One meal down so I took this little one out for some outside photos. My indoor pics were not doing it justice. I think these showcase its color a little better.
I’ve had some mixed opinions regarding whether this one has pastel or not. What do you all think?
I’m still stunned I produced these animals. I slept terrible the night I knew they were going to shed because I was so excited. I think I may have an addiction to ball pythons :).
I personally don’t think Pastel because of how bright and clean it is. Having a look online more pastel YB pieds look a lot duller! Whereas this one looks exactly like YB pieds with looking bright and pretty!
Beautiful snake, boy or girl? 
I think it has pastel imo.
My vote is yes for pastel. It’s just so yellow
I’ve hatched pastel yellowbelly pied and this guy looks just like them.
Thanks!
Haven’t sexed it yet. I’m still a newbie when it comes to sexing ball pythons (boas are easier), so I’m getting a few meals in them before I put them through any additional stress. I’m probably more conservative than most when it comes to keeping their stress down, maybe part of why nearly all of my babies eat rats on their first feeding?
It does look very YB. Here is an older indoor photo of mom (YB Pied Het Lav) when she was small:
They do look very similar. And you’re right, most of the YB Pastel Pieds I see photos of have more of that pastel “washout”. There’s definitely a range though and some look more YBish. I’m wondering if this strong genes in this one may be counteracting the pastel a bit.
If it is indeed not a pastel I am 0/6 on the pastel gene with the father this season who is a pastel dreamsicle. Pretty sure he’s pastel, defnitely different than my normal dreamsicles. But it would be hard to not question it a bit after missing 6 times on a 50/50 chance.
I think that is more dependent on the line of pastel.
Wish I could help you with this one but not my expertise for sure lol.
Right, that’s what I was thinking. Polygenic variation within bloodlines can go a long way. Aside from potentially more difficulty in identifying I definitely prefer less “pastel washout”, so if this one has it all like I’m hoping it’s very good. Ultimately dreamsicle combos are the goal so how this bloodline translates into lavender albino is what is most important to me, and they’re outstanding :).
They for sure are! The whole clutch was top quality! Definitely a clutch to be proud of!
Thanks man!
I think pastel is pretty powerful in lavender albino combos. Really amps the color, especially as they age. I didn’t expect the non lavender pieds to be difficult to ID though!
In addition to the pastel dreamsicle male father I also have a half sibling female that is breeder size now (picture below). They are very different from the normal dreamsicles I have. Kind of interesting to pull pastel back out of the lavs and see how it looks in non-lav pied form, if that’s indeed what I have here with the new baby here.
I’ll leave that to you I’m trying to pull as much pastel out of my projects all together as I can lol!
I think that’s a good plan outside of DG and lavender combos 
.
I have zero lavender or desert ghost lol. Only albino project I have is next year hopefully pairing candino het clown x cinnamon yellowbelly clown het albino! Should be interesting lol
Killer pairing! Cinnamon YB Candino Clowns will be insane. I do think pastel will have a similar positive effect with candy/candino. Ozzy put it into his Candy projects so I think he sees something there as well. I’m real close to jumping into the Candy project, having trouble deciding whether I want to go Candy,
Monarch, or DG next. Leaning towards DG because I think it might be excellent to combine with lav, while monarch/candy not so much.
The stars aligned on this one the male is my partner in crimes! And won’t be using him next year. Soooooooo he’s going to all my het clown females lol.
Just wanted to report back on the cumulative consensus on whether this one has pastel or not. Every pied breeder in the pied breeders Facebook group agreed it definitely does not have pastel. I also heard back from Justin Kobylka and he confirmed, definitely no pastel. Good bloodlines and the lavender het influence are the likely culprits for its unusually good color. Thanks for your opinions everyone!
I think this animal may be one of the best, if not the best yb pied (het lav) I’ve ever seen so I’m ecstatic either way!
I would agree! It’s actually my favorite pied I’ve seen this season!
Beautiful snake.
