Color phase/morph help for ATBs?

Charis · 10-31-12, 11:36 AM

I'm looking into getting an ATB sometime down the road and am having a bit of trouble with understanding their color phases. What are all the color phases called? I think I know most and understand a little of what each looks like, but more important, how do the various phases change from new born to adult? And how does breeding the phases work, what are you likely to get if you breed certain ones together? Can someone either explain some of this to me, preferably with pictures, or send me a link if there is already someplace out there that answers these questions? Thanks in advance!

Jason_Hood · 10-31-12, 11:47 PM

ATB's are not simple to understand or figure out. You can get any of the colors from any other colors. The basic colors or phases are gardens, which are any of the many different looks with a brown, tan or grey ground color. What many people call Halloweens are just gardens that have red pattern as babies. They all lose that with age.

"Halloween" phase garden

Will lose all red and mature into this

After that you have the color phases, I just go with the ground color and the description of what pattern it may or may not have

Patternless yellow

Yellow with orange bands

Orange with yellow pattern

Red

Group of gardens

Mixed litter

The only way you can know what a pair is going to produce is to breed them and see. I have a garden pair that produced that red above and yellows that spit out all yellows. A red/orange pair that gave me all colors but red and everything in between can happen.

The only proven morphs are the tiger, leopard and now there is possibly a calico line and something being called hypo that may not be hypo but it does seem to be heritable.

Jason

BarelyBreathing · 11-01-12, 12:09 AM

Tangerine

Tri-color with bronze

Yellow with some speckling

Rogue628 · 11-01-12, 12:13 AM

Interesting! I don't know much about ATB's....or ETB's for that matter. I love the look of the baby Halloween phases but I didn't realize they lose all that pretty color as adults. And that's for all garden phases right? And what do the color phases typically do? Get bolder, darker, change color? Are all their bellies always white like on the red or does it fade or change?

It's interesting that they can have so many different colors and such yet there's only a few proven morphs.

BarelyBreathing · 11-01-12, 12:54 AM

They tend to get lighter/brighter with age.

Jason_Hood · 11-01-12, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarelyBreathing

They tend to get lighter/brighter with age.

Some get darker too. They are all different and unique. That is what makes them so awesome!!

Jason

**lady_bug87** · 11-01-12, 07:37 PM

my red bi-colour

Charis · 11-02-12, 08:30 PM

Thanks for the responses everyone! So I'm thinking these guys are somewhat similar to crested geckos, what they are called is based on pattern and color and most traits aren't predictably inheritable.
I think Garden is the phase term I have the most issue with, in trying to research them. Is it applied based on what pattern the animal has or the color it will became, or both?

**lady_bug87** · 11-02-12, 08:50 PM

I guess,
Since ATBs are so Polymorphic any colour combinations of adults can produce any number of coloured offspring

BarelyBreathing · 11-03-12, 11:06 AM

A garden phase is brown with bands that are another shade of brown. Here's a garden.

Now, a Halloween also turns into a garden, but they are born with a different color/pattern. Here's a Halloween.

**Pareeeee** · 11-03-12, 11:34 AM

This has to be one of the cutest snake photos I've ever seen!

Charis · 11-03-12, 12:56 PM

^ That one always makes me squee too.