OK, i am new to collecting Ball Pythons and need some help. What makes a Pastel a Pastel? What i mean is, what do you look for in them? I see a lot of photos of them on-line(here) and i see photos of High Yellow or High Gold normals and they seem to look the same.

Am i looking for the right thing? Is color the most important thing or is it pattern or something else? I have been told on another forum, that High Yellow or High Gold is random and Pastels are genetic. Is that the case?

Can someone please break down what a Pastel is and why its not the same as a High Gold or Yellow(normal)?

Thank you very much... JAZ