Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm going to get a calico this year and wanted to know the truth about the amount of white. Is there anyhting that determines this? Iv'e heard that some lines have higher white than others, but I've also heard that it's random like pieds. Anyone have any input on this? Thanks Chris

Hi Chris,
I'll do my best to answer your question. I don't think the amount of white on Calicos or Pieds is completely random, but it isn't very straightforward either. When breeding Calico to normal female, I find that an individual female will produce Calicos within a certain range. I have females that produce very low white Calicos, some that produce only low to medium grade Calicos,and others that consistently produce higher white Calicos. Calicos range over a certain color spectrum, and there is variation in each clutch, but so far I have not had any one female produce babies that span even half that range. The same thing happens for Pieds. I find that individual het females bred to the same Pied male generally produce a certain "grade" of Pied - although I have seen a few exceptions with the Pieds.

The Calicos I'm working with have more than just the white thing going on, they also often have some really aberrant patterning, and cool orange coloration. So besides just the white, the offspring of each female usually look pretty similar as far as the pattern and coloration as well.

Hope this helps.
Dan
Dan Wolfe Herpetoculture

Listen to Dan. When it comes to Calicos, dan is your guy
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Chris Berrios
~S.Fl Constrictors~