Savu hatchlings are a creamsicle orange, but they change gradually over time. Some Savus eventually become almost entirely black on their dorsal scales. Other Savus retain some of their lighter coloring and end up with gray/orange/brown scales. We picked up Sophie in January 2005 as a 2004 hatchling. We've been taking picture periodically to demonstrate her gradual changes. As it turns out, she has (so far) retained quite a bit of the lighter coloring. Her head is a brownish/grayish mix, and her tail still has quite a bit of orange in it. Here are a few pics of her progression over the past 3 years: 1/05: 3/05: 6/05: 9/05: 11/07:
