To me...........A hypo is a hypo is a hypo. I know that they can be differentiated. Orangetail/hypo.
But, to me, a pastel hypo is only a hypo that has been bred to a pastel animal. A hypo is obviously an animal that has a significant reduction in black. It is either co-dominant or dominant. A pastel is an animal that comes from a bloodline of animals that have been line bred for a specific pastel trait.
All I want you to know is this. (And this is my opinion.) The two are different beasts. Pastel is not a color. It is only a reduction of black. (So says the originator) Hypos do this naturally. It is a proven co-dominant trait. (Hypos reduce the amount of black that is present in a boa.)
So far, Pastels have only been labelled as line bred animals. (I think this will change once the originator of the name pastel proves this to be different. For example, I bred a Ronne line pastel female to an animal I feel is a Pastel Anery. Out of 21 babies...........I would only consider one to two of them being normals. Is this beginning to act in a co-dominant fashion? It's not my place to say yet. Others will with one breeding. I choose not to. This is for two reasons. One, I was not the person who came up with the title. So, in my mind, they should be the only ones who really define what the animal is. Two, I have only had one breeding with line bred pastels. Some will call an animal something after one breeding. I will not. I think breeding trials should be done before something is being said with some concreteness.
So, this is more of a buyer beware. Many will claim to have pastels and they are not. Many will coin the pastel name to sell animals. Some will actually have first generation pastels bred with hypos that could be construed as pastel hypos.
I am even getting to the point where a pastel should not be called a pastel till it is seen as an adult. Which really is not too realistic. Example, I bought two EBV X Pastel babies a couple of years ago. If I am being my anal retentive self........Only one of the females really fits my definition of a pastel. So, what is the other one? In my opinion, it is a nicely colored normal.
Are there varing degrees of a pastel? Yes, of course! I have seen it time and time again.
But, back to the point...........In my opinon, a hypo can not be defined as a pastel unless there is pastel blood in it. What really makes this tough is weither you are dealing with a proven line of pastels or not. Ronne's pastels are a proven line. Davey's pastels, I feel, are a proven line. Etc, etc. If you breed a hypo to a proven line pastel..........It should be called a pastel hypo. If not, and you breed a hypo to a nice looking normal............Then, I don't feel this is a correct label for the animal.
Summit Reptiles has a good example of what a pastel hypo should look like. I say this because I have been lusting after them. LOL!
So, that is it. I hope my late night ramblings make sense. Because I am not going to re-read my post.
John
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"To be the best..........You must lose your mind."

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• Hey all what is a good price range for Salmon Pastels ?? - ajfreptiles, Thu Feb 24 22:08:39 2005
• I don't believe in them..............Unless............ - JohnLokken, Thu Feb 24 22:49:36 2005
• In that case what would you look for in something that was called a - robertmcphee, Thu Feb 24 23:59:51 2005
• RE: In that case what would you look for in something that was called a - JohnLokken, Fri Feb 25 00:38:39 2005
• Good answer...glad to see someone has a realistic explanation of the pastel - robertmcphee, Fri Feb 25 00:47:54 2005
• Just re-read my post...a little rough...Hope you could understand np - robertmcphee, Fri Feb 25 00:51:31 2005
• Check out Summit Reptiles. Colorful pastel hypos for a great price - michaelburton, Fri Feb 25 15:56:25 2005
• I'd make sure to buy from a breeder thats well known.... - East TN Reptile, Fri Feb 25 07:30:08 2005
• A good price is not as important as... - srsnakes, Sat Feb 26 00:28:01 2005