Hello from washington state!

[jon7]

Actually he is more of a blue. Its such a light blue it almost looks white! Ive never seen a wild one this light. And i have no idea how to tell morphs apart.

[ConcinusMan]

Actually he is more of a blue. Its such a light blue it almost looks white! Ive never seen a wild one this light. And i have no idea how to tell morphs apart.

Technically, they're all "morphs" as northwesterns are polymorphic. Definitely polymorphic on a population level. There is usually a wide variety of colors and patterns in a single population. although usually in a population, one or two distinct types (color and pattern) dominate. Which morphs dominate can change dramatically just by traveling a few miles away. Sometimes it doesn't matter what either of the parents look like, sometimes the babies are just a mixed variety of colors and patterns. Sometimes all the babies look just like mom. (I just recently had a small litter of completely stripeless babies, just like their mother) They breed in the fall before brumation, and in mid winter/early spring. Sometimes a female will breed with several males and hold sperm up to a year or more before ovulating. I've even heard of females having babies 3 years after last contact with a male. This makes it difficult to know for sure who the father is. In fact, a single litter may have several fathers. Also, one cannot calculate a due date based on the date of the mating. They mate when they want, and ovulate when they want. Often they do not even have babies just because they mated. They just hold the sperm until they're ready. Babies can be born from early March, all the way to early October. Any month during that time frame.

[ProXimuS]

Wow! Congrats on the babies! And I agree, that male is real pretty