Maybe I misunderstood the question, Mike, and maybe still misunderstand.

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You said:

"Doesn't explain why the "shift" occurs only in blondes, silvers, especially when breeding hets."

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The "Blond" phase connotatively implies the oval blotches instead of the H blotches. This is why there are "mustard Blonds" and "Silver Blonds".

The oval patterns are a recessive mutation.

It seems to be a mutation that doesn't seem to hinder the survivability in nature.

There are H normals of the same blond color in nature, but when we find one, we don't generally call it a "blond" (though sometimes refered to as "H blonds".)

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Most of the original "oval patterned" individuals found in the field were from an area where blondish is a fairly common color, thus named "blonds".

As to why the mutation occurs successfully in nature (or why any mutation occurs), herpetologists can only speculate.

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"Why don't you ever see the shift in normals?"

Again, the ovals or diamond patterned animals are the "blonds".
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Regards, Bill McGighan

[ Hide Replies ]

• Where's the "H" factor in Blondes,etc.? - mingdurga, Mon Dec 22 08:05:37 2008
• RE: Where's the "H" factor in Blondes,etc.? - BillMcgElaphe, Mon Dec 22 08:50:28 2008
• RE: Where's the "H" factor in Blondes,etc.? - mingdurga, Mon Dec 22 19:47:47 2008
• RE: Where's the "H" factor in Blondes,etc.? - BillMcgElaphe, Tue Dec 23 12:58:09 2008