I used to have one, still not sure why it died. I paid £30 for mine, but id kill for another.
Anyone have any idea if they are natural or a man made virant?
I think you are talking about Gold Sevs that are speckled in Red (some LFS label them as Red Sevs), they are not dyed, just a colour variant of your common Gold Sev.
I must admit ive never seen a "Natural" Red Severum before, closest ive seen is the Rotkeil (sometimes referred to as Red Shoulder or Redneck Severums). I have a wild caught Rotkeil Sev