How soon did your BP start to loose it's baby coloring?

[angllady2]

So, I know that there are a number of morphs are high color as babies and then change as they mature.

So how soon did/do your babies loose their baby colors?

I have a lovely little low white pied, he's still pretty young but after his second shed he's already loosing his baby high orange and gaining the tans and beiges of a mature pied. He's about 225 grams now.

I also noticed my exquisite cinny girl who just shed is already darkening up, her bright cinnamon/orangey hues being replaced with duller browns and tans. She's still very young and small, only about 175 grams.

I knew it was going to happen, but she took me by surprise to start changing so soon.

My new pastel is dulling out as well. Since I got her on trade, is doesn't bother me as much. She was not as high color as I would have liked to begin with, and now she's browning out fast.

From what I understand, breeding snakes who rapidly loose baby color does not necessarily mean their babies will if you breed them right. So here's to hoping for bright babies in the future!

Gale

[kc261]

Snakes can potentially change color with every shed. Robin (rabernet) frequently posts how her lemon pastels seem to go through an ugly duckling phase, then brighten up.

This is a rare example, but check out this thread to see just how much color change can occur in a single shed:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=62581

Also, you can definitely do a lot with selective breeding, so you have a good chance of improving on the looks of your snakes by pairing them to the right mates.

My pastels had the same father, but different mothers. My female pastel is really gorgeous, one of those ones that some people would mistake for a super, and although I was lucky enough to get the pick of the clutch, her sisters were almost as nice. Unfortunately, there were no males in that clutch, so I got her half brother. The pastels in that clutch were still better than average, but the best one was noticeably lower in quality than the worst from the first clutch. Bottom line is that even in a single generation, careful selective breeding can make a difference, and similarly, if you aren't selective, even a single generation can make a difference in the opposite direction. Of course there are no guarantees, but that is what makes it so exciting!