Reptile & Amphibian Forums

For those of you who have bred Jersey pines...
Do you find that you can pretty much predict adult coloration from the hatchlings or is it a crap shoot?

Personally, I'm partial to the real black/white animals...
I have seen some juvies that already look pretty white, but most of the juvies that I seem to see (even from very white adults)
seem to be that "salmon / tannish" color.

Any thoughts on how much the color changes as they mature and if you can predict adult coloration by looking at the juvies?

Thanks for any thoughts!

Oh ok, I'll bite...

it's a crapshoot...

baby pines as a whole start out with that salmon tannish color your referring to. Hard to say what direction they will take with it. Some stark black and white adults were actually ugly ducklings as babies. But for myself, I go with the babies that have the light head. Try for gray with no touch of yellow. I've held back babies that were very promising looking only to end up far short of what I wanted as a keeper!

Best of luck. Look at the parents and hope for the best!

I've had the exact same experience. And yes, the best bet is to go with a lighter head.

Think I've told you this before but this is the nicest northern pine i've ever seen.
You see a lot of adult without contrast, I like this black and white one.

Thanks, I wish she was still around. None of my holdbacks from her ever turned out as nice.

I love that 2nd photo! Do you know where those Pines originated? My parents used to live in Whiting, NJ and I know they were found around there but I've never seen one in the wild except for here in central AL. The ones here are much more drab than the NJ pines.

That is a simply magnificant animal!!

Thanks all for the great compliments!
Russ Pascatore