Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello I am not too experienced with breeding N. Pines and I was wondering if you are able t0 tell if new hatchlings are going to have a lot of white in them.Not sure which ones to hold back for future, breeding for white and low blotches. do they start out tan and start to whiten as they age? can you tell by the 2nd year? I these may be dumb questions but since I am more of a KIng, milk, gophers and hognoses guy i am new to the Pines. any info would be greatly appreciated on selecting babies for high white. thanks dave

Well, it can be something that is not guaranteed to be fortelling by how babies look.

At first, if you are looking for northerns that you want to hopefully turn out hi white, then of course, it may be the first thought to pick the highest white baby you see. Thing is, that baby COULD turn out to be a hi white as an adult but it COULD NOT. It can be a gamble.

Thing is, black and white babies will still be black and white northern pines, but they could vary in terms of white or shades of white. For instance, one year, I purchased a pick of the litter northern in terms of white and his white turned into an ash gray as he got older. Same exact thing happened to a friend of mine who kept back the brightest white baby. Then, I have seen hi white babies stay hi white into adults. Also, I had the reddest northern pine baby I have ever laid my eyes on turn into one of my best hi whites, and I have seen hi white babies develop red on them as they got older.

There is just no way of telling. It may take a year or two of raising a northern pine up to be able to tell. I have seen one of my best hi white northerns go from brownish white to dull to hi white within the first two years. Overall, it is actually quite fun to see the changes as well.

I think all northerns are beautiful, no matter how hi white they are, cause the red influences and adds into the overall color appearance, the browns enhance, and the black and white mixed in just is so completely awesome, in my opinion.

Take care! Here is a pic of one of my hi whites.

Billy

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Genesis 1:1

I can only add to what's already been said. You can only look at the adults, and hope the babies turn out as nice. Sometimes they turn out better! But then, to each his own. Though I love the high white pines. My favorite actually shows tons of red! She's still a high contrast snake, and very pretty. Babies certainly change as they grow up and from what I've read, can change a little through the adult years too. So good luck.

Hey Russ,
I sent a reply to your message the other day. Did you receive it? Haven't heard back from you buddy.

Take care,
Jeff Port

oh yeah, I didn't did I? Silly me! sorry about that, just been busy, only getting on to check stuff real fast and move along!
Russell