Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK - I am now about to get a pastel or two, or three, but I see A LOT of pastels that are not very attractive. I am trying to be picky about my first pastel purchases/trades, and want to make sure I make a wise choice.

What I would like to ask is, is there a "best" pastel line? (as far as keeping their bright coloration) Are there any lines to AVOID? If so, why?
Can ugly pastels make nice pastel babies?

Does it matter whether or not a pastel has a clear belly? If so, why?

Thank you very much.

I bought a Bell line male last year(pictured here doing his job well).

,and then aquired a female that is either NERD or Graziani line.

They are both still very bright,but the male has a more pale yellow color to him.If from this pairing i get one that is bright like the male,and vivid like the female ...i'll have to keep it!

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Charles Glaspie

Tanstaafl:
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
An acronym created by my favorite author Robert A. Heinlein.

..i have yet to see a pastel with a "dirty belly".
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Charles Glaspie

Tanstaafl:
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
An acronym created by my favorite author Robert A. Heinlein.

She's a Nerd line. Looking good. Here's a pic of her sister that we held back.

Hey she doesn't miss any meals either does she...wow...So,how big was mom before she bred?
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Charles Glaspie

Tanstaafl:
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
An acronym created by my favorite author Robert A. Heinlein.

Mom was a pet store find. She was around 2000g last year when she bred and gave us 11 eggs. This year she topped out at 3300g and gave us 13 eggs. She's my absolute favorite normal. Aside from being a monster and great breeder just has the best personality. The kind of snake you'd take to a classroom and pass around to all the kids to teach them that snakes aren't scary, even if they're big.

Glad to see the female is doing good. She also looks as though she's put on quite a bit of size. We'll have pastel clutches this year from both Nerd and Bell line, so it'll be interesting to see if there's much difference as hatchlings.

I have found in the search for the "perfect" pastel that lines are not super important, coloration as a baby is important and lines affect how the Adults of the "true" lines look...Look for big names and NOOOO ORANGE.....Orange turns to brown and will look bad as a sub-adult to adults.....My tips look until you find the pastel that is correct for you...just don't touch pastels that have orange in the top half of the side pattern....

do you want to make pastels or super pastels some lines are better for each here is another Bell Pastel male in action.

Here is a Graziani Pastel

The Graziani Pastels tend to brown out a little more but they make killer supers so it all depends on what you like best.
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Vince Pramuk

This is a Graziani line.
Buy it based upon looks and not what line it is.
This one has a busy pattern but all yellow without the orange wash so I added him to my group.

I think it all depends on what you are looking for, all lines have good and bad. Go with the one you like best, these two are Graziani's....as is the cinny