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I hope that this post doesn't seem stupid, even though it is a stupid question to those that already know the answer. At least, that's the look I get from people I ask. I guess it's one of those "If you have to ask, you'll never know" kinda deals. I've never had anyone explain it to me. Everyone I've asked just shows me their jag, then the sibling. I can see the difference if I know which is which, but for my own purposes, I would like it dumbed down for me. Thank you. Vis

The Jaguar gene has shown some degree of variability, but as a whole most Jaguars have a greatly reduced pattern, along with a dorsal stripe. They usually mature into a yellowish-tan, yellow, or orange adult, which is not typical of normal coastals. The head pattern is also very distinct and unique, and their eyes are silver or white, often containing bright red veins. Here is an example of a one year old Jaguar.

The siblings don't express any of the Jaguar traits, such as the reduction in pattern and eye color(except in rare cases, the eye color of some sibs is whitish). They appear as completely normal coastals, but since they are siblings to Jags they are called Jaguar siblings. Some of them however, do mature to be far from normal appearing coastals as far as color is concerned. Here are some pics of a sibling to the Jag above.

Thank you Matt. Those were both beautiful snakes. So what I can gather is that the Jags have that "tear drop" pattern on the side whereas the coastals are more marbled patterned. Thanks for setting me straight. I appreciate your time.

Well, most jags do have that dorsal stripe with the tear drop pattern, but several other jag morphs have surfaced including the banded jag, and tiger jag. The tiger jags seem to display influences from both tiger carpets and jag carpets, being heavily striped with a lighter color. The banded jags usually have a heavily banded pattern, but one thing they all share is the reduced head pattern, and amazing color differences from the minute they hatch. There are reduced pattern carpets that hatch randomly from time to time but they are not jags. So don't confuse that tear drop pattern with a nice reduced pattern carpet. If they didn't originate from the founding jagaur line they are not jags.