RC Pastel Boa Constrictors
The RC Pastel is a boa constrictor line with a cleaner background and less black than a normal boa. Because the strength of the look varies from animal to animal, judge a snake by its own photographs rather than by the line name alone.
About the RC Pastel gene
Keepers trade and keep the RC Pastel boa constrictor line for its cleaner background colour and reduced black pigment. Because the name marks a line and not one gene, it is bought for the look instead of for a single fixed trait.
Appearance
Because a pastel-type boa constrictor has fewer black markings in its pattern than a normal, the background colour is more visible. The animal appears brighter and cleaner with less dark speckling. The strength of this effect varies across different animals and between the named pastel lines of the hobby. This means pastel is a description of line quality instead of a fixed result. Do not judge an RC Pastel by the name on the listing but by its own photographs.
Genetics
A confirmed animal is sold as RC Pastel, and one where the pastel look is possible but not settled as Pos RC Pastel. Like the pastel-type traits generally recorded in boa constrictors, it is polygenic. It was built by breeders who chose and paired animals with a cleaner background and less black over many generations instead of fixing it with one gene. This line-bred origin is also why no super form exists. The names are not interchangeable and RC Pastel is separate from other named pastel lines in the boa hobby, including Kubsch Pastel, Summit Pastel and Redrum Pastel.