yellow, she is very yellow, and her black is very black. No flecking, no dorsal tipping, nada.

So I guess I am asking those that have more experience with grading pastels, how can we tell the diff?

I know they all have some orange/peach in the beginning... and I have seen some really ugly browned out pastels at shows that to me do not even look pastel.

And do we overuse the "Evil Orange" marker for grading hatchlings?

bruce

If I've learned anything in hte past 2 years it's that grading a hatchling pastel is damn near impossible.

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Originally Posted by AaronP

If I've learned anything in hte past 2 years it's that grading a hatchling pastel is damn near impossible.

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Same here. Bruce do you have any b4 and after pics?

That what I have figured Aaron... i hatched out a huge clutch last year that i *thought* were smoking, and I see them now and I am just like WTF? Still nice snakes, but really not the grade I had figured they would be.

And the clutch I thought was mediocre is looking fantastic.

Icandi, I would have to dig for pics. 99.2% of my pics were on our old comp that went up in flames and I have very limited means to get new pics right now. But I will have pics of her in an upcoming update thread.

But she was a high orange at around 4 months of age, so I figured she would be a snake for combos... but as noted she is just a really pretty girl, and I could not be happier with her.

I definitely got the better end of the stick, no doubt there.

Bruce

I do not really folow the Orange means Brown rule. My first Pastel was 100% orange in its should be yellow places, and in five months it was sun yellow. Really wish I hadnt gotten rid of him, but he just shows me not all oranges turn to brown. I cant say if it ever did, but most "Ugly" ( Not that any snake is Ugly) pastels start to turn brown pretty soon out of the egg, or at least by 5 months.

Get pictures!

Hi,

Just to complicate things (sorry Bruce :oops: ) does the line affect how the orange changes as they grow?

I love really bright lemon pastels and have been looking at baby pics to try and work out what would make te best adult but they all seem really really orange to my eyes.

And people talk about lemon pastels going through an ugly duckling stage so I wondered if that could be a factor?

Maybe the orange turning to brown only applies to certain lines and, as the lines get further and further blended together, it will no longer be a reliable method of judging babies. :confused:

On a related note can someone tell me how to spot a future stunner lemon pastel as a hatchling? :rolleyes:


dr del

And of course no pictures? :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Deborah

And of course no pictures? :rolleyes:

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Madame... you will regret this when I post my killer pic thread and it crashes your poor computer... it is coming. I just need a few snakes to shed out so I can do it all at once. :)

As far as the orange thing, it does have me stumped. I wonder if there are certain tell-tale shades of orange that those with experienced eyes can spot?

Del... my guy is a Graziani line and none of the babes have browned, but they do get the dorsal tipping in black so the top can darken up. The ones I thought were smoking all got black flecking in their sides too. But I know that came from mom. Just learning how to decide what moms make good pastels, as my male is still bright and gorgeous.

Addendum: One of the reasons I am curious is that I would like to learn this trick in regards to future pastel purchases/trades on combos or lone pastel babes.

Bruce

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Originally Posted by Bruce Whitehead

Madame... you will regret this when I post my killer pic thread and it crashes your poor computer... it is coming. I just need a few snakes to shed out so I can do it all at once. :)

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:blahblah: :neener:

OK... so not that killer... but look for it, it is there. :D

And here are the two pastels...

First one I hatched out, all her sibs are relatively mediocre (but better compared to some I have seen) but she just has the bit of zing that makes her one of my favs... she just turned a year.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...lbum/xenia.jpg

Second one is the little female I got in the trade. This was her being packed up the day after to fire to go to her foster home. She is about 200-250g heavier now... or so.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...bum/pastel.jpg

I cannot find the original pic of her as a babe... but she was an orange looking little thing. Her yellow is more pronounced now as well.

Bruce

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bruce Whitehead

Second one is the little female I got in the trade. This was her being packed up the day after to fire to go to her foster home. She is about 200-250g heavier now... or so.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...bum/pastel.jpg

I cannot find the original pic of her as a babe... but she was an orange looking little thing. Her yellow is more pronounced now as well.

Bruce

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I remember her, damn dude, she looks good! I remember seeing the pic of her with that insane spider (whom I still say is a honey bee ;)) All the orange on her is yellow now.. that's bloody fascinating.

PS: Any thoughts about pairing her up to the Zoltan?

She is really low on blushing and flames... so I will pair her with someone else I think. I was thinking Fireflies for her... she has that nice contrast between the yellow and the black. I think she would make nice Fire Pastels. :)

And that spider is in my pic post... Tabitha. She is a really pretty snake. I am so glad to have gotten both of them. :)

bruce

I bred a very brown pastel to a light female, and I got mostly pastels that browned out quite a lot...but also this boy:

http://eclipseexotics.wingedwolfpsio...9-June30-3.jpg

Keep in mind he's over a year old in this pic.
How will he look in another year? I don't know, but at the moment, he's pretty hot.

How soon did they start browning out on you?

I know I saw some at the Montreal show before last that could not have been six months and were browned out already... and not sorta brown, but hard to tell they were pastels.

Bruce

I don't know much about grading yet, but my male pastel only seems to get better with age! :) He's only around a year old now, and currently breeding with one of my normal gals. I have no idea what line he is, but personally think he looks like a Graziani... here are some before & after pics to compare, since he actually resembles your Graziani quite a bit.

As a baby... kinda orange, with less blushing than he has now.
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...CF5561-enh.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...CF5295-enh.jpg

Now...
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/DSCF1108.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...akes/TobyL.jpg

(I think he's going into shed here - looks darker than usual)
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/DSCF3140.jpg