Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here is pair of quality Mex. Bairds. My male is coloring up very nicely but my female is retaining alot of silver / gray color....

I know that males tend to turn much more orange than the females but at two years old is anyone else's females still so dark...???

Except for her head turning gray, she doesn't look very Mexican to me..

Female - top
Male - bottom

byron.d

Mexican Baird's apparently only come from two bloodlines in the U.S. Did the person who sold yours to you say where he (or she) got his breeders? I'd say they were either outcrossed into Texas animals or she is just different. I'm sure Mexican bairdi can be quite variable too.

DR
Suboc.com

Dusty. This pair is from Rick T. (Renegade Reptiles). They were working with them for a number of years and I've seen several that they've produced. All have been very nicely colored... Rick did tell me that the males always color up better than the females but even he commented on how dark she was a year ago when I sent him a photo.
Maybe she's just taking longer to color up. She is getting more orange but nothing like my male..

These can be somewhat variable but I wanted to get some input on what is the norm for female coloring....

Very few people work with these guys.

byron.d

I figured they were from Rick. I was just throwing the outcross out there as a possibility. When I asked Rick about them, he didn't have any locality data on them (though I'm sure they're most likely 100% Mexican). The problem is that they've been in the U.S. since the mid-80s, and allegedly came from two unrelated pairs (SA Zoo and Ft. Worth Zoo). It's quite possible that whoever Rick got them from might have outcrossed them for the "Mexican look". And in no way am I saying that your animals aren't pure or misrepresented...blah,blah,blah. I'm just thinking out loud on some of the possibilities.
And you're right, females are usually darker than males. That is, however, the grayest female I've seen, but maybe she is just taking a while to ontogenetically color up.
Here is my adult female (Ft. Worth Zoo stock) from Galeana, Nuevo Leon.
I did hatch out a very few of these this year.

DR

Suboc.com

from San Antonio Zoo stock.

Suboc.com

I'm sorry Byron, but I don't think these are pure Mexican Baird's. I have produced dozens of both races, so I know what I'm talking about. The female should have finished her ontogenetic change by now. And then there is also the shape of the head that bothers me. Mexicans have much more angular shaped heads. I hope I'm wrong, and whatever they are, they do like nice.

Best regards, Herman.