what could this be?

[Alicia]

I can see that . When does a nice looking normal become a poor looking Pastel ??

This will be a terrible description, and I really hope someone better are explaining things will chime in . . . But here goes nothing . . .

Of course, a nice normal doesn't "become" a poor pastel -- there are nice normals that look better than the pastel in this thread (which may be in shed, looking at it again). A pastel is always genetically a pastel, with one copy of the pastel gene.

Pastels have a look that goes beyond color. They get a lot of credit as a color morph, but they are a pattern morph, as well. It kinda comes down to looking at a lot of snakes and developing an "eye" for mutations. That's the big thing.

Many, if not most, pastels will have flames and/or some degree of blushing throughout the pattern.

Pastels tend to have a different look to their alien heads, even reduced pastels. The general look of the face will be lighter and the nose is almost always pale -- the dark area of the muzzle usually doesn't come all the way down to the heat pits at full color, if that makes sense. The ocular and nasal stripes on a pastel tend to be lighter relative to the color of the main alien heads to a greater degree than in a normal. Often, it's the same color or lighter than the best part of the snake's blotches. Similar with the dorsal markings, albeit less strikingly. Pastels frequently have a "brown-out line" through their lateral markings. The one in this thread has it a little, poorly, and quite low on the body.

Then, of course, the eye tends to be lighter. Pastels' eyes are greenish, from grey-green to hazel-green. There will be orange around the pupil in some. They really remind me of true hazel eyes in a person, color-wise. There will be a dark line through the iris.

That's all I can immediately articulate. Like I say, hopefully someone better at wording things will chime in and clear up what I'm sure I've missed