A question about color / contrast retention

[artgecko]

I will be shopping for my first BP at an expo this weekend and although I've done a lot of research (and bugged the heck out of you guys with questions) I am still unsure on the issue of color/ contrast retention as a BP ages. Because I will be shopping for my first BP, I plan to get the best looking female I can find in my budget and because I have several morphs that I would like to own, this leaves me with a wide range of options (cinnamon, black pastel, mojave, butter, and enchi).

I know what to look for when picking most morphs as babies(i.e. reduced pattern, blushing, etc.), but am unsure on which morphs retain the best color / contrast as they age. I know color varies a lot from individual to individual, but do any of the morphs I listed retain better contrast or color as a whole, or is there something in particular to look for that will signal this?

Thanks again for your time and help!

[kylearmbar]

Out of what you listed lesser/butter is my personal favorite, they get better and better with age. Pick a light bright girl with high flames. My second choice would be a mojo.

[Pythonfriend]

I will be shopping for my first BP at an expo this weekend and although I've done a lot of research (and bugged the heck out of you guys with questions) I am still unsure on the issue of color/ contrast retention as a BP ages. Because I will be shopping for my first BP, I plan to get the best looking female I can find in my budget and because I have several morphs that I would like to own, this leaves me with a wide range of options (cinnamon, black pastel, mojave, butter, and enchi).

I know what to look for when picking most morphs as babies(i.e. reduced pattern, blushing, etc.), but am unsure on which morphs retain the best color / contrast as they age. I know color varies a lot from individual to individual, but do any of the morphs I listed retain better contrast or color as a whole, or is there something in particular to look for that will signal this?

Thanks again for your time and help!

i think these are good choices. pastels degrade, axanthics degrade. but the ones you mention are not known for that. one you should add to your list is fire. or maybe a recessive, albinos definitively hold their color, and pieds hold their pattern. generally, pattern morphs (pinstripe, spider, clown, pied, and so on) do not degrade with age, the pattern stays, so this is mainly about color morphs.

whats your price range?

[artgecko]

Thanks for your input!
kylearmbar- I do like butters / lessers and my husband has a thing for the "alien heads" on mojos, so that's a distinct possibility.

pythonfriend- I want to stay around $200.. I can go as high as $250, but I'm not sure I'd want to pay that much unless I find a 2 gene female. Because this is my first BP, I'd prefer to "get my feet wet" on a slightly less expensive morph. I was considering fires as well, but I know they (and enchis) can be hard to get for what I want to spend. I was also considering pinstripes, but don't like many of the genetic combos they make, so I'm unsure if one would be a good investment (I am not certain that I want to breed yet, but I want to pick animals that would work in a breeding program just in case). Although I like the looks and combos of spiders, wobbling scares me off of them..especially as my first ball.

I would LOVE a pied, clown, or calico, but again, I don't believe they would be available at my price range.

Thanks for your input guys, I really appreciate it!

*edit* sorry about the weird ",i" post title.. odd place for a typo, but I can't fix it.

[Marissa@MKmorphs]

I would say lessers/butters would be a safe bet, but it can be hard to find ones that hold their color well. Here are photos of two babies I produced last season and their dad. These are RDR line lessers (1st and 2nd generation) and I haven't seen many that hold their color (and actually get better) as they age.

Dad at 900 grams


Two of the babies. They were both holdbacks, but we just recently sold the one with the striping.




Our keeper in shed


Freshly shed

[elainepayne222]

I just got one like yours. Your baby is beautiful.

[angllady2]

I will chime in a bit here.

With your price point, you will have a smaller selection to choose from, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I would much rather pick a outstanding example of a single gene, than a mediocre example of a two gene.

Cinnamons are one morph that only gets better with age. My little girl cinnamon was stunning as a baby, but now that she's nearly breeding age she is unreal. Fires are the same way. Really high quality babies are few and far between, but when you find one they are worth their weight in gold. Enchi is another one. Most of the babies you see will be middling at best, but find a really stellar example and they just get better and better. Black Pastels can be a little trickier. I like deep black babies with really orange markings and lots of "squiggles". I'm still looking for the black pastel I will add to my collection.

Mojaves are another one. But they are also subject to great variation. Most will be dark as babies, then they turn chocolate brown as adults. I personally don't care for that. I want mine to stay deep black and bright yellow. Fortunately for me, I stumbled onto a magnificent 300 gram female who was still black, and I snatched her up. She stayed black, and now everyone wants her because she's so unusual. Thus far, her babies stay mostly black as well, which I love. I had several people comment on the two I had at the last show, how sharp the contrast on them was. Which is exactly what I was breeding for.

Yellowbellies are another one that can surprise you. Most of the time, the babies don't look like much, but if you can find a really great example, they are beautiful. And they do some really crazy things in combos. Vanilla is another good gene, but hard to find. Like fires, they are fantastic for combos. Most of the time, the few babies you see will look a lot like a normal. In a word, unimpressive. But find a good baby and WOW. And then as they mature, they are so beautiful. My breeder male makes me smile every time I open his tub.

I wish you all the best in your quest.

Gale

[Pythonfriend]

i think you cannot go wrong with the BEL gene complex, that means butter/lesser and mojave, and also with fire. also you cannot go wrong with pattern morphs, you say you dont want a wobble, so how about pinstripe. enchi is (at least for breeders and in combos) always rewarding.

within your price range, and with your demand that they need to get better with age, or at least stay the same, i think its down to BEL genes (butter or lesser or mojave) and fire.

[artgecko]

Thanks so much again for all the advice and the pics! Based on what everyone's said, I'll probably stick to: lessers/butters, pins, fire, cinnamons, and pins... That said, who knows what I might find at the show.

marissa- Do you think that butters with more yellows as babies would hold their color better, or does that matter? I wish that I could see pics of parents, but because I will be buying at a show, I don't think that's possible, so I'll only have looks to go on..Your male and the babies look great btw!

Gale- I tend to prefer cinnamons over black pastels, but in previous posts, had read that black pastels are more favored for combos, hence why I was considering them... Do you have any tips on what to look for in a good cinnamon (especially traits that would improve with age)?

Pythonfriend- If I found an awesome looking fire, I'd probably take it over the others, just due to it's genetic value and because they tend to lighten as they get older..But again, I'm thinking my odds of finding a great example at a show are slim, so I will probably end up with one of the other morphs you mentioned.

Thanks again everyone for your help and time. Although I've had snakes for a year now, I feel like such a newbie when it comes to BPs and buying snakes (especially from shows). I will, of course, post pics of whatever I end up bringing home.

[Krynn]

I completely agree about lessers; they are one of my favourite color morphs. I still maintain that wild-type ball pythons look fantastic, and they age well. They are so under-rated.

Best of luck to finding a nice snake. Take your time, and being picky is never a bad thing.