Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello, i was wondering if being a premature baby can affect a boas patterning.. i noticed that i have seen a couple premature baby boas having missing saddles as compared to others.. i know pattern gets developed before coloring but i was still curious if anyone knew about this or have ever noticed it .. even in some litters were there are some babies that are less developed then their siblings they seem to be the ones that end up being patternless or missing saddles or have more missing saddles then their more developed siblings ..

anyway i know that it can mean nothing at all but i was just curiuos and BORED lol... THANKS !!

I have always heard pattern is affected by temperature. It is possible that improper temperatures can cause premature birth, and that may be an indirect link between the two.

Did anyone ever notice how often preemie Boa babies are seemingly worthy of new Morph status or are seriously aberrantly patterned or are colored weird or lack red pigment or have very little if any pigment at all? This is because premature appearing babies are likely not always just "premature" but simply defective and also underdeveloped. I can't count the number of times I have seen folks post pictures of the freak animals produced that did not make it. Ghosts, Anerythristics, super whacked out patterned anomalies that don't make it are very common. I have produced them here myself. I learned long ago that this is something that is very common with underdeveloped babies. This is regardless if the rest of the litter was on time, which is far and away the case. Those preemie freaks that don't make it, don't for good reason. New morphs they are not. Spontaneous Ghosts they are not. Just weak and defective or simply premature babies are they.

Just my two cents worth which is two cents more than I could sell this opinion for...
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Many times premature babies do display seemingly random or new pattern anomalies but being premature is not the cause of these irregularities.
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Rather there is some developmental problem or error which is the root of both the premature appearance of the babies and the pattern goofs.
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That's what I think.
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Gus.