Color morphs?

[katrvt]

Alright, so I haven't really been buying much into these high white and whatever leos that I have been seeing at shows so far. What I saw today at the show I am working this weekend has me wondering a bit.

There is a vendor here out of Texas who has a group of leopards(adults) all from one specific locality (which one I don't know) who all have almost No black on them at all.

He has another clutch of babies that he is calling caramel. He was stupid busy at the time so I agent had the chance to ask about the caramels. They do appear to be possibly amelanistic or hypomelanistic. He also wants 400$(!!!) Each for them.

Not even remotely considering buying from him, but very curious as to what y'all think

 

[diamondbp]

Alright, so I haven't really been buying much into these high white and whatever leos that I have been seeing at shows so far. What I saw today at the show I am working this weekend has me wondering a bit.

There is a vendor here out of Texas who has a group of leopards(adults) all from one specific locality (which one I don't know) who all have almost No black on them at all.

He has another clutch of babies that he is calling caramel. He was stupid busy at the time so I agent had the chance to ask about the caramels. They do appear to be possibly amelanistic or hypomelanistic. He also wants 400$(!!!) Each for them.

Not even remotely considering buying from him, but very curious as to what y'all think

I would have to see adults and pictures of them laying to even begin to pay something like that per baby. It would help tremendously if he had raised up some of the babies to show how they "should" turn out and you could see pictures of them over time as they grew.

 

[Elohi]

A Texas breeder? Do you recall who?

 

[katrvt]

This is one of his 'caramel' babies. I will ask him today if he has any pictures of the adults or what these should be as adults if there is time today. His business name is Rancho de Tortuga and he is out of Tyler Texas.

 

[wellington]

Would be interested in if there are any adults and what they do look like. I personally don't like the looks of the one in the pic. Looks too skinny and the color kinda sickly looking, not sure if it's just the color or not. See what all you can find out.

 

[Elohi]

This is one of his 'caramel' babies. I will ask him today if he has any pictures of the adults or what these should be as adults if there is time today. His business name is Rancho de Tortuga and he is out of Tyler Texas.

Well that's certainly interesting. It's pretty but I'd love to see the adults for sure. Thank you for posting the baby picture.

 

[Elohi]

I just found him on fb. There is a picture of babies on pellets. :0/

 

[Neal]

It's a cool looking baby. I would be willing to be that it will grow up to be a normal looking leopard though...which is still cool, but unless I see pictures of the parents or older siblings, I would won't be paying any premiums.

 

[Elohi]

It's a cool looking baby. I would be willing to be that it will grow up to be a normal looking leopard though...which is still cool, but unless I see pictures of the parents or older siblings, I would won't be paying any premiums.

I was thinking the same thing. Some leopards are REALLY light when they hatch but darken up in the following weeks/months, so I'd love to see some older babies, yearlings, ect.

 

[Killerrookie]

I was thinking the same thing. Some leopards are REALLY light when they hatch but darken up in the following weeks/months.

Yea Speckles was really light colored and now she is all dark and brownish!!! I love how their colors change over time.

 

[katrvt]

I checked with him. He said that the adults who throw those are normals, but that it's only one specific pair. He has some he is growing out as holdbacks but they are all less than a year at this time. He showed me one that is 6 months old on his phone. That one has, up to this point, retained the light /hypomelanistic appearance. Would be very interested to see how they grow out.

 

[Robber]

I checked with him. He said that the adults who throw those are normals, but that it's only one specific pair. He has some he is growing out as holdbacks but they are all less than a year at this time. He showed me one that is 6 months old on his phone. That one has, up to this point, retained the light /hypomelanistic appearance. Would be very interested to see how they grow out.

Hmm, if this is a previously unknown gene, that would be odd for one specific 'normal' pair to both be carrying it (seems it would have to be recessive if only that pairing throws it). It seems far more likely to be just some light colored normal(especially if all/most of the offspring look that way), but the one in pic does look to be hypo(although as others noted, it is very young). It is interesting that it also has rather bizarre markings; I wonder if the others have those.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Personally, the ONLY time I'd pay a *special price* for unique coloring is if the leopard was close to the 10-12" (larger for females) size range. Because by that size you pretty much get what you see. If it's still light at that size, then it's going to stay that way...

 

[diamondbp]

I checked with him. He said that the adults who throw those are normals, but that it's only one specific pair. He has some he is growing out as holdbacks but they are all less than a year at this time. He showed me one that is 6 months old on his phone. That one has, up to this point, retained the light /hypomelanistic appearance. Would be very interested to see how they grow out.

If he said the adults that produce them are normals, then 9 times out of 10 the babies will end up looking similar to the parents. I've had some look light for an entire year and then balance out after another year. You will need to see ones between 6-8 inches to confirm these "caramels"

 

[Yvonne G]

This is his "blonde" leopard female from his facebook page:

 

[Robber]

This is his "blonde" leopard female from his facebook page:
...

That is certainly interesting looking(I'm talking about the unknown sludge, not the tortoise...)

Actually, the tortoise is interesting too, certainly little dark markings. I guess it could be old enough to have been imported long ago, but how many imported groups of specific known origin were there back then? I have never heard of a specific locale as being particularly 'high white', certainly not to the extent of the one pictured.

 

[Neal]

That is certainly interesting looking(I'm talking about the unknown sludge, not the tortoise...)

That's just the mud they create when excavating a nest. Looks a little odd from the picture quality, but is normal.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

That's just the mud they create when excavating a nest. Looks a little odd from the picture quality, but is normal.

Ha! Thanks for clarifying...I too was puzzled and a bit grossed out lol

 

[wellington]

Ha! Thanks for clarifying...I too was puzzled and a bit grossed out lol

Ditto

 

[mike taylor]

They pee as they dig . An that looks like sand with fill dirt on top .