Every species has three color variants which must be discovered through various means. Feeding a piñata certain items will change their color, sometimes they have to eat more than one item to change colors. For example, if you feed a Turnip to a Whirlm, it changes color to a purple Whirlm, but you have to feed a Daisy and a Bluebell to a Mousemallow for it to change to a white Mousemallow.
If you change the color of a piñata once you can't change it again. So to get all 3 of the variants you have to have 3 separate pinatas to change each to a different variant.
Every time you discover a new variant you will gain four petals of experience.
Note however that some variants can reduce the base value of the piñata by a whole lot. For instance, all 3 of the Eaglair and Galagoogoo variations reduce its base value of 4500 chocolate coins down to a mere 100.
The variants of a piñata does not change romance so you can romance a orange Whirlm with a purple Whirlm, for example. To make a Twingersnap turn pink feed it a bottle of medicine.
In Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise there is only one color variant for each piñata, however the Journal lists the requirements to obtain the color variant for this Piñata.
Feed a Flutterscotch:
- 1 Poppy: Red
- 1 Bird of Paradise: Orange
- 1 Buttercup: Yellow
- 1 Watercress: Green
- 1 Bluebell: Blue
- 1 Thistle: Purple
- 1 Water Lily: Pink
- 1 Bullrush: Brown
- 1 Tulip: Black
Questions
I bred 2 variant Whirlms and got a regular whirlm. Shouldn't it have been variant, too? No, only Piñatas that were either hatched with or colored to have variants will have them.