Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It looks like my female BRB may give birth soon so I thought I'd ask those with more experience with newborns a question. How long does it normally take to get a good idea of what the adult coloration will be? Is it normally after a certain number of sheds or after a certain age? Also what do you look for in a keeper?

Any thoughts would be great.

Sean.

Mom (Brunhilde)

Dad (Navel)

-----
1.1 BRB
0.1 Pacific Gophersnake(unproven Hypo)
1.0 Amel Pacific Gophersnake
1.1 Triple Het TPRS's
0.1 Silver TPRS
1.1 Amel Bloodred Corns
0.1 Abbott Okeetee Corn
0.1 Blizzard Bloodred Corn
1.1 Thayeri Kingsnakes
0.1 Reeve's Turtle
0.2 Amstaff's
1.0 Pudytat

I'll answer your ?'s in reverse order....

Keepers, Of course anything "different" beyond that, after first shed looking for bright colors, contrast between saddles and background. Crescents - depends on what you want. Clean all over.

Babies will color up over the first 6 - 18 months. So hard to tell how much though, some seem to be born with a head start that stall out early on while others are plainer and just continue to color up over time. For the most part though, the best looking babies make the best looking adults.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (05/26/2009):
36.51 BRB
29.42 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Thanks Dave,
I was thinking I'd look for what I did when I picked out Navel, namely clean pattern, high saddle/background contrast, and bright orange coloration. I just thought I'd ask in case there was anything else to look for.

I also asked because my pair were 3 to 4 months old when I bought them at the Sac reptile show so I was not sure how soon the appearance differences I saw had developed. I am tentatively looking at holding babies for arround 2 months before selling them off just so I have a more accurate idea of appearance when I pick out the ones I keep.

Sean.
-----
1.1 BRB
0.1 Pacific Gophersnake(unproven Hypo)
1.0 Amel Pacific Gophersnake
1.1 Triple Het TPRS's
0.1 Silver TPRS
1.1 Amel Bloodred Corns
0.1 Abbott Okeetee Corn
0.1 Blizzard Bloodred Corn
1.1 Thayeri Kingsnakes
0.1 Reeve's Turtle
0.2 Amstaff's
1.0 Pudytat

Sean,
....Two moths is not long enough to tell for sure. Some that I sold in january when they were 2 to 4 months old I have been holding for the buyer. When I ship them this week he will be very happy with how a couple of them are much brighter colored now but a couple are not as pretty as they were then. Look for bright colors you like but also look for big highlighted crescents. The shape and size of the crescents will not change nearly as much as the overall color will change.
Jeff

As far as color changing, is there any relationship to the color of the "saddles" (the top spots) and the eventual color of the snake's background? This pic below is a couple months old, but I was wondering if the background will eventually match the color of the top spots. As the background color now is more brown...
Can the top spots be used as an indicator of color to come?

Thanks!

>>Sean,
>>....Two moths is not long enough to tell for sure. Some that I sold in january when they were 2 to 4 months old I have been holding for the buyer. When I ship them this week he will be very happy with how a couple of them are much brighter colored now but a couple are not as pretty as they were then. Look for bright colors you like but also look for big highlighted crescents. The shape and size of the crescents will not change nearly as much as the overall color will change.
>>Jeff