Kubsch Pastel Boa Constrictors
A Kubsch Pastel is a Colombian boa with less black than a normal. It has a pink wash on a clean background that gets better as the snake grows. Because the amount of pastel varies between animals, judge the animal in the photographs rather than the name on the listing.
About the Kubsch Pastel gene
The Kubsch Pastel is a line of Colombian boa constrictor (Boa imperator) with a clean, pink-washed ground colour and reduced black. People buy it for the colour. This pastel look was built by selection over generations rather than by a single gene.
Appearance
Throughout its pattern, a Kubsch Pastel has less black than a normal boa. The pink wash sits on a clean background where the side blotches and saddles lack black, and side blotches often have none at all. The tail and head follow the body's colouring. The colour improves as the animal matures, so a baby does not show its finished pink. It is easiest to judge the reduction in babies. At that age, look for side blotches with almost no black, which show the same washed-out pattern as a Hypo. Since how much pastel an animal shows varies, and where a boa stops being a normal and becomes a pastel is partly a judgement call, look hard at photographs of the animal itself.
Genetics
Kubsch Pastel is polygenic. Because the look comes from line breeding rather than one gene, no super form exists. Sellers list animals as Kubsch Pastel or as Pos Kubsch Pastel when the pastel is possible but not settled. There is no recorded alias and the line sits in no complex. Silvio Kubsch started it in Europe from pure Colombian boas, selecting for a clean background and colour.