Is this a het red pastel?

[aalomon]

I know Im repeating some of whats been said, but Ill still throw in my $0.02.

She's about 3 months old, and 88 grams, and a little less than 20". I bought her last weekend at a reptile show from a smaller? breeder (50 snakes). He told me her parents were a Male Gargoyle and Female Pewter, and that she's a "Het Red x Pastel".


1. I've searched on the internet a little and while I see quite a few "het red" combinations, none of them are "het red pastel". (e.g. on worldofballpythons.com). That troubles me a little. Is this a valid combo? Most seem to have Axanthic in the name. Het red and het red axanthic are the same thing. Its like people referring to their morphs as a bee instead of a bumblebee or a pied instead of piebald.

2. Mainly, what kind of morph is she? She looks exactly like a pastel het red axanthic to me. You get a bit of that rusty color with pastel het reds a lot. I dont see anything that says pewter or black pewter.

3. I bought her mostly for a pet, but I'm also curious if she'd make a good breeding snake based on the combinations she could produce. I would say so. There are still a lot of het red axanthic combos to make. Id give her a little time to see how the pastel gene in her holds up. Pastel genes really take a hit from het red genes, so you should expect that she will be a darker snake.

thanks!

Ill also add (coming from my limited experience buying, breeding and producing het red combos), that the two names being commonly used are gargoyle for cinnamon x het red combos and onyx for black pastel het red combos. I have very rarely seen a cinnamon x het red labelled as "cinnamon het red" and I have NEVER seen a lace black back x black pastel being labeled as a "gargoyle". All the gargoyles Ive seen for sale have been cinnamon x het red. Until today I didnt even know WOBP had a gargoyle labeled as something other than a cinnamon het red!