Candy Cane – SMR Archive

Candy Cane (no aka)

Most Commonly Used Name: Candy Cane
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive + Selective Variation
Morph Type: Selective Variant of single recessive mutation

Eye Color: Red pupil

The SMR Candy Cane is one of the few selectively-bred Amel mutations worthy of its own morph name. Genetically speaking, Candy Canes are Amel corns that have been selectively bred to promote their target look (red or orange blotches on a white background). They owe their morph status to early corn breeders that spent generations of pairing only Amels with the best white ground color and best red (or orange) markings – to create what we toDAY call Candy Canes. Since the only mutation they possess is Amel, the obvious distinction between Candy Canes and the average Amel corn is the obvious color scheme. Red or orange markings are not difficult to reproduce through generational line breeding, but the white background color is very difficult to achieve (and maintain through subsequent generations). The white background and red (or orange) markings have been enhanced via the selective promotion of the target appearance. When breeding two Candy Canes together, because they are Amel mutants, you are assured of getting 100% Amel mutants, but factoring in the variability of the interactions between genes (polygenetics) means that not necessarily all the offspring will be marketable Candy Canes. We cull out the ones that do not satisfy our quality standards for Candy Cane color and pattern, and those are usually sold as Amel corns.

What to expect:

As neonates, all Candy Canes are shockingly red or orange on white, but with maturity, the white ground color becomes littered with a pale red or an orange blush – relegated mostly to the front part of the body. I don’t recall ever seeing one that was completely devoid of color litter over the entire ground zones, but we’re getting closer to that with each generation. Some of the hatchlings displaying orange markings mature to have redder markings, and some of those starting with red markings change to orange. About 75% of all our red ones stay red, and about the same percentage of the orange marked ones stay orange. If our High White Reverse Okeetee corns did not have such thick white borders, they would be perfect candy canes.

Important Note:
The advertising images on our web site are representations of the average adult example of each morph. These images are not renderings of the actual animals being offered, (except for uniquely offered snakes found in the SURPLUS section of this web site). We do not provide pictures of individual hatchling snakes for sale, nor do we recommend that you ever choose a new pet based on an image of its neonatal form. Corns change so dramatically from hatchling to adult, they will NEVER have the same colors or contrasts throughout maturity. While most of the snakes we produce will mature to resemble the featured adult image(s) on our web site, unlike manufactured products that are respectively clones of each other, the nature of polygenic variation results in each animal being similar but not identical to others of its morph. The snake we select for you may not mature to be identical to the pictured examples, but will be chosen based on our experience of observing which neonates will mature to properly represent their respective morph. We take this responsibility very seriously, and therefore publish the guarantee that we will exchange your SMR snake if it does not mature to be like our advertised examples.