The History of Pastel Dream Colombian Boas.

[The_Boaphile]

Pastel Boa History

Finally I have done it. I have been avoiding the time it would take me to write this. Not avoiding the topic. I fully knew it was going to be a huge project and I was putting it off. Now it is done and I hope too many aren't too disappointed it took me so long to complete. So anyhow, here it is...

The history of the Pastel Boas is a long one. This is the first time I have attempted a write up of the entire history of when where who and all that rot. Anyhow here goes...

In 1985 I acquired my first Boa. Her name was "Big Mama". Many of you doubtless have already heard of her. After I bought her I set about finding a mate but first I needed to determine her sex. I spoke with the only herper I had ever spoken to up until that point. His name is Bill Page of Ohio. He explained Boas and Pythons have vestigial limbs or spurs, which I knew already from my reading. He explained that males had larger spurs than females so if I could find a similarly sized Boa of the opposite sex I might be able to tell the difference. Big Mama had no spurs. At least I could not see them. They were buried deeply in dimples she had. She was nine years old and about seven feet long. I bought her for $100 from a fellow named Greg Kuhar of Clarksburg West Virginia. He had purchased her from a local pet shop as a baby in 1976. This was the year of our great country's bi-centennial. She was a bi-centennial baby! Anyhow I was pretty sure I had a female and needed a male. About six months after I purchased her I was visiting my Grandmother in the Chicago area. I lived in West Virginia. I purchased a local classified ad paper called "Trading Times". They are still around I guess. There was an add in the "Exotic Pets" section for a six foot Boa for $100. I asked if they knew if it was a male or a female. They didn't know. It had been their sons but he was gone to college and had lost interest in the animal. I drove to LaGrange to look at the animal. The Boa was in a 55-gallon aquarium with a screen lid. There was a heat lamp shinning into the cage. Petrified poop in the corner and at least six shed skins strewn around the enclosure. The water bowl was dry. They pored water through the screen into that bowl because they were afraid to open it to care for him properly. I was not. Not me with my six months Boa keeping experience and all the reading I had done on snakes my entire life. I pulled him out. They were amazed at my bravery. He was very thin. Breeder thin. I looked him over. He looked good except for being so skinny compared to Big Mama. As I pulled him around to examine his cloacae to see if I could see spurs I notice deep wrinkles on the top of his tail just above the vent. This I now know is something commonly found on large older thin male Boas. After twisting him over a bit I could see them! It was the first time I had seen spurs on a Boa and these were way out there and HUGE. Huge compared to Big Mama whose spurs I could not see at all. I felt fairly certain I had a male. The parents of the owner were pretty impressed with my knowledge of snakes and decided they would let me have the animal for $50 cash and trust me with a post dated check for the remaining $50. I think they were just glad to see someone with an interest in him get him. "Big Daddy" is what I called him from then on. He was about eight years old when I picked him up.

[The_Boaphile]

Now your saying, "What does this have to do with the Pastels"? I'm getting to that. These Boas and the vast majority of the other bloodlines I am working with are animals I obtained long ago. Mostly back in the 80s. The newer Colombians that have been coming in the last eight years or so come from a different area of Colombia than they once did. They look fundamentally different in general. They have more saddles, on average and have a more connected type pattern like many Central American Boas. Not all match this description but most do. Just ask any of the "Old Timer" herpers and they will tell you the quality of pattern and color in Colombian Boas is dramatically different on average than it once was. So what do "Big Mama" and "Big Daddy" have to do with "Pastel" Boas? I'm glad you asked. The first time I ever bred and produced baby Boas was on Feb. 17, 1986 about 9:00 PM Big Mama gave birth to the first Boas I ever had or I should say that she ever had. She had 16 babies! One of them was "Jamie". I named him after my very fair skinned little brother. What an honor huh? Now in retrospect I believe Jamie was the first "Pastel" Boa I ever produced. I kept him and two of his sisters. I sold the others to "Noah's Ark" for $35 each. I was rich! These animals were bred to other Boas from other bloodlines that I acquired subsequent to my success and helped build the foundation of much of my breeding stock that I am working with today. One of the females I kept and bred was named... big shock coming here, "Big Baby"! She was the largest baby in the litter. At the end of her first year she was near seven feet long! She would later die I believe as a result of this over feeding but produced two litters for me before that time. One of her babies born in 1989 is the DuBay female that I bred a Hypo to in 2000, which produced my "Screamer Hypos". She had been sold as a baby but I was fortunate to get her back about five years ago. So anyway, you now have a little more info than you maybe needed but I enjoy telling the story and enjoy the animals I have worked with so long. They truly have become part of the family and an integral part of my life. Sounds a little hokey I know but that's me. I'm a little hokey!

In 1988 I had acquired "Jose". He was a very beautiful reddish Colombian produced by a pair of Boas that were at the museum in St. Paul Minnesota on display for years there. They were on display and occasionally would have babies. These beautiful reddish or rusty brown colored Boas were sold in the pet stores in our area. They were old adults that had been imported into the country back in the 70s as well. Jose was a great breeder. The best breeder I had ever had. The photo shown is a Jose grandchild and a Big Mama and Big Daddy great grandchild. He once produced babies with four females in a single season. He was still breeding eight months after he had begun one year. Fully two months after the first female he bred had given birth! What a man!!! He brought much of the color to the Pastel project I was working on without knowing exactly what I was doing.

This cannot be all put into one post as I think very few would actually read the entire thing. I have begun the tail here and will continue as I have time to elaborate. More to come... that is if there is interest in hearing the rest of the story.

At this same time Dr. David Hardy of Arizona was working with a Boa he had personally caught while in Panama. This Boa was a female and a Hypo but nobody knew she was a Hypo at the time. Panama is the country to the immediate north of Colombia. He had been breeding her and selling some of these really nice looking babies as "Orange Tails" because that's what they had. Orange Tails. Some babies had these Orange Tails while others did not. I did not know Dr. Hardy but friends of mine did. Marcia Lincoln and the now late Bill Girden. Bill had told me about them and I thought I should get some. The ones with the Orange Tails were $100 each while the regular ones were $50 each. I believe Dr. Hardy donated the money to his local Herp society. These "Orange Tails" were the original Hypos, which I believe are the foundation of all the Hypos folks are working with today except likely Sharon Moore of www.boastore.com fame. She appears to have something all her own that just popped out a number of years ago.

Now what does this have to do with "Pastels" you still might ask. I'll get to that because it wasn't until I saw my first Hypos that I realized I had done something special through selective breeding my Boas.

[The_Boaphile]

In 1996 I acquired my first Hypomelanistic Boas. These were "Orange Tails". This is believed to be derived from the same bloodline ultimately as the "Salmon Hypos". Although overall the Salmons are certainly nicer. The same is true of all the other Hypos folks have produced since then, with the exception of the Hypos produced by Sharon Moore, by breeding Hypos to other unrelated better looking animals. Anyhow, as I opened a bag and saw one of these Hypos in the flesh I looked at the animal to see what was so special about them. I had gotten four of these animals from Marcia Lincoln who had gotten them from the originator of the Hypos, Dr. David Hardy of Arizona. Jeff Gee acquired his animals from David who had been breeding them for several years when Jeff had gotten them. I studied these animals to determine what was so unique about them. As many of you know some of first generation adult Hypos are not particularly attractive. These were no exception. I had scores of Boas that anyone would recognize as far better looking than these guys. However they did have something I was after... they had that gene that would help bring out even more of the colors I hoped to bring out in my Boas. The Hypo trait is what I wanted! I studied and studied... it was after some time I realized I had Boas that shared many of the same traits these Boas showed. The saddles and side blotches on the Hypos were very washed out and contained little or no black. I had many Boas that shared that characteristic and in addition were far prettier than these Hypos were. In fact, the animals of mine that shared this trait improved in looks as they got older unlike the Hypos I was looking at. Most of the original Hypos muddy up considerably as they get larger. This trait I had realized had become more common than it had been some years ago. This was through selective breeding attempting to improve the color of my Boas. I was not TRYING to remove the black, but that has been the net effect of my years breeding Boas.

[The_Boaphile]

I acquired my first Hypos after Jeff Gee had bred two hypos together making "Super Hypos" incorrectly called "F2" Hypos. "F2" is a genetic term that is not even remotely related to the way many are now using the term to describe "Super Hypos" or "Double Dose" Hypos. In fact until Gee had done this it was not really understood what the Hypos were, other than just "Orange Tails" as they had been called by Dr. Hardy and then later by Jeff Gee. It was the year after the first "Double Dose" Hypos had been produced that I acquired my first Hypos. It was now known that the Hypo trait was a "co-dominant" trait like the "Tiger Retic" trait. It was known that the "Tiger Retics" would produce "Tiger Retics" when bred to a normal Retic and that the normal offspring would in fact be just that... normal and nothing more. A couple breeders in particular were breeding Hypos and continued to sell normal offspring as "hets". I was the first person I know of that was openly telling people that these "hets" were not het but normal. I guess I had just thought it through while others did not. It certainly wasn't because I am a genetics wiz kid because I am not. I had just thought the thing through. One Hypo breeder even called me and accused me of thinking that I was "The Boa god"! I am no god of any kind. I had just thought it through and it didn't work. This same breeder had even threatened to come and beat me up for telling people that the animals that were sold as hets weren't het at all. He even told me how big he was and that he could fly here to "beat me up". After a fairly lengthy phone conversation where I explained what I believed to be true and why, he calmed down and was not going to come beat me up. He had been told by another breeder of Hypos that he had bred "hets" and produced Hypos. The other breeder lied to him. The breeder who had threatened me told me he had a pair of "Hets" that had bred and the female was due to give birth soon and when she did... well he was going to call me and prove me wrong. He never did call. We all know that all he got were normal babies because that is the way this particular genetic trait works. If it had been me that had called him so upset, and make no mistake, I could get just as upset as he did, the FIRST person I would have called after the female gave birth would have been the guy I had threatened. I would have apologized and let him know he was right and that I had been out of line. I never received that call. This is one thing in particular I have always been most careful to avoid. Selling animals as hets that are not known to be is a huge mistake. It seems to me that if I were ever to do that, the right thing for me to do would be to refund the money to anyone I had mistakenly sold incorrectly labeled Boas to over the years. It's one thing to breed something new before it is known what it happens to be genetically and sell the normal babies as hoped for hets. But, quite another to make that same mistake after it is known what these animals are genetically. When purchasing "hoped for hets" the buyer takes the chance that they may not actually be hets. But these normals were not sold as "hoped for hets", but "hets". Hets? I hope this will begin to explain why I have been reticent to make dogmatic statements about how the "Pastel" trait works. This has and remains to be a learning experience for me. I still don't have all the answers regarding this genetic anomaly and am not sure we will ever know exactly how and why it works like it does. I want people to know that I have always done my best to honestly represent my animals for what they are, and not to make claims that I should later need to apologize for.

[The_Boaphile]

I like to think of myself as logical. I may even be a little too logical sometimes as I see most things in black and white without much allowance for the gray. Lets think about this whole "Pastel" thing for a moment. We must keep in mind a few things. What are we trying to ultimately achieve? Great brightly colored or super light Boas. Many are also after wild patterns but that is not what I want to talk about. To reveal as much color as possible in the skin color of a Boa what do we need to do? We need to reduce black and increase color. The color we need is red. Yellow and red make orange. Red and very little or no yellow will give us more red. Bill Love has done exhaustive breeding of Corn Snakes and has shown how the various "layers" of color can be removed one by one to enhance the remaining color and reveal pre 1970's unseen variations of color in Corn Snakes. Bill has proven that black, yellow and red are separate layers found in the skin of Corn Snakes. Why on Earth shouldn't this also be true of Boas? We know that Anerythristics lack all RED pigment. True or real Albinos lack all BLACK pigment. An Axanthic would lack all yellow pigment but none of those are proven to actually exist in Boas yet. So what we try to do is increase the amount of RED pigment to increase the beauty of the Boas we produce. For sake of argument this is the predominant color we all would like to get more of.

When I identified and described "Pastels" for the first time, I found that reduction of black was the cause of the prettier colors revealed. The reduction of black allows the underlying colors, normally muted by that black, to show themselves. Colors are either there or they are not. Black alters that color and changes the appearance of the skin in our Boas. Take your standard Hypos for instance. The normal babies that are not Hypo I contend have all the color of the Hypos but because of the presence of the black, the color is not revealed like it is in a Hypo. Hypos are far more orange appearing than their normal siblings because of the reduction of black. A gene controls only one color. The genes that control black in Hypos reduce the amount of black present. There is no reason at all to believe that Hypos have more color than their normal siblings. They are obviously far prettier but I contend they have the same red or orange but it can't be seen because of the black that is still present. There have also been lots of Hypos produced that show very little orange or red. The two are unrelated. The same is true of Pastels. Color and the degree of black are only related inasmuch as the black affects the degree to which we can see that color. The black alters color. "Pastelism" is variable but unrelated to the color itself. Bright or intense color is revealed more if less black is present. Now certainly the Pastels that people love the best are the ones with the most color. The most red or orange color I should say. So the trick is to gain the greatest amount of "Pastelism" as possible while acquiring as much color as possible at the same time. I believe there are Boas out there that have tons and tons of red color that are diamonds in the rough because of all the black that is also present. This black makes it impossible for us to see the bright color that may be present. Many have inaccurately assumed that a very black het will produce white or whiter Albinos. This is not true. The underlying color can have all the yellow in the world, which cannot be seen because of all the black that lays on top of that yellow. The largest het for Albino I own is as dark as a couple of the "claimed" Melanistic Boas out there. She produces normal average looking Albinos with tons of yellow and very little white. Black in Boas is the mask that makes it difficult for us to see what we really wish to see. The Hypo and or the "Pastel" trait make it easier for us to see those colors we hope to get more of. That's all. It's really no more complicated than that. Now certainly some Pastel bloodlines have more red than others. That is obvious. However the red or orange does not make any Boa "Pastel". The reduction of black makes Pastels Pastel. The red or orange makes them better but do not define them. Pattern anomalies, while desirable for many of us and perhaps more common in Pastels, do not define it either.

[The_Boaphile]

So finally that's enough background information. I am the originator of the first identified "Pastels". As such I have the right to define what a Pastel is. If you have something that you would like to define differently fine. Make up your own name as well. I had taken the "Pastel" name years ago and so have the right to use this name and to define what I believe a Pastel to be. You can disagree all you want but if you want to redefine what I have identified as "Pastels' then please rename whatever it is you would like to describe as your own. You can then spend the next years explaining over and over and over what it is to people. Then if you are successful both in reproducing what it is you are working with and in explaining as much as possible how it works, maybe people will begin to recognize what you have. Until then, please lay off the "Pastel" name unless your animals meet the definition I have laid out. I have worked long and hard to develop the animals I have and will protect what I have done with everything I know how to. Many other people have what are definitely Pastels but many others simply have pretty animals they mistakenly call Pastels because of a misunderstanding of what a Pastel is.

First, what is a "Pastel"? I have explained this many times in the past. Including in my 1998 video, which I completed and sent the first copies out nearly four years ago. A Pastel is this: A Boa that has an odd overall wash lacking the normal amount of black and a reduction in black pigmentation in particular throughout the pattern. This is particularly apparent in babies, which have the same kind of washed out pattern as Hypos. The saddles as well as the side blotches have less black than "normal". In fact, often the side blotches have no black whatsoever. That's it, no more no less. Now it is unfortunate that this leaves a lot to interpretation. Identifying Pastels can be and is subjective. It is very much a matter of opinion. There are definitely degrees of "Pastelism". How much Pastelism is required to label an animal "Pastel"? I don't know what measure others may use, but I know what I look for in babies. I look for nearly no black in the side pattern. A very small amount of black can be found but nearly none normally. Sorry this can't be more definitive but it just can't. Now what is the cause of this Pastel trait? Dennis Sergeant has shown a picture of a Pastel Boa to Louis Porras. Louis said he had seen imports like these years ago and that he believed they had two of four layers of black missing. This sounds as good as anything else to me. I am not sure how and why it works, but work it does. Over the years I had produced Pastels not knowing what they were. Just knowing that they were beautiful Boas to me and I kept the best to produce more and better animals. After years of breeding and generations down the road I am getting far more Pastels in individual litters than I used to get. As I have explained in my video, I believe the Pastel trait to be heritable (I don't think this is in dispute at all by the way) and something that I have been able to produce more of through selective breeding. The Pastels I am working with have come from many bloodlines that I have been able to obtain over the years. In particular getting animals from folks who had been breeding for color, many had inadvertently done so by selectively removing the black, thus enhancing the color of their babies. So this has not been the product of line breeding but a compilation from many different bloodlines of Colombian Boas. It should be noted that I believe the vast majority of these animals are descendants of long term captive bloodlines not part of the more recent importation that began again in 1990 or so. Please note how long it took me to mention "color"! Color is something that is enhanced by the Pastel trait not something that defines it at all. I have had Boas with tons of color that were not what I would call "Pastel". Color alone does not a Pastel make. Some Pastels have virtually no color or at least no desirable color but remain Pastel nonetheless. People do not like these non-colorful Pastels as much as the colorful ones to be sure. In fact what people want in particular from Pastels is greater color. There is nothing wrong with that. I want the same thing BUT color is not a deciding factor as to whether or not a Boa is Pastel. Remember a Pastel has an odd wash and an obvious reduction of black.

[The_Boaphile]

I wish it could be more cut and dried than that but it isn't. Everyone wants every trait to be simple recessive or co-dominant or dominant or "incomplete co-dominant". (Which I don't begin to understand by the way. I had seen it explained a couple times but I am not educated enough to understand the PHD level multiple $10,000 word explanations of it. I can barely understand the dribble I write, let alone try to comprehend some of these fantastic explanations given by people that are way smarter than I am.) This "Pastel" trait does not work that simply.

I have recently heard that one of the breeders of Hypos has claimed I developed my Pastels using some of "his" Hypos. This is a joke. I am known for hyping my Boas and proudly displaying them. I am not known for bragging about numbers. It's just not me. I never tell people I produced more Boas than any one else or anything like that. That isn't my style. I don't boast that I will do this and I will do that. I always give credit where credit is due. However, I will say, I have been breeding Boas every single year for the last sixteen years. The names of many of my bloodlines I am working with testify to the fact that I give credit where credit is due. i.e. "Tudehope", "DuBay", "Lopez", "Salmon", "Joe Terry"  and I could go on and on. The information I have written regarding breeding,  that I sometimes get too much credit for, is also referenced to the people who have given me info and or suggestions that helped me figure stuff out. i.e. "Tudehope", "Michaels", "Herman" etc. I am not so insecure that I will not give credit to whom credit is due. I am not threatened in any way by any one else's success. The Hypos are not in any way related to the Pastel lines I have been working with for many years. PERIOD! I like to come across as a little off the wall so people remember me. More importantly, I want people to remember my BOAS!  My first Pastel was produced February 17th, 1986 before any Hypos had even been produced. In fact I had not bred any Hypos until 1997, These Hypos were double het for Ghost. Again I produced double het for Ghost Boas in 1998. Finally in 2000 I produced my first Hypos bred with Pastels. I also had the "Monster Tail Hypos" and a separate litter of "Salmon" Hypos.

[The_Boaphile]

I will now explain some of the results I have had breeding Pastels.

The only time to date I have successfully bred Pastel to Pastel was when I produced the Ivory Boas. The parents of the Ivories were very light babies born to an Anerythristic female I had and a male named "Jamie" that was born in the first litter I ever produced nearly 17 years ago. The result was nearly all Pastel babies. Few had the outrageous color found in the Pastels that people enjoy the most to be sure. Nearly all had the reduction in black I look for in identifying Pastels. The Anerythristics produced from these breeding are the Ivories. These are light washed out and much better than average Anerythristics. Many have HUGE blotches on the sides as well making them look even more washed out and giving a smeary appearance to the pattern. They are very cool. I have raised a number of males from these breedings large enough to breed their Mothers and or Aunties this year. I hope to see even better Ivory Anerythristics this coming year. We shall see about that.

The other Pastels are coming from Pastel to Pastel bloodline animals primarily. By Pastel bloodline animal I mean animals that are not Pastel themselves but related to Pastels. Two years ago I bred the best male Pastel I had produced to one of the best female Pastels I had. She died about two weeks before giving birth. That was absolutely the largest disappointment of my Boa breeding career. I was very depressed after that had happened. I still have him but he did not want to breed last year. Hopefully he will this year!

So most of my Pastels come from Pastel bred to Pastel bloodline animals. From these breedings about half the babies are Pastels. I did breed a Pastel bloodline female, the "DuBay" female, to a Hypo in 2000 and produced the "Screamer Hypos". This female while not Pastel herself, produced Pastels even though she had been bred to a relatively ugly Hypo. She had the best Hypos I have seen. I have seen many other breeders best Hypos. I have seen them at shows and on line. I still have five of the "Screamer Hypos" all of which I would put into the top ten Hypos I have ever seen. Even now that they are all 4' long or longer. Their color is better than ever. They are not getting the muddy wash most Hypos get as they get larger. The point is that the Pastel trait can make anything and everything better. That is the bottom line. Some have said the Pastel trait ACTS like a co-dominant trait. This is true. Breeding a Pastel to a non-Pastel will net you some Pastels. You must remember the Pastel trait remains subjective and is not defined by the amount of color a given animal has. Pastels are Pastel because of the reduction of black. It is not as easy to separate Pastels from non-Pastels, as it is Albinos from non-Albinos. Separating Hypos from non-Hypos is not always that cut and dried either, as those of you who have produced them know. Pastels are not always clearly and dramatically different from non-Pastels. This is why I say it often is subjective. I wish they were but it just doesn't work that way. That is why I carefully identify anything I label as Pastel. I have a lot to lose if I begin applying a liberal standard to identifying these guys. I will not use a liberal standard.

[The_Boaphile]

Unfortunately the Pastel identification process will remain subjective. I can't attest to the standards anyone else will use to identify their Pastels. I hope and expect the vast majority of other breeders will do their best to honestly represent their offspring. There will be those though that will not use a rigorous standard to separate their Pastels from non-Pastels. There is nothing anyone can or should do about that. I know how important it is to me to maintain my credibility so I will always be careful to not be too liberal defining my Pastels. One thing I should mention is in developing the Pastels I used the skills I obtained as a finisher while a cabinetmaker. Mixing colors was something I became particularly good at to obtain particular color in wood staining and or paint mixing. I don't think I realized until recently how valuable this particular skill has been to me when selectively breeding my Boas. Color is a beautiful thing and selecting the right color when mixing paint is just as important as selecting the right Boas to pair up to produce something you wish to "make". That's right I said, "make". The color of Colombian Boas is certainly genetic as is the lightness or darkness of a Boa. I believe that this works just like skin color or the degree of darkness in humans. While we do not selectively reproduce humans, nor should we by the way... we can and do selectively breed our Boas. Selecting the right babies for particular projects is the most important thing I do as a Boa breeder. Next is breeding the correct or best pairings together to produce exactly what I hope to produce. This is perhaps easier for me in many ways because I have many to choose from. This is exactly why it is most important for people with smaller collections to be very selective with what they babies they purchase.

I think depending on what you are attempting to achieve color alone may be the only criteria needed to select the right animal for your projects. If you are looking to produce the best Albinos possible then color is all you need. Six years ago I had produced a bunch of possible hets. I observed that one of these animals was very very pink and as a bonus she is a Pastel. To me it didn't matter if she turned out to be a het. I was just happy to get a new Pastel animal with lots of color. As it turns out she is a het as was proven last year. She produced the best Albinos I have seen to date. I hope to breed one of these male Albinos back to his mother this year. Anyhow, the Pastel trait is completely and utterly a moot point when it comes to the Albinos she produced. The fact that the babies are Albino means there is and never will be any black whatsoever. How on earth can the Pastel characteristic improve on that? It can't. It's just like the Sunglows. The only thing that a Pastel, a Motley or a Hypo can bring to improve the Albino trait is either different pattern and additional color or different color. The advantage in seeing Hypos that are het for Albino or Pastels that are het for Albino is this: After removing much of the black, you can begin to see the underlying color. This is not so apparent when all the normal black pigmentation is present as can be plainly seen in the Boas previously sold as hets from Hypo breedings. They are not normally very attractive animals because the black, which is fully present, masks the color, which is underlying but still unobservable.

So, for anyone wanting to develop or produce nicer Hypos, Pastels or something else where color is foremost in the project, I would very highly recommend the most richly colored Pastels you can find. The reduced black the Pastels have helps the color to come through. For those hoping to produce cutting edge and better Albinos I would suggest the following. Find the most richly reddish colored Boas you can. Breed them with Albinos. Keep the reddest hets possible you produce and breed those back to other hets or Albinos. Those reddest or pinkest Boas may or may not be Pastel. Actually I hope they are Pastel as I plan on producing Pastels het for Albino this coming year. I hopefully have a bit of a jump or I should say, many of my Boas have a bit of a jump on many other Boas because I have been breeding for great color for many many years. It just so happens that the Boas that I produce that have the best and strongest color also happen to be Pastel.

[The_Boaphile]

I wish I had a more concise explanation for all of this. I wish I could wrap it all up in some small tidy little package but unfortunately I have not found it all to work so simply. I will continue my never ending quest for better and better Boas, highlighting and improving the characteristics I like. I am glad that so many people today are Boa whackos like myself. Seven or eight years ago it was a lonely hobby for a Boa Maniac like myself. I have been and will continue to be "The Boaphile"... certainly not the only Boaphile though and I'm glad about that!

[The_Boaphile]

I had completed writing this in January 2002 with the longsuffering help of a good friend :P who helped me edit out my bad grammar ::). I am truly sorry this puppy ending up being so long. I wish it were simpler but I did not know how to make this any clearer without including the very long detailed information and history that lead to me identifying this trait long ago now. I have the utmost respect for you if you were actually able to tread through this entire thing.  :'( I plan on rereading it myself maybe later tonight to update any info that I think not really clear or not as up to date as possible. I do have a little better understanding of this trait now than I did a year ago. I hope this was interesting and possibly a little bit entertaining to read.

Thanks!

Jeff Ronne
The Boaphile
:-*

P.S. 6367 Words but who's counting right?

[Erich_Gaertner]

So it's a co-dominant trait? LOL! :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ Thanks for taking the time to put this little novella together, I for one appreciate it BIG TIME! Thanks Boss! :'(
Erich :-*

[Randy_T.]

I greatly appreciate this post, thanks for the time spent on it. :'( :'( :'(

[CatMan]

Great post Jeff! That is info all us boa wackos should know. I hope you have better luck in future pastel to pastel breedings.
I have Kentucky, Sarah and TJ line non-pastel boas from you and the Sarah female produced a few very nice pastels last year bred to the very dark TJ male. I kept and am raising up two of these pastel babies. The Kentucky female has not yet bred for me...maybe next year.

[Joel DuBay]

I haven't heard you talk this much about yourself since.... YESTERDAY!!! ::) ::) ::) ::)

Just kidding boss! Nice Work!


Joel DuBay

Ps. Can you send me a color key so I know what your definition of "Red" is? :'(
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
You're the best!! :'(

[Jeff_Gray]

THANKS for taking the time , a good deal of it at that , to get this information out to the other boa maniacs out here ! :'( I thoroughly enjoyed it but now my eyes are bleeding & I must hit the eyedrops now :( . Once when my eyes were red I drank a whole bottle of the stuff & my eyes didn't clear up a bit . :P

[HerperCCC]

Phew!!! I made it all the way through!!

Thanks for the insight Jeff, its a great story/lesson for those of us who are just starting out in the breeding aspect.

-CCC

[Chris_Gillam]

Hi all, very interesting reading, i have a few pastel bloodlines i am working with, they are from proven pastel lines, here are some photos of a female boa i have that is not from a proven line but i think is a pastel, what do you think.?

[Chris_Gillam]

Here is one more photo of the above boa.

[amazoa]

I stuck it out and did read it all. In fact I enjoyed it and wished I could of got my hands on some of those boas that came in during the 70's you talked about. Jeff you have always said your goal was not to just produce boas but to produce the best boas. Your commitment to selective breeding and producing your "Pastel Dream Columbian Line" is a perfect example of your hard work paying off. You did good! 8) :'( Richard "amazoa"

[boxingboa]

Hi,
Thank You very much for giving all this info more then I could have hoped for.

[mister]

Sold the rest to Noah's Arc? Noah's Arc is a water park in Wisconsin Dells. I live just under an hour away from there. Why would a water park want boas?

[bcijoe]

was that water park there about 20 years ago when Jeff sold them?

[The_Boaphile]

Noah's ark was made of Gopher Wood. It was built by Noah and his sons. It sailed the seas after the great flood. Oops, a different "Noah's Ark" I guess. Noah's Ark was a grocery store sized full service pet shop in Elk Grove Village Illinois back in the day. I think they are gone now. They carried the largest selection of Reptiles I had ever seen in a pet shop long long ago.

[mister]

Oh, different Noah's Arc, lol. But im glad to see that you are up to date on your knowledge of Noah, lol, gopher wood.

[The_Boaphile]

Yup, Gopher Wood. 300 cubits long and 50 cubits breadth or width.

[Randy_T.]

I bet that nice girl turns out to make some very nice pastel neos..She reminds me of one of my herp buddies breeder male (the tail appearance and clean pattern) his male bred and produced some very nice and clean neos...I can't wait to get my pic of that litter...should make some killer pastels bred into your pastel line too...

[ratman]

That was very imformitive. Thanks! :'(

[ksshane]

Thanks Jeff for taking the time to write that... Very informative

[Boa_Dan]

Chris, what is wrong with your boas mouth, are you just a very good photographer and took the picture at the split secong the boa struck out or is there somthing wrong, nice snake though
Dan

[woodman]

Wow! that must have took a long time to write.

[PauLB]

Jeff Thank for taking the time to go through all that its very interesting as for your selective breeding since the first boa I saw you produced I was amazed I believe it was either the monster tail or the tudehopexlucy might have been the screamer hypo's heck I cant keep track as to most the time Im in awe of your offspring for years Ive watched the different boas you have produced I admire your admiration and your efforts to continue to work at making the nicest boas produced today awhile back I bought a female tudehope x Lucy one of my favorite lines you have produced which I hope to breed to your possible hets Ive had on hold awhile (trying to use your old email addy even thou you sent me the new one I didnt delete the old one) My bad Oh Back to the tudehopexlucy I have looked at her and compared her to my other pastels and there is a big difference the tudehope lucy is a much cleaner pattern by the way I dont have any one helping me edit this so exscuse the typo's I look foward to purchasing more of your boas to breed in the future Again Thanks for posting your story Take Care hope to talk with you soon Paul Balfour ps I will attach my female thats gravid now as we speak you seen her befor the picture aint that great I took it tuesday morning and dint want to move her

[The_Boaphile]

Did you realize this beast of a post that I started here is 6212 words!? But whose counting right? Man! You'd think a guy could learn to say what he has to say in less words than that wouldn't you? I am really long winded!

Jeff

[bambam]

Hey Jeff it was worth it!

[Optimus_Prime]

Wow that was awsome Jeff that was very interesting thanks for taking the time to write it I hope you don't care if I print off a copy to keep for my self?

[JChurch]

just amazing. selective breeding. huh?

[The_Boaphile]

You know about two years ago when I told people how the Pastel thing worked, I came under a lot of fire. Saying it was something it is not, probably would have made me more money too. To me it was not about the money. It was simple. It was about the truth. A lot of criticism and name calling, including from people I had been very friendly with prior, and for just not leaving it alone because a couple people in particular were telling people they thought it was a dominant or co-dom trait.

In order to be a dominant or co-dom trait it would have to be a single gene that controls it. It would mean you would have Pastels or not. It isn't a single gene, so I could not tell people it was what it wasn't without lying about it. I was not going to lie about it. It can be observed sometimes to be inherited in that fashion but it isn't a single gene. A subtle difference. One guy was so mad about my telling people how it worked that he changed the name of his Pastel animals to a new and different name. Silly really. And immediately people believe that the trait is a dom or co-dom trait which it still is not. It is, was, and will be the same as the Pastel trait regardless of the false and inaccurate claims made about it. The biggest problem is there is so much room for subjectivity. There aren't Pastels and non-Pastels. There are many that some would say are Pastels and others would say they are not. It is subjective. Too often people think "Pastel" as I have described it, is a color trait. Even after reading my little tome some people can still come away thinking that the Pastel Trait has everything to do with color. It does not. The Pastel trait allows color to be seen in more of it's beauty. The Pastels people love the most are the ones with the most color. However, the Pastel trait is about the degree of black, period. They have no understanding of what the Pastel Trait is, as I described it. Oh well. Life goes on but I still have my dignity and honesty in tact.

Another thing. I can't make Hypos without using a Hypo. I could not go to a show and select the right animals and "make" Hypo Boas. I can't "make" an Albino without having an animal that carries the gene. I can however, "make" Pastels. Meaning I could go to a show and through carefully picking the correct animals, without selecting Pastels, I could in probably just two generations "make" Pastels. This is because it is a polygenic trait that can be bred for. I have done it with several bloodlines and could easily do it again. A "mutation" cannot be selected for. A selectively bred polygenic trait can be. That is the bottom line.

One other thing. I have not developed Pastels through "line breeding". Line breeding is breeding related animals back to each other over several or more generations to bring out or develop some particular characteristic you are trying to magnify. I have not gone beyond one generation with any degree of "inbreeding" to make any of the animals I have produced. It just is not necessary. I have lots of animals with the traits I wish to capitalize on and so true "line breeding" has not been necessary to achieve what I have wanted to achieve. I outbreed whenever possible to keep bloodlines strong and healthy. I have seen where some have called the Pastel trait a "line bred" characteristic. It could be achieved that way for certain, but that is not the way I achieved mine.

[Boabrat]

Jeff,

That last paragraph is the one of main reasons why I love the pastels you produce. I have seen many producing linebred/overly inbred pastel lines for pure commercial value. Though they produce some stunning pastels, in the same litters of babies they don't show the public the birth defects that occure in their siblings. After half a dozen or so years of inbreeding, some of the defects become... very visible. I have not studied inbeeding in snakes enough to make any intelligent statements about how much inbreeding is too much or how much is safe and fine. Anyhow, I just wanted to say your efforts and honesty are very much appreciated.

- John da BoaBrat

P.S. Your Scarlet Pastels are perhaps one of my top 5 favorate boas period on the market today. I love the really red, velvet look they have.

[Unas-TheSlayer]

Excellent clarifications Jeff.  

This is how I see it in my own basic words based on your clarifications:  Reduction in black allows for a better, more effecient view of the boas coloration ... in turn also allowing for more effecient selective breeding of color.  

Increased color is a direct result of decreased black ("pastelism") on two levels:  1.  Reduced black showing more color and 2. More effeciently selectively breeding color because of it.  

I think its because of those two factors that so positively effect color in pastels that people intertwine them and loose sight of what a pastel actually is.  When someone initially looks at one of the best pastel boas (graded as a whole, not graded soley as a pastel or its reduction in black) they will notice the color.  

Does color have to be the core goal of selectively breeding pastels?  Well no...  You can focus merely on further reducing black... or other traits.  To me color is the obvious top factor with boas so it makes the most sense to work towards that... especially when considering the direct effects of pastelism to it.  But, from what I understand via Jeff's explanations, in no way does color define what is and isnt a pastel.  

[crotalusadamanteus]

Excellent post!! ;D
Great explanation of how it came to be. I can think of hundreds of people who need to read this info.

Ciao,
Rick

Thank you for write and and for going in to so much detail.I truly get the pastel now.I have one of your Ivory Pastel Dream Anerythristic.I got him from you in 03.His name is Lennox.When I got him I really did not truly get the pastel.He is so clean and lite.He is truly super looking.I have see other Anery but not one has even come close to his color are look.I can truly see how much the pastles cleans up boas.I love the colors they have.I am going to breed him this upcomeing season with my friend Tim Frazer.This will be my first time breeding.I am very lucky to have a friend like Tim here in Il to help me.Thank yo so very much for all your hard work on boas and your pastel line.Pastles are truly the most importion line of boas out there because their is some much they can add to any morph in boas.So once agin thank you for the pastels,and all they have done to color and clean up the boas.P.S. Thank you for bring Lennox in to my life he is a joy to own.Jay Hickey/Cubs-Boas

[BoaAmarali]

Mr. Ronne Larry Micklevitz here.Just curious with all your work in making the Pastel Boas .Then having the benefit of more color being unveiled in so many of these Pastel Boas.This must be what made these high colored Boas such great candidates to use as hets for your Pastel Albino projects correct ?I believe that's the way you've explained it.Ok now when using these great Colored Pastel Het Albino Boas to breed creating the wonderful beautiful colored Pastel Albino Boas you created.Which these Pastel Albino Boas are similar to the Coral Albino Boas that other people produce,but Pastel Albino Boas are more Colorful and predictable to have Color.Where as the Coral Albino trait is less predictable as to how much color will be created if any in some cases.I'm wondering what numbers of colored Albino Boas occur with Pastel Albino Breedings? Is this Pastel Albino genetic occurrence still a polygenic creation of color? Or is this or has this Pastel Albino trait changed to a more predictable Genetic form creating complete numbers of high colored Boas much like a Dominant or CoDom trait? Are all the Boas delivered as Albino high colored Albino Boas? Are all the Hets delivered as high colored or Pastel hets? They are all Pastel and highly colored Boas from these past breedings it would appear to me. So is this Pastel Albino Genetic trait now no longer Polygenic but indeed Codom or actually Dominant? Am I reading into this situation too much maybe or don't understand completely?Thanks for all your work on these beautiful Boas.It doesn't really make any difference if this is Dom or Codom or Polygenic.These 100% Het Pastel Dream Albino Boas I have will produce high colored albino Boas and hets. Thats all I really care about is producing Albino Boas with Great red and orange colors.Thanks Lar M -BoaAmarali
http://www.BoasByKlevitz.com/

[sparky4601]

yea jeff that pet shop in ill. is no longer there. (noahs ark) the ony reptile house arround now is chicago reptile house

[nickstone]

Once again jeff tons of great info, I started reading all these articles a couple of hours ago and am still looking foward to reading more and being able to use them as reference. Thanks so much for taking the time to share all your knowledge with new people like me.