So I had my first ball python clutch this year. The pairing was the following, and this was the first clutch for both:
Sire - Male maker Coral Glow, Pastel(possible Super Pastel), Black Pastel, Mystic, Special. (A Black Pewter (Mojave/Special) came out of the same clutch as him)
From what I can tell all the offspring are female(thus no Coral Glows) and contain pastel, so I think that proves the male to be super pastel. However, as we can only see the head of the female, then maybe she is pastel as well.
I would be grateful if you guys could help identify the two below, as I suspect one of the parents is also carrying GHI as well:
Right off the bat, I’m not seeing anything that looks black pastel in any of those offspring. Maybe bad luck?
I also don’t see anything pointing to GHI. Like the usual faded smudges in the alien heads and all
My guesses are the more blushed out one is super pastel mystic and the other is pastel mystic.
I’m not great at IDing vanilla yet as it can be so subtle sometimes… But that’s also a possibility for them.
I would still also check the sexes. Just because a cg is labeled as a male maker doesn’t mean they don’t toss a female cg 5-10% of the time. I wouldn’t be surprised if the opposite is true.
I second @armiyana about sexing them, I have had a lot of coral glow/banana clutches and a few have not followed the “rules” when it comes to gender! I do think the male is a super pastel. I was a little confused when you said:
I thought a black pewter was a (black pastel, pastel?)
Either way I see mystic and either super pastel or pastel, vanilla in that super reduced one, not sure about ghi.
I agree that the bottom one could be a super pastel vanilla mystic. It’s the middle one mainly that got me thinking GHI(or something else) is in the clutch somewhere, as I’ve not seen any Pastel(and or Vanilla) Mystics with that amount of reduced alien head patterning/dark blanking pattern.
This one is probably one of the closest I’ve seen to it, which is listed as GHI:
With regards to the Dad, he was listed as I’ve said (Coral Glow, Pastel(possible Super Pastel), Black Pastel, Mystic, Special) and the picture of him isn’t the latest. I’ll get one later today and post it. Apart from him, and the Black Pewter (Mystic Special), none of the rest of the clutch could be easily identifiable as they were Mystic Mojave’s(I have one of his sisters).
All the babies were popped and I couldn’t see any Hemipenes.
I also don’t see any Black Pastel’s in the clutch.
I think this is what’s confusing us most… Because by wording it like that, it looks like you’re saying that Black Pewter=Mystic Special
when it’s actually
Black Pewter = Black pastel, Pastel
Mystic Crystal = Mystic, Special
This is why I like to type out genes individually instead of using confusing combo names.
Those are some snakes! Call me old, (and not having a trained eye for identifying morphs) but I am having a hard time with seeing one being lighter than the other. I don’t doubt that I’m wrong. Congratulations on your first clutch!
I see the difference (shame on you two @caron@gina5678 i am color blind and can tell the difference ) and there is definitely the possibility for vanilla but I think it may just the variation that Pastel has. Some are just naturally brighter. Then again don’t ask me I don’t know my morphs well enough to say one way or the other
(colour nerd here) actually being colourblind may give you an advantage in being able to tell the value (lightness or darkness) of something! Desaturating an image is a classic way to get a better read on the value structure. You’ve got a leg up.
That said, I do also see a subtle but present difference in values between those two snakes in the image. But colour is literally my dayjob, so I have a leg up too!
Wouldn’t be able to tell you anything about the genetics, and if I’m honest I’d have to see the snakes in person to know whether the value difference was just a matter of one being closer to a light source than the other, it’s that subtle. Lovely animals, either way.
I would honestly just say polymorphic traits because one has less pattern than the other.
Or just pastel being it’s weird low or high expression self.
I agree with @armiyana, I think polymorphism. I see the slight color difference but their patterns and headstamps are darn near identical. I think they’re both the exact same set of genes, and my guess would be pastel vanilla spider for both.
I think the head is a lot more washed out, and the dorsal black stripe has more fading in it in that one. I also though have to agree that they are both carrying the same genes, because the overall color looks too similar to me to be a different morph. I do think they are pastel, vanilla, spider. So bright!
I’ve also had another clutch just hatch from the same male(with another due to hatch in a couple of weeks), and that has also produced some very interesting babies(I’ll be creating a new thread for these after they have shed, but pretty sure now that the male has some other gene in him).
I do think the male is a super pastel. I was a little confused when you said:
snakes! Call me old, (and not having a trained eye for identifying morphs) but I am having a hard time with seeing one being lighter than the other. I don’t doubt that I’m wrong. Congratulations on your first clutch!
