Bloodred Diffusion?

[MrsCornSnake]

Man, I know I just got a cute little butter motley less than a week ago, and people are going to start to think I'm nuts if I get a third snake in my apartment... but I really love the look of those bloodreds.

My question is, how long until you really get that classic diffusion? A lot of the ones I've seen seem to have a fair amount of orangey spots on them even after two years. Do all bloodreds turn that nice rich red color, or is it only some lines? And about after how long?

 

[zwyatt]

It's really quite variable from what I've seen. Some hatchlings are born with nice diffusion so they tend to progress more quickly. Others take a while to start to lose their patterning. The color in bloodreds also tends to vary. Some are that really rich red as adults and some tend to have more of an orange look to them and everything in between.

Knowing what the parents look like and what their past offspring look like is probably the best start to finding what you want. Also, in the absence of photos, it never hurts to ask the breeder what sort of coloration to expect from their hatchlings. Most people will probably be honest with you...especially breeders on this forum.

 

[Joejr14]

The coloration can definitely be different between lines, and as Zach said, it's best to ask for pictures of the parents or to ask the breeder what they think those hatchlings will look like. Of course, there's no guarantee even based on parent pictures, but it's a pretty good guess that excellent base stock will provide excellent hatchlings.

I'd say this is a pretty good example....this entire clutch, actually.