Charcoal – SMR Archive

Charcoal (aka: anery B, Pine Island Anery)

Most Commonly Used Name: Charcoal
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive
Morph Type: Single Recessive Mutation

Eye Color: Black pupil & body ground colored iris

The second anerythristic-type mutation discovered in corn snakes (Anery A was the first), Charcoal corns were originally named for the origin of the first one to be discovered; Pine Island – off the Florida Coast. Originally mis-perceived to be a variant of the Anery A mutation, the first one was bred to a Snow corn, in a presumed effort to use this new-looking anery type to alter the appearance of typical Anerys and Snows. Subsequent generational results demonstrated that this was not an allele of the first anerythristic-type corn; Anery A.

Many of the original Charcoal corns lacked yellow. Yellow was not common in the first generations of this morph, since early specimens apparently lacked the dietary carotenoid yellow trait/mutation common in most Anery corns. Even toDAY, some Charcoal and Blizzard corns are devoid of yellow as adults, but in so much as that original specimen was quickly bred to a Snow corn, the carotenoid retention trait/gene is annoyingly persistent in most family lines of Charcoals and Blizzards. Breeding trials to identify the mechanics and inheritance of the carotenoid retention trait/gene are on-going.

What to expect:

Possibly one of the most unchanging of all corns in the realm of appearance from hatchling to adult, neonates have an overall gray or bluish appearance. Neonates often have a blush of pink or lavender around the sides of the face and neck, and some of those carry that color to adulthood. Whether the one you get will mature to have yellow (or won’t), never expect to see yellow on neonates. One obvious distinction between Anery and Charcoal corns (neonate or adult) is eye color. In Anery corns, there is an obvious contrast between the iris and pupil of the eyes. Most Charcoal corns show little or no contrast, having the same jet black pupils of Anery corns, but a much darker and sometimes equally black iris. Throughout maturity, the eyes of both Anerys and Charcoals may change slightly, but and adults, the distinction between hatchlings remains the same. Most of my corn snakes that are genetically both Anery and Charcoal are phenotypically Charcoal. I’ve spoken to other breeders that say some of their double mutants more closely resembled Anery types.

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.