Worth it to buy Directly from NERD?

[bman123]

have them send you a pic of it

[rabernet]

Not necessarily. A high white pied may not produce more high white pieds. Same goes for pastels. Just because the parents are high yellow doesn't mean the babies will be.

This is where selective breeding is important. My high yellow lemon pastel threw high yellow babies, but I also didn't put him with my dark females, I put him with my lightest females.

My sire:



His daughter at a year and a half:





Her parents are breeding this year (last year her mother was paired with my mojave)

Remember too, that lemon pastels go through an ugly duckling stage and don't start to really "bling" until about after their fifth shed. Look for high blushing heads on lemons if you buy them really young.

This is the same girl as a baby - the thing that remains consistent is that super blushed head:







Kevin doesn't like to post pictures of them until after the fifth shed.

[JayCee]

I would recommend against buying a hatchling. Spend the bit extra and buy one that already has some size. That will give you a better idea how they will turn out as a full adult.

[Freakie_frog]

Here is another of the offspring from that male Robin posted he's 1.5 years old as well. I'd buy from NERD in a heartbeat, but you don't "have to" in order to get good quality NERD line Lemon Pastels. There are breeder's like Robin that are maintaining the line integrity and can trace their founding male back to NERD directly.

[Vibrant Balls]

I'd pay the extra money for a Sub-Adult or Adult that hasn't browned out too much. Just keep your eyes open for them. That way, you know exactly what you're paying for.

[rabernet]

Here is another of the offspring from that male Robin posted he's 1.5 years old as well. I'd buy from NERD in a heartbeat, but you don't "have to" in order to get good quality NERD line Lemon Pastels. There are breeder's like Robin that are maintaining the line integrity and can trace their founding male back to NERD directly.

Here's Envy's "ugly duckling" phase:







Again - what is consistent is the super blushed head.

Here's a picture Matt took of him at about 4 months old as he's starting to show off his yellows:

[Blue Apple Herps]

Can't really add to what already has been said. Just because you buy from NERD doesn't mean you'll get the best pastel. Plenty of other guys, but and small, producing equally high quality pastels.

I'd worry more about finding the right snake, then once you do, make sure the breeder is legit.

[kmhreptiles]

I think if oyu have to second guess yourself and ask if you should buy from nerd then i dont think you should. Like some of the other people said on the board there are many other people out there producing nice high yellow perfect looking pastels. Personally id go with a smaller breeder since they take much better care of thier animals then nerd does.

[rabernet]

I think if oyu have to second guess yourself and ask if you should buy from nerd then i dont think you should. Like some of the other people said on the board there are many other people out there producing nice high yellow perfect looking pastels. Personally id go with a smaller breeder since they take much better care of thier animals then nerd does.

Do you have any evidence that NERD does not take good care of their animals? That was not my personal experience the two separate occassions that I spent a week at their facility being mentored by them.

[EmberBall]

If you want a nice Pastel you can do a few different things.

1) Go to a show and buy a nice baby, knowing that there is a 99% chance it will look nowhere near as nice as an adult. At a show, you can at least pick out one you like, and get to window shop. Even better, pick up a sub adult at the show that looks like it is retaining its color.

2) Get a Pastel cross. Yup, I said it, get a Pastel Vanilla, Pastel Sulfur, Pastel Fire, Pastel Ghost...The price of the crosses has come down, especially for males. You can always buy a nice cross male and breed it and produce your own females.

3) What I advise against, is buying a Pastel based solely on the line it comes from. Personally, the only line I would pay a premium for is a nice Ruppel line. The Lemon line is only a name, and good marketing. The ugliest Pastel I have ever owned was a Blonde, supposed to be a great line...ended up being one ugly Pastel. Now, if you have your heart set on a Lemon, buying it from NERD directly is probably not a bad call, at least you know you will get what you pay for. However, if you are paying a high premium for this snake, know upfront that you will probably not be able to charge your customers that same premium. They are NERD, you are not.

Dave