Pastel calico/sugar?

[Eleanor]

Hi everyone. I'd really appreciate your opinions on this.



He's from a pastel/cinny cross, and he's obviously pastel. Now, dad (bought as pastel) has a few white scales on him, but literally not more than a few scales. They were pink and difficult to see as a hatchling, but turned pure white with age. So I kept this hatchling back from his first clutch to see how the colours developed, and they are getting more distinct with each shed. I had a couple like this in the clutch.

So, I guess he's very low white calico or sugar (if there's a difference)?

[twistedtails]

Hi everyone. I'd really appreciate your opinions on this.



He's from a pastel/cinny cross, and he's obviously pastel. Now, dad (bought as pastel) has a few white scales on him, but literally not more than a few scales. They were pink and difficult to see as a hatchling, but turned pure white with age. So I kept this hatchling back from his first clutch to see how the colours developed, and they are getting more distinct with each shed. I had a couple like this in the clutch.

So, I guess he's very low white calico or sugar (if there's a difference)?

A pic of the tail region will tell best. A whole body shot also. If it is a Calico or Sugar you would have some in the clutch that are definite Calicos or Sugars(no guessing involved). Low whites don't just throw low whites, they also throw high whites. Post the other you think are Calicos and we can take a look. My guess they are just regular pastels and normals.

[ShortStop]

My pastel has similar markings on her. She was from a Pastel Calico clutch but was sold to me as just a pastel. Interested to see what people have to say about this.

[Eleanor]

I'll reply in more detail and answer more questions when my baby isn't screaming so much...

What are you looking for in the tail? I'll get a shot when I get a chance.

When they'd all just hatched out the pink speckles were not very distinct from the pink pastel sides, meaning that the speckled hatchlings were difficult to identify then. It's easy to see now, as the pastel colour becomes darker and the speckles become lighter.

[twistedtails]

What are you looking for in the tail? I'll get a shot when I get a chance.

Typically, in low white Calicos or Sugars for that matter, it is really hard to miss the Calico look. You will destruction of the pattern and highlights around the alien heads.

[Eleanor]

Firstly, I should have said I'm not really in much doubt myself that this clutch was not just pastel/cinny. Part of my reason for posting was that I'm not familiar with all the royal morphs out there - every time I look there seem to be more! So here's a question: assuming that the pattern you can see on the snake above turns pure white with age, and doesn't disappear with another shed, is he definitely a pastel calico/sugar? Assuming that this is true (time will prove or disprove this), is there anything else he could be other than a pastel calico?

ShortStop, I'd be interested to see a pic of yours.

If it is a Calico or Sugar you would have some in the clutch that are definite Calicos or Sugars(no guessing involved).

The 3 normals were definitely not calicos. No guessing there. And given enough time for the calico pink to turn pure white, there would be no guessing with any of them.

The 4 pastels, as I say, were not easy to identify because the pink pastel sides were too similar to the calico pink, and if they were calico they would all have been very low white. I sold 3 (as just pastels). I suspected they were all calico - another like the picture above and 2 looked like much lower white calicos. I have photos of them from before I sold them.

The others were 3 cinny and 1 pewter. I didn't think any of these were calico. In hindsight, I can't say I know that for sure. The part of the pattern where the white would come is very pale in cinny hatchlings and the calico pink wouldn't show up clearly, especially if there wasn't much of it.

Of these, I only kept on the pewter and I am now wondering if it is calico after all. I won't know that until the colour has developed much more. But she has some weird stuff going on with her pattern near the tail.

I will post more pics of the pastel another day, because he's about to shed, but I'll post pics of a couple of others shortly.

[Eleanor]

Here are pics of the pewter: maybe very low white calico pewter, maybe just pewter. I'm going to wait until she's older to tell for sure.

Here's the pewter's tail. The yellow bit is really striking and looks more strange in the flesh than in the photo. It spreads onto the belly a bit. The rest of the belly is as it should be - completely clear.

[twistedtails]

Looks like a normal Pewter to me. A good looking one though. Google Low White Calico and you will see some good examples. I was actually cleaning one of my Pastel yesterday and noticed she had the same kind of white scale you were talking about. Like I was saying though, out of the whole clutch you would have had at least one animal that you didn't have to guess was a Calico. Hope this helped a bit.

[Reakt20]

My pastels have black and white speckling as well. No calico that i can see. If it was a calico you would know. there would be highlights around the aliens (as stated previously) Even for a low white calico, you can still tell its a calico. I'm just not seeing it in this clutch.

[Eleanor]

My pastels have black and white speckling as well. No calico that i can see. If it was a calico you would know. there would be highlights around the aliens (as stated previously) Even for a low white calico, you can still tell its a calico. I'm just not seeing it in this clutch.

OK, thanks. I hunted through all the pics on the web I could find of pastels and couldn't find white bits, or mention of them, but that doesn't mean they're not there. So your and twistedtail's replies show it was definitely worth asking.

Google Low White Calico and you will see some good examples.

I already did. If the pale pink bits in the pastel turn pure white then he will look exactly like some of those low white calicos. If they don't turn white then he won't (obviously)! Well I will keep him on for longer and see how he turns out.