Hypo (classic)

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Hypomelanistic A (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Hypo (hobby abbreviation)
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive
Morph Type: Mutation compound (Caramel + Hypo A)
Eye Color: Black pupil & body ground colored iris (it is rare, but some can be so hypomelanistic, their pupils are gray to dark red).


Hypo corns have a potentially confusing name.   I refer to the reality that they were named for the Latin/Greek derived term that best describes the genetic mechanics of this mutation — Hypo (greatly reduced) and melanism (black pigment).  Hence, we use the capitalized name Hypo to apply to this particular morph and lower case hypo referencing reduction of any color or pattern in other mutations (i.e. hypoerythrism). At this time, there are at least three other hypo-type mutations in corns (i.e. Lava, Sunkissed, Ultra).

What to expect:
Hatchlings are often darker than you’d expect a Hypo corn to look as an adult.  Through maturity, the dark ones usually lighten, and often diffuse pattern as well.  Many that once possessed black in their markings, lose it through maturation or it is rendered silver or gray.  Some will retain black checkering on the belly, while some will have checkering that appears to be gray or silver.  Expect neonates to be more pale than their wild-type counterparts.  The sloughed epidermis (shed skin) of Hypo corns should not exhibit black (it should be essentially featureless – like the shed skins of Amel types), since melanin in Hypos is relegated mostly to middle and lower dermal layers that do not slough. In other words, the epidermis of most hypo type corns does not contain the melanin we see in most corns.

General Note:
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 identical to each other, the nature of polygenic variation results in no two specimens being exactly the same.  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 replace your SMR snake if it does not mature to be like our advertised examples.