As of May 31, 2014, currently out of stock, but 2014 hatchlings are now ready for shipping.
Palmetto (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Palmetto
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive to Wild-type
Morph Type: Simple recessive gene mutation
Eye Color: Black pupil and dirty white iris
Arguably the rarest and most beautiful corn snake yet.
NOTE: Male heterozygote and homozygote Palmettos will begin selling in 2015, and only 2015 hatchlings will be sold. Our marketing strategy of selling only female Palmettos until 2015 is practiced toward the goal of ensuring everyone that no one person will have the advantage of acquiring a male Palmetto before anyone else. Continuing that logic, 2016, we may sell a few 2015 yearlings, and after 2016, perhaps Adults can be purchased, but until then, everyone who owns a Palmetto is essentially on an even playing field with all other Palmetto owners.
At this time, there is no doubt that The Palmetto is the first
leucistic mutation of the corn snake. Arguably, the Palmetto is THE most beautiful corn snake mutant to be discovered, so demand is high, even for the unprecedented price. Like all corn snake mutants, the Palmetto will eventually increase in market supply, thereby decreasing in price. That said, we anticipate that Palmetto corns will remain expensive longer than any previous mutation. To consumers who buy one for a pet, this reads like we’re proud of the fact that they have a lofty price, but that is not the case. In the realm of making Palmetto Corns a worthy serpent investment, we hope that our revolutionary marketing plan not to sell males for several years will indeed render them attractive to investors who seek to increase profits of corn snake sales. They will never cost as much as new Hognose Snake Mutations ($10,000.00 usd and above) and certainly not as much as new and different Ball Python Mutations that command prices between $10,000.00 usd and $60,000.00 usd each. If memory serves me, the first all-white Ball Pythons sold for more than $125,000.00 each. Hence, Palmettos may end up being the most expensive corn snake in history, but as it is with all new snake morphs, their opening market pricing is directed toward investors. Eventually, like all other corn morphs before it, the Palmetto will have a market value under $1,000.00 usd.
Because Palmettos are a variant of the Leucistic mutation, their iris is some shade of gray or silver. Besides the predominantly white body color, expect the hatchlings to have pink where they will later be stark white and barely show any of the color flecking that makes Palmettos so attractive. Within a few months, the colors that are visible on some scales will slowly saturate, but in addition, additional red or orange flecks or smudges will materialize, adding to overall color volume. By 1.5-2 years of age, most of the color flecks and smudges will have reached their mature color and the pink is nearly finished converting to white. At any age/size, the Palmetto is shocking in appearance, if not impossibly beautiful.
PRICE ?
In 2011, we pre-sold 2012 Palmettos for $4,000.00 USD each, but only females were (and still are) offered. We likely will not sell any males until 2015, or later. Likewise, no
heterozygote males will be sold until 2015, or later. This is in an effort to break the corn snake market trend of over-producing rare morphs, only to have their market values plummet from supplies that exceed demand. Such a marketing tactic is important so people hoping to invest in this unique corn snake will be assured that they have a fighting chance of gaining a handsome return on investment, since there will be fewer initial breeders in the market. In 2011, the patriarch male was bred to only three het females (normal corns
Het for Palmetto), so you can see that I’m not on a mission to produce buckets of Palmettos in the coming years, hastening their devaluation. My promise to those who invest in this beautiful corn snake morph is that I will not be the first (or second) to lower their price. You may count on SMR holding the $4,000.00 price LONGER than the first of our customers and competitors to lower market value.
Before having the adult wild-caught male Palmetto shipped to me from South Carolina, I sent an adult female Amel corn to Daryl Camby (the person who purchased the wild caught male for me) just in case something were to go wrong in transit to Texas. It was near the end of the 2009 breeding season, but I still had a few receptive females, so I shipped one to SC in hopes that the Palmetto male was in the mood to breed her. Some snakes (especially males) are reluctant to breed immediately after being shipped, and some can even arrive at their shipping destination with dead sperm. If something HAD gone wrong in shipping and/or the Palmetto had refused to breed that season, getting on first base – toward the home run of reproducing this phenotype – may have taken an extra year. After Daryl introduced the male Palmetto to the novel female corn I shipped, and after copulation confirmation, the inseminated female was shipped back to Texas. After she arrived safely, the male Palmetto was shipped – and the rest – as they say – will become corn snake history.
Status of the Palmetto in the marketplace:
The adult male we have that was captured in the wilds of South Carolina in 2008 is the only one known to exist and at this time, and SMR is the only place in the world where Palmetto Corns exist at this time.
PRICE ?
Even though Palmettos are listed with the 2012 Hatchlings, none will be sold this year. In 2012, we began selling Palmettos for $4,000.00 USD each, but only females are being offered.
Heterozygous females began selling in 2012 for $2,000.00 USD each and no males of any color are being sold until 2015, or later. This is in an effort to break the corn snake market trend of over-producing rare morphs, only to have their market values plummet from supplies that exceed demand. In 2011, the patriarch male was bred to three females only (normal corns
Het for Palmetto), so you can see that I’m not on a mission to produce buckets of Palmettos in the coming years. My promise to those who invest in this unique morph is that I will not be the first (or second – or third) to lower their price. You may count on SMR holding the $4,000.00 price LONGER than other future producers. At the time of that publication, we are managing a chronological list of Palmetto customers. In the order in which they were ordered, once we begin offering male Palmettos, those who previously bought females will be offered males first. After those patrons are served, if any males are left, they will be sold at large. We anticipate selling male homozygotes and heterozygotes in 2015, but it’s remotely possible that we may wait until 2016.
Update – July 6, 2011 :
After 62 DAYs of incubation at an average (and nearly constant) 82.4o F. the first captive-produced Palmetto was born (emerged from her egg) toDAY – July 6, 2011, at 6:25 pm, cdt. She spans 10.6″ in length and tips the scales at a whopping 6 grams (later weighed at 5 greams – after yolk digestion). It’s difficult to say how much like her wild-caught father she will be at maturity, but her general appearance is just what I’d imagine her father to have been when he was her age. Five of the 13 eggs in her brood yielded Palmettos, and the rest are visual normals. All five Palmettos are virtual clones of each other, possessing nearly the same disbursement of color flecking seen on their father, but of course, each is unique regarding color flecking locations – not unlike unique fingerprints on humans. We’re naturally pleased to announce that Palmettos are officially gene mutants that are recessively inherited. We’ll post more pictures as our Palmetto family grows.
How the Palmetto got its name:
A perfectly natural trend exists in herpetoculture toDAY to sometimes hastily assign hopefully unique names to newly-discovered mutations or traits, but in the haste that often drives such assignments – usually via desire to be the first to name the new morph – insufficient consideration is given to the potential that the bulk of the phenotypes of the new morph may not have immediate and parallel association with the new name. Historically, in our hobby, upon reading the name of a new corn snake morph, one should conjure a mental expectation before seeing it, and if that expectation is met, the morph will usually be successful in the marketplace. Because of the highly colorful nature of corn snake mutations and their selective variants, namesakes are usually colors, fruits, or candies. If the person naming the morph did his/her homework, the chosen names are accurate most of the time, but sometimes, it is discovered that not enough individuals were examined prior to naming. This can result in the new morph name not accurately reflecting the appearance of most members of that morph. In the absence of a regulating entity governing such name assignments, and because patents are not granted for corn snake morphs, anyone can assign names to corn snake morphs that they discover. As it usually is with any product, success is ultimately dictated by the consumers. If they like the name, it sticks. This is notably demonstrated when two or more people producing the same morph have assigned different names to it. One of those names usually wins out over the other(s), but there are cases where more than one name applies to the same morph, and a descriptor denotes the genetic family (usually the name of the respective gene/trait discoverer).
I labored over many names I thought would be perfect for this exciting and new morph – and some that could be adequate – but most were already assigned to other corn snake morphs. Keeping in mind that this particular snake may look less like a chosen namesake than its descendants, I was dubious about using a color, pattern, or familiar and commonly recognizable namesake. Therefore, in favor of a name that did not require a mental or visual association – I Palmetto was assigned to this beautiful corn snake. Of course, the name is associated with the state in which this snake was captured; South Carolina (aka:The Palmetto State).
How can you be sure this is a corn snake, Don?
In the absence of DNA testing, it’s not possible to make a 100% positive genetic identification, but there are enough markers for me to say it is a pure corn snake. Most reptile mutants have features that are anomalous to their
nominate forms, and such
anomalies can be beyond the obvious habitat ranges and color & pattern features that normally distinguish them. Of course, not unlike the
Leucistic Rat Snake that lacks any color or pattern resemblance to its species phenotype, the color and pattern of the Palmetto looks nothing like ANY snake species. Other than telling you that this snake was viewed by many corn snake keepers and breeders at one or more reptile shows prior to acquiring it, and was thoroughly and painstakingly photographed by Bill Love of
Blue Chameleon Ventures, I have closely compared the Palmetto’s anatomical features to those of Corn Snakes (Pantherophis guttatus) and the only U.S. Rat Snakes found where this one was captured – (Black and Yellow Rat Snakes;
Pantherophis obsoletus obsoletus and
Pantherophis obsoletus quadrivittata). In that those are the only two U.S. Rat Snake species that naturally occur in the vicinity of where the wild-caught male was captured, all Rat Snake references hereafter in the Palmetto morph discussion refer collectively to Black Rats and Yellow Rats – unless otherwise noted.
The Palmetto’s anal plate is divided like both Corn Snake and Rat Snake species, dorsal and lateral scales that are keeled conform more to Corns than Rat Snakes (even though scale keeling is variable in captive-bred individuals of both species), the larger radius of The Palmetto’s ventral keel is like that of the Corn, vs. the sharper ventral keel of the Rat Snake, facial scales are generally shaped more like a Corn than a Rat Snake (count ranges are essentially the same for both species), and the Palmetto’s 70 subcaudal scale count barely overlaps the 63-90 count of the Black Rat Snake (not rare), but is well below the 75-102 count for Yellow Rat Snakes (P. o. quadrivittata) – thereby largely eliminating the Yellow Rat Snake as a genetic donor. Bear in mind that other than average adult size and DNA comparisons from reliable baseline samples, the primary distinction between Corn Snakes and the SC Rat Snakes is in the realm of appearance (color and pattern schemes), so when a mutation dramatically deviates from a species’ appearance standards, cousin species like Corns and Rat Snakes are sometimes difficult to differentiate. Since temperament can be respectively anomalous in either of these species (some corns may perpetually bite and some Rat Snakes can be reliably friendly to humans), it is not reliable to attempt distinction in this realm. Distinguishing between two species that have similar scalation can sometimes be challenging, since they may overlap each others’ scale-count ranges (as is the case here). Likewise, exceptions in the realm of size in either species is inherent in both Corns and North American Rat Snakes (there are adult Corns larger than the average SC Rat Snake and vice-versa). Based on these observations, in my experienced opinion (and that of several other veteran Rat and Corn Snake keepers), the Palmetto is a corn snake. It may well be the first leucistic-type mutation to be discovered in corns; albeit historically unusual-looking for a leucistic serpent – with its predictable color flecking, never seen in North American Rat Snakes. Until we see more examples of Palmettos, we will not know the general appearance of this morph, but so far (as of July 8, 2011) the five F2 visual Palmettos are remarkably consistent in appearance to the original patriarch (above pictured adult). The eyes certainly are like most leucistic serpent mutants, as is the predominant white scalation. Many Leucistic Rat Snak
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Salmon Snow (aka: Coral Snow)
Most Commonly Used Name: Salmon Snow
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive & Dominant
Morph Type: Mutation Compound ( Anery & Amel) + Dominant Coral Mutation (Strawberry?)
Before describing Champagne Corns, first, a brief history on the Coral Snow.
Back in the 1980s when corn snake herpetoculture was in its infancy, Snow corns that had a pink or coral cast were called Coral Snows. Early in Corn Snake Herpetoculture, Snow corns were not as variable in color as they are toDAY. At the time when pink/coral ones were dubbed Coral Snows, it was only common to see snows in two tones of white; crisp white (aka: bone white Snows), or Coral. Back then, prediction of the coral coloration was hit-and-miss (some would start out with a blush of pink, but turn white on white) so in the absence of genetic data to explain the origin of the pink and/or coral colors, the name Coral became somewhat obscure from the hobby for many years. After that era, Jim Stelpflug at Southwest Wisconsin Reptiles was one of the first to predictably reproduce coral colored snows, and even though pinkish snows were still seen in the hobby, Jim was reliably reproducing them – and was even able to intensify the coral coloration in most. At that time, we mistakenly believed the genemutation responsible for pink or coral colored snows was the result of Snow corns that also possessed the Hypo A mutation. While some pink or coral colored Snows that were also Hypo mutants DID show a blush of pink, their pink cast rarely intensified to be remarkable in appearance, as is the case with Coral Snow Mutants of toDAY. Pink and Green Snows were not rare back then, and some of those demonstrated deeply saturated pink coloration. Again, the origin of that phenotype was (and to an extent, still is) poorly understood. In so much as most of the early Coral Snows originated from Jim Stelpflug at SWR (Southwest Wisconsin Reptiles), it appeared obvious that some mutation he had in his genetic inventory was causing his to be more colorful than others. The exaggerated pink/coral coloration is now believed by some to be the demonstration of the dominant-type mutation (Strawberry) that was also discovered/developed by Jim Stelpflug. This is believed to be THE color mutation responsible for the rich colors, if not ONE OF such mutations. I have not personally had reproductive results to validate this theory, and in a hobby that has so very many hidden mutations, perhaps Strawberry is just one of such mutations to cause such colors? Breeding trials are still ongoing in discovering more about this interesting (if not mysterious) mutation. It is not mysterious in terms of inheritance, but in that some non-Strawberry corns can exhibit similar colors – without being Coral/Strawberry mutants. It is not a given that every corn snake displaying inordinate amounts of pink or coral is a Strawberry mutant, but so far, breeding trials between the three most notable Coral Snow types (Salmon, Champagne, and Neon) have demonstrated that they are all at least elementally allelic (breeding any combintion of the three morphs renders Snow corns that have extreme saturation of pink, coral, or both). Hence, there may be other gene mutations or gene modifiers involved in one or all of those morphs, but they at least share the same mutational foundation that causes them to look remarkably pink/coral – unlike classic white-on-white Snows.
The general conclusion in the corn snake industry at this time is that any Snow corn that is also a Strawberry Mutant (thereby exhibiting a color predominance of pink and/or coral) is a Coral Snow. Any additional refrence to familial origins (i.e. Salmon, Champagne, or Neon) is merely a lineage descriptor that may prove valuable if and when it is determined that one or more of those bloodlines actually possesses additional mutations, or strongly influencing polygenic traits.
What to expect:
Champagne snows are thought to owe their general pink/coral coloration to a form of dominant mutation we categorically call CORAL, but breeding trials are ongoing to explain other mutations and/or polygenic traits render the finished product. The actual gene thought to influence the pink/coral coloration is the Strawberry Mutation, explained in the paragraph above. I use the name CHAMPAGNE SNOW and STRIPED CHAMPAGNE SNOW interchangeably because the original Champagne Snows were also Striped-type mutants. Since what causes them to have the color they do is actually the same gene as what causes other Coral-type Snows (Neons, Salmons, etc.) I only use the name Champagne when referring to the Striped-type pattern snow mutants. I say “striped-type” because a characteristic of MOST Champagne Snow mutants at this time is the somewhat unrecognizable Striped/Motley type pattern. It is often difficult to tell if the pattern is Stripe or Striped Motley. Usually, they display a bit of both. Hence, Striped Champagne Snows may sometimes actually be Striped Motley Champagne Snows. I have had limited success in cleaning up the pattern in this morph – to render classic stripes – but they’re virtually always broken up by “tweener” markings (markings that are neither wild-type, Striped, or Motley). Often the “tweener” markings take the form of ovals, rectangles, bowties, and so on. Like virtually all Snow corns, expect carotenoid yellow to manifest throughout maturity.
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.
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Honey Motley (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name:
Honey MotleyMode of Genetic Inheritance:
RecessiveMorph Type: Single Recessive Mutations of Sunkissed and Caramel
Eye Color: Black pupil & body ground colored iris
Most Honey corns are aptly named for their namesake with overal coloration resembling bee honey. Combining Sunkissed (the second hypomelanistic mutation to be discovered) with Caramel, Honey corns have soft and beautiful colors. Review SUNKISSED corns for more information about the distinguishing mutation that makes Honey Corns so appealing. Some features the Honey inherits from the Sunkissed mutant side of its family tree include:
- Generally grouchy demeanor toward humans.
- Head pattern that is odd and atypical for being a corn snake.
- Often elongated markings that are sometimes spaced farther apart than most corns.
- Atypical belly pattern; usually less than most corns and spaced sometimes oddly and not in the classic checkerboard pattern of most corns. Breeding Sunkissed (and therefore Honey) mutants to other corn snake mutations and morphs often promotes aberrant pattern from the SK or HO mutants of such pairings. Many SK and HO Motleys have considerably more belly markings, which is atypical since classic Motley mutants seldom have a single belly marking.
Enough of the odd characteristics of these beautiful mutants. If there is one negative stigma attached to this mutation, it’s surely the potential that the one you get may have a genetic defect sometimes called “star-gazer’s disorder”. The is called a lethal mutation since effects of the muation are not advantageous to the homozygote. Star-gazer’s causes the snake to have limited or aberrant control over balance. Similar neural disorders have been demonstrated in many animal species, and sometimes the cuase is viral. Also, the neural symptoms of this mutation parallel that of animals with certain parasites that retard balance control. Star-gazer’s in corn snakes it not a contagious disease or pathogen, so the only way your snake’s will get it is through genetics. It is inherited recessively, so some people that swear it is not lurking in the genes of their snakes, cannot really be certain of that – without controlled breeding trials. Only by breeding a suspect corn to a star-gazer homozygote or heterozygote can one determine the presence of the gene. Ideally, if you have any corns that MAY have this genetic mutation, you should breed it to a known homozygote. Even that is not proof positive, given that you must have at least 20 progeny (of which 100% are not afflicted with the disorder) in order to be reasonably assured that it’s not in your snake’s genome. This SG mutation was discovered in Sunkissed mutants, but it is not linked to the Sunkissed mutation. It has been reported in several other non-Sunkissed corns (mutant or not). Hence, if you discover you have a star-gazer mutant, it is recommended that you restrict it’s genes to creating “control” snakes that can be used by others to determine the presence or absence of the lethal gene in their snakes. Even though it is not transmitted like a viral pathogen, the danger of the gene inflicting many other breeding lines of snakes is likely and potentially disastrous, in the absence of breeding trials. Such trials are under way here at SMR (and with many breeders) and if/when we determine that any of our snakes are carriers of this lethal gene, they will be euthanized. BTW, if you think you’re safe because you have been breeding sunkissed corns (or any other corn snake type) for over four generations without seeing any homozygotes of the disorder, think again. If your first Sunkissed corn (or Okeetee or other type) was het for this mutation, it could take many generations for you to make the discovery. Since each snake hands one copy of its’ genotype to each of its’ progeny, potentially half of each generation could be heterozygotes. If you (or your customers) continually bred those heterozygotes to non genetic cariers of the mutation, only part of their progeny would inherit one copy of the mutation. If you were lucky in not seeing any sign of the gene in over four generations (or potentially unlucky, in this case), it does not follow that none of your snakes are carrying a copy of the gene. Until you pair two of them with a copy of the gene, it will continue to hide in the family tree. Several years ago, I bought three female Okeetees from a breeder that is now out of the corn snake trade/hobby. They were sold as being het for Sunkissed. I bred one of the females to one of my best Extreme Okeetees and sold the babies as Okeetees. Two years later, a customer called me to ask why some of the Okeetee babies she produced from the pair of Okeetees she got from me were doing the loopy, corkscrew locomotive thing. Because I had never produced a star-gazer homozygote, I naively ruled that out, but upon reviewing acquisition records, I identified that the parents of her mutants were the Okeetees het for Sunkissed. I immediately tracked down the other two customers who had purchased some of those, advising them that those snakes could be carriers of the lethal gene. I then euthanized the three adult female Okeetees I purchased from the other breeder. This lethal gene could be in hundreds or thousands of corns right now, and they don’t have to be Sunkissed corns. Hence, if you ever discover that you have the gene, advise all customers that purchased its progeny, and if you’re not going to use the carriers for producing TEST snakes for others, I recommend that you humanely euthanize them. By essentially eliminating them from the gene pool, you have take an important step toward eliminating this horrible gene.
Mixing the Sunkissed mutation with other color mutations and with pattern mutants is never disappointing. Except for the grouchy demeanor, I don’t recall seeing a single Sunkissed or Honey mutation compound I didn’t like. I know you’ll have fun mixing and matching them with other corn snake mutations and morphs.
What to expect:
As
neonates, they are fairly colorful and most of them keep and intensify that honey coloration. Some of mine actually appear to be greenish-gold in overall coloration. Some of the blotch marginal pattern only covers half of one scale each, rendering the vision of faint or pixelated pattern outlines outlines. The head pattern on most is difficult to explain, so we’ll just say it’s “un-cornly” – but tasteful. Most breeders hesitate to mention the scratch on the side of the new car you’re buying, but the only thing most Sunkissed and Honey mutants have in common (other than their beauty and genetic potential when bred to other mutants) is their low regard for human beings. We have a couple here that are predictable and “human friendly”, but fewer of the Honeys are that way – compared to their Sunkissed mutant counterparts. I see that trait somewhat diluted when we outcross them to other mutants, but it would be wrong not to warn you that most Sunkissed-type corns are not the pets you’d freely hand to the children.
Important Note:
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.
ONLY FEMALES ARE IN STOCK NOW (04-21-14).
Caramel Motley (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Caramel Motley
Mode of Genetic Inheritance:Recessive
Morph Type: Mutation Compound (Caramel & Motley)
Eye Color: Black pupil & body ground colored iris
This compound morph results from combining the color mutation, Caramel with the pattern mutation Motley. As Motley does in genetic union with most other color mutations of corns, the aggregate appearance of this compound morph is certainly improved. The mechanics of both base mutations are explained on the hyperlinked pages for Caramel and Motley.
What to expect:
Motley pattern is typically variable and color is also variable. Colors of hatchling can vary from gold to brown to a greenish hue and all shades of those colors. Some even resemble pale versions of anery mutants, but as adults all of ours mature to be shades of gold or brown.
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.
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Butter Motley (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name:
Butter MotleyMode of Genetic Inheritance:
RecessiveMorph Type: Mutation Compound (
Butter +
Motley)
Eye Color: Red pupil
This compound morph results from combining the color mutations Amel + Caramel = Butter and the pattern mutation, Motley. Color and pattern are variable, but it is apparent that the Motley mutation has a beneficial color impact upon the Butter corn’s coloration, and that impact is one of enhancement. I don’t recall ever seeing Striped or Motley Butter corns that was not more deeply yellow than Butter corns without a pattern mutation.
What to expect:
Expect most neonates to have surprisingly low-quality yellow (compared to adults), and pattern on some may actually be brown for up to a year or longer. I have personally never seen one retain non yellow colors, so be patient. In six to 18 months, all other colors should transform to yellow. The pattern mutation, Motley demonstrates its power when combined with butter by heavily saturating and otherwise improving the yellow – compared to non-Motley Butters.
Important Note:
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.
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Hurricane Anery Motley (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name:
Hurricane Anery MotleyMode of Genetic Inheritance:
Recessive Plus polygenetic pattern trait, Hurricane
Morph Type: Compound (Anery & Motley plus Hurricane pattern variation)
Eye Color: Black pupil
This compound morph results from combining the color mutation Anery with the pattern mutation Motley but also with a twist. Through selective-breeding, the hurricane pattern trait changes an otherwise ordinary Anery Motley into a Motley with noticeable and thick margins around the dorsal circles of the Motley pattern. Colors can range from dull gray to silver with black to jet black markings. The nearly perfect Motley circles on the back can run down the back from the neck to the half-way point, but in rare specimens they run nearly to the tail. The name “Hurricane” tags this Motley variant because the concentric borders of the dorsal circles of the pattern (where ground color insets the high degree of darker pattern) resemble the meteorological sign for hurricane storms. The hurricane markings are not the result of a gene mutation, but from selective breeding that promotes the concentric and thick borders of the dorsal circles between pattern zones. Adults are generally more colorful than hatchlings, but relative to the transformation of most corns from hatchling to adult, any Anery Motley will change very little throughout maturity. One of the genetic functions of Motley is to reduce or eliminate melanin pattern zones of black, making classic Anery Motleys show NO black circle boundaries, but Hurricane pattern variants seem to ignore this genetic trait of the classic Motley.
This image demonstrates the distinctino between a classic Anery Motley and a Hurricane Anery Motley variant. In some specimens, it appears as though all the pattern zones of an Anery Motley (darkest color) are reduced to a concentric black border of the circles of ground color on the dorsum.
What to expect:
Anery Motleys (classic or Hurricane variants) are one of the rare exceptions among corns in so much as their appearance from
neonate to adult changes very little. Expect mostly gray snakes with dark pattern margins that change very little in color intensity from hatchling to adult. Some have only a few of the classic Motley dorsal circles (often resembling a chain configuration) while some sport a long and contiguous “chain” pattern nearly all the way to the tail. Never expect to see such dorsal circles ON the tail itself. Patterns are often less distinct and colors are sometimes slighted softened in Motley mutants – compared to non-Motleys.
Important Note:
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.
MID~JULY, 2013 ANTICIPATED AVAILABILITY
Eye Color: Black pupil & body ground colored iris
Miami Phase (not to be confused with Locality Miami corns) being a non-mutant morph, it is not inherited recessively, and the polygenetic nature of trait modification normally results in a higher variety of coloration among morph members. While there is some variety among our Miami corns, the color alteration of gray and orange or brick red (from neonate to adult) demonstrated in this genetic line is remarkable.
What to expect:
As with most corn snake neonates, expect young Miamis to be lackluster for at least one year, and considerably darker than their adult parents. Compared to other corn snake morphs, relative to color changing through maturation, this line predictably demonstrates vibrant red or orange markings on a gray or silver background, beginning in their sub adult size. Reproducing wild-caught Miami locality corns can cause great frustration to snake breeders. Babies of the wild locality Miamis often do not want to eat anything other than lizards, but our Miami corns are voracious rodent feeders. We do not entice our babies to eat lizard-scented
pinky mice and such prey offerings are never altered (other than being hot water rinsed prior to being offered). Another trait of most locality Miami corns is that of being slightly smaller than most wild corns. In that Miami corns have been selectively bred for so many generations, most of ours reach predictably normal corn snake sizes, even though they hatch slightly smaller than most corn snakes.
Important Note:
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.
Amel Tessera (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Amel Tessera
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Dominant
Morph Type: Single Dominant Mutation (Tessera) & simple recessive (Amel)
Eye Color: RED pupil & body ground colored iris
FIRST, what makes Tesseras so expensive? Other than appearance, the primary (and inherent) value of Tessera-type Corns is their mode of inheritance. Since they are dominant to wild type, pairing any Tessera Type that is a Visual Het to ANY corn snake (other than a Tessera-type) will render 50% Tessera mutants in the F1 (first) out-crossed generation. The results of pairing an Tessera homozygote with ANY corn snake (other than a Tessera-type) will render 100% Tessera mutants.
Adding the AMEL mutation to TESSERA, obviously results in an Amelanistic Tessera. Because all Amel Tesseras are so close to original morph colors, expect to see more orange than red.
In 2007, Graham Criglow asked KJ Lodrigue to order a 1.2 trio of
Striped Motleys that were advertised on one of the popular Online Classified sites – since Graham’s job prevented him from personally receiving them at that time. When they arrived, KJ discovered that they constituted a 2.1 reverse trio (two males and one female) instead of the advertised 1.2 trio (one male and two females). KJ and Kasi recommended that Graham gift the extra male to me, and that’s what Graham did. Profound thanks to Graham, KJ, and Kasi for that gracious
and fortuitous gift. In 2008, both the Lodrigues and I independently bred our males (Graham’s and mine) to
novel (
unrelated) corns. I produced about 24
TESSERAS (
so named by the Lodrigues for the tessellated lateral markings) from over 50 fertile eggs, but since the Lodrigues were in the middle of a career move to another State, they were less fortunate, producing just four non-
mutant Okeetee-looking corns. My Tesseras were produced by the pairing of the male Tessera to three novel female corns (two
F1 Locality Okeetees from
Chip Bridges Rhett Butler Line and one Okeetee-ish female,
Het for Stripe and Amel). Imagine my surprise in seeing what we thought were nearly flawless Striped Motleys from three different females, only one of which was Het for a recessive pattern mutation? After the first brood of 50% Tesseras hatched from the female that was het for Stripe and Amel, except for the perfection of pattern, I was not thinking
new dominantmutation, but when both wild-type Okeetees produced the same results, it was obvious that a new mutation was discovered.
Upon receiving the reverse trio from the seller, we all commented on the mutual peculiarity of the phenotypes. Most appeared to be the most perfectly Striped Motleys ever seen – in so much as their dorsal stripes were nearly contiguous from neck to tail tip (something never before seen in any corn snake pattern mutant) – but that was hardly possible if the admission of the breeder were true – that they were products of pairing a Striped corn with an Okeetee corn. How could these descendants of a Striped corn bred to an Okeetee be Motley types, instead of Striped? It is still unclear if those 2.1 Tesseras were F1s (first familial generation) or F2s (the originator of this line is now out of the hobby and difficult to reach – for clarification). If these three Tesseras are F1s, my deduction is that the striped corn he used in the original pairing was actually Striped AND Tessera. Even if those three were F2s, the likelihood of the mutant patriarch being a Striped Tessera is strong.
What to expect:
At this early period in the Tessera’s resume, we still don’t know what phenotypic potentials exist. So far, the only trait(s) that are
atypical for a corn snake mutation is that many of the non-mutant siblings of Tessera types seem to have enhanced pattern and color features. So far, I don’t see any
hybrid markers, since the collateral sibling features to which I refer are –
so far – in the realm of improving existing corn snake features (i.e. some non-Tesseras have better, brighter, cleaner, and/or more consistent colors and markings).
Important Note:
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.
