Hey Steve, at least here in So. Cal "Rainbow phase" was a term used for East Coast animals. As long as I can remember Ambanjas were Ambanjas, going back to 1991 and the Gary Ferguson picture in The Vivarium Vol.3 No.2.

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1000.1000 Anthozoa

Oh yeah, Ambanjas were only known as Ambanjas back then. But about that time period, I did see Ambanjas occassionally refered to as "Rainbows", but I've also seen the term "Rainbow" for Ambilobes, and for a while "Rainbow" was also used to describe a mixed morph Panther.

Its a PITA maintaining a good bloodline because there is so much confusion. I think the only way I'll ever figure it out is to go to Madagascar myself. But I wonder if even that would be definitive because I know that Ambanjas will get more reddish colored over time, and other morphs may be like that too. I'm sure that there are seasons where the population's average age will be higher or lower than normal, so the colors within a region can change just due to the average age of the animal.

Its always gonna be a source of confusion no matter how you slice it. Thats why we need to be more gentle on people's labels, but try to be vigilant about morph mixing as best as we can.

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