So about that Evil Orange...?

[Bruce Whitehead]

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

[AaronP]

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

[iCandiBallPythons]

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

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

[Bruce Whitehead]

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

[Beardedragon]

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!

[dr del]

Hi,

Just to complicate things (sorry Bruce ) 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.

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


dr del

[Stewart_Reptiles]

And of course no pictures?

[Bruce Whitehead]

And of course no pictures?

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.

[Bruce Whitehead]

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

[Stewart_Reptiles]

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.