Author: admin

Stripe13

Stripe (aka: plural Striped)
Most Commonly Used Name: Striped
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive
Morph Type: Single recessive Mutation
Eye Color: Black pupil & body ground colored iris

 

The pattern gene mutation, Stripe, has been demonstrated in virtually every commonly kept snake species.  Of course, striping is the predominant wild-type pattern for many snake species (i.e. garter, ribbon snakes, yellow rat snakes).  In so much as pattern and behavior are linked – since cryptosis is the primary survival behavior of most blotched snakes and speed of flight is primary in most striped snakes – it would be highly unlikely for striped mutant corns to thrive in the wild.  Snakes with blotched patterns benefit from coiling up in the forest undergrowth where they are reasonably camouflaged.  Since a striped mutant corn snake would have the primary instinct to remain motion-less, imagine how fast it would be killed and/or eaten if it looked like a coiled rope in an otherwise chaotic ground-scape?

At this time, there are at least two striped-type corn snake mutants that are not allelic to the original Striped mutation (not counting the allelic Striped Motley); Terrazzo and Tessera.  Tessera usually demonstrates heavy tessellation pattern on the sides which is never seen on Terrazzo or Striped mutants.  Both Striped and Motley mutants are alleles of the same chromosome locus, but those are the only others . . . so far.  Hence, Terrazzo mutants (formerly called GRANITE corns) owe their appearance to a mutation on a locus other than that of Striped and Motley, so when you breed a Terrazzo mutant to a Striped mutant, neither of them are demonstrated in the progeny.  Presuming both parents of such unions possess no gene copies of other mutations, all the babies produced from Striped X Terrazzo mutants would be wild-type phenotypes.  Both Striped and Terrazzo mutations are capable of producing nearly pattern-less individuals.

Some corn snake keepers and breeders are unimpressed with the often bland appearance of Striped corns, but if you endeavor to make striped versions of other mutations, you must start with a Striped mutant.  Like so many corn snake morphs that are compounds of stripes and other colors and/or patterns, the Striped mutation often does more than just change the pattern.  Frequently, the overall contrast and/or coloration is also altered in the compound product.

 

 

What to expect:
Hatchling striped corns are just what you’d expect; a relatively solidly colored snake with darker longitudinal stripes that are parallel to the spine.  Unlike Ribbon and Garter Snakes, these stripes are NEVER contiguous from neck to tail tip, but outstandingly good examples of this mutation can have contiguous striping to the girdle (where the tail begins).  Otherwise, most Striped corns demonstrate rather good striping that begins at the neck, and runs tail-ward for about half the body.  Then, the stripes begin to break up into dashes that eventually fizzle out somewhere before reaching the tail.  In poorly striped examples, non-striped markings are sometimes exhibited on the dorsum in a form of random and dis-organized ovals or rectangles or bow-ties, etc..  Those usually fade with maturity and are sometimes difficult to see, except in strong lighting.  In striped mutants with wild-type color, the stripes may somewhat fade during maturation, and in some cases can even slowly fade and vanish through maturity.  In the extreme examples of such Striped variants, the stripes can completely (but slowly) disappear between hatching and reaching maturity.  Often, when mixing the striped pattern mutation with other pattern and/or color mutations, the stripes can be all-together absent.   There are completely pattern-less corns of all colors in our trade, but when you breed one of the pattern-less corns to a Striped mutant, a percentage of the progeny will be Striped mutants – demonstrating that they are not pattern-less mutants, but variations of the Striped mutation.  Perhaps the pattern-less or vanishing-striped individuals owe the gradual disappearance of their pattern to a gene modifier or a separate gene mutation?  Breeding trials are now under way in an effort to identify why some Striped corns lose their striping (or actually hatch without it).  Eventually, a pattern-less mutation will be discovered that is not allelic to this mutation.

 

In summary, the primary feature of this mutation (the striping) is highly variable in color-saturation, width, length, clutter, contiguity, breaking, restarting, vanishing, and even absence. Most Striped mutants have relatively consistent stripe width (see Striped VS Striped Motley comparison image below).  Expect the belly to be devoid of the classic corn snake checkering, but some colors and markings can be seen on some individuals.  These are usually relegated to dark stippling and/or one or multiple shades of the predominant body color of the snake.  It’s not uncommon for some Striped corns to have white bellies from the chin to half way back toward the tail, and fade into a pale version of the predominant body color for the remainder of the belly, including the tail.  Some have tiny black flecking over part of all of the belly, but never checkering.  The most common belly pattern I’ve seen in Striped corn mutants is color-less with traces of black stippling, usually following an elongate direction or stream. 

A comparison photograph of a Striped Amel corn and a Striped Amel Motley corn are shown below, so you can see the main distinction between stripes.  In this image, you can see that the pattern schemes are essentially reversed.  The Striped corn on the left has relatively little pattern zones (striping) relative to overall color and pattern, compared to the striped motley on the right that has very little ground color zone.  The Striped Motley on the right essentially has a linear zone of ground coloration between contiguous dorso–lateral striped markings.  The width of ground color zone between the dorso-lateral pattern stripes is the basic way to distinguish between Striped corns and Striped Motley corns.  BTW, Stripe and Motley are alleles of the same Chromosomal locus, but Motley is demonstrated as dominant over Stripe.

 

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.

2010-Pied-sided Bloodred – med

Pied-sided Bloodred (aka: p/s bloodreds)
Medium White Expression
Note:  Expect DIFFUSED and BLOODRED to be incorrectly but synonymously used in the hobby
Most Commonly used Name: Pied-sided Bloodred
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Selective Variation + Recessive
Morph Type: Single recessive mutation & selective variation
Eye Color:  Black pupil & body ground colored iris

Go to History for more details about the DIFFUSED / BLOODRED base mutation of this compound morph.

At this time, this author suspects that P/S Bloodreds owe their atypical white lateral and facial markings to polygenetic traits versus simple recessive mutation. It is sometimes difficult to determine the inheritance of a trait or mutation when expression of the atypical feature is highly variable.  In other words, are the Bloodred siblings of P/S Bloodreds not P/S Bloodreds OR are they P/S Bloodred mutants that are at the lowest end of the 0-to-10 scale for white expression?  When proving the mode of inheritance via evaluation of Mendelian Phenotype Proportions in a single brood of snakes, visual expression is crucial.  Hence, if the expression of white in this morph can be so extremely variable, when citing the ratio of visual mutants compared to visual non mutants, the very description of inheritance can be in doubt.  I therefore honestly don’t know if P/S Bloodreds owe their distinctive pied-sided white appearance to a recessive mutation OR polygenic trait modifications.

Aside from the random lateral white feature that is obvious in most members of this morph – compared to standard Bloodreds – is the extreme diffusion – even if they don’t demonstrate any of the randomly distributed white patches on the sides.  On most – even in the absence of lateral white patches – there is an obvious line of demarcation between the dorsal and lateral pattern fields – just above the half-way point on the sides (dorso–laterally).  This stark break line between dorsal and lateral markings also begs questions about the lateral white being a mutation OR variable expression of polygenetics. 

What to expect:
As neonates, P/S Bloodred corns are often heavily patterned (sides are generally faded or lacking typical lateral markings). Some exhibit black (or partially black) scales bordering some of the pattern blotches, and most of them have head patterns that are notably unlike those of typical corns. Like most SMR Bloodreds, P/S Bloodreds diffuse dramatically through maturity, thereby rendering adults that are nearly devoid of head markings, side markings, (any visible dorsal markings will be very faint).  There will be NO belly checkering, but ventral coloration can be all red, all white, or red and white (no black).  Many of the early Bloodred corns in the early 1990s were overly inbred and therefore suffered poor fertility (not to mention – the progeny of many of the first generations were stubbornly lizard lovers, refusing to eat pinky mice).  Thankfully, through out-crossing in our projects to improve or change colors and patterns, like virtually all Bloodreds, P/S Bloodreds do not rank high in the realms of sterility or reluctance to eat rodents.   In fact, there are some seasons in which Bloodreds are among the best feeders of our corn snake neonates.
The amount and random distribution of white that will be on Medium White Expression members of this morph are difficult to quantify.  As more are produced, the percentage of white on the three classes of this morph (Low white, Medium white, and High white) will be possible to grade.  Virtually all P/S Bloodreds randomly demonstrate the shocking white blotches only on the lower sides of their bodies – predominantly in the first half of their bodies.  Some will have one (or a few) white scales (or partially white scales) on their faces.  It is still rare for a SMR P/S Bloodred to have white on the sides that is disjunct to the belly white (not touching the belly color field).

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.

2010-Pied-sided Bloodred – high

Pied-sided Bloodred (aka: p/s bloodreds)
High White Expression
Note:  Expect DIFFUSED and BLOODRED to be incorrectly but synonymously used in the hobby
Most Commonly used Name: Pied-sided Bloodred
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Selective Variation + Recessive
Morph Type: Single recessive mutation & selective variation
Eye Color:  Black pupil & body ground colored iris

Go to History for more details about the DIFFUSED / BLOODRED base mutation of this compound morph.

At this time, this author suspects that P/S Bloodreds owe their atypical white lateral and facial markings to polygenetic traits versus simple recessive mutation. It is sometimes difficult to determine the inheritance of a trait or mutation when expression of the atypical feature is highly variable.  In other words, are the Bloodred siblings of P/S Bloodreds not P/S Bloodreds OR are they P/S Bloodred mutants that are at the lowest end of the 0-to-10 scale for white expression?  When proving the mode of inheritance via evaluation of Mendelian Phenotype Proportions in a single brood of snakes, visual expression is crucial.  Hence, if the expression of white in this morph can be so extremely variable, when citing the ratio of visual mutants compared to visual non mutants, the very description of inheritance can be in doubt.  I therefore honestly don’t know if P/S Bloodreds owe their distinctive pied-sided white appearance to a recessive mutation OR polygenic trait modifications.

Aside from the random lateral white feature that is obvious in most members of this morph – compared to standard Bloodreds – is the extreme diffusion – even if they don’t demonstrate any of the randomly distributed white patches on the sides.  On most – even in the absence of lateral white patches – there is an obvious line of demarcation between the dorsal and lateral pattern fields – just above the half-way point on the sides (dorso–laterally).  This stark break line between dorsal and lateral markings also begs questions about the lateral white being a mutation OR variable expression of polygenetics. 

What to expect:
As neonates, P/S Bloodred corns are often heavily patterned (sides are generally faded or lacking typical lateral markings). Some exhibit black (or partially black) scales bordering some of the pattern blotches, and most of them have head patterns that are notably unlike those of typical corns. Like most SMR Bloodreds, P/S Bloodreds diffuse dramatically through maturity, thereby rendering adults that are nearly devoid of head markings, side markings, (any visible dorsal markings will be very faint).  There will be NO belly checkering, but ventral coloration can be all red, all white, or red and white (no black).  Many of the early Bloodred corns in the early 1990s were overly inbred and therefore suffered poor fertility (not to mention – the progeny of many of the first generations were stubbornly lizard lovers, refusing to eat pinky mice).  Thankfully, through out-crossing in our projects to improve or change colors and patterns, like virtually all Bloodreds, P/S Bloodreds do not rank high in the realms of sterility or reluctance to eat rodents.   In fact, there are some seasons in which Bloodreds are among the best feeders of our corn snake neonates.
The amount and random distribution of white that will be on High White Expression members of this morph are difficult to quantify.  As more are produced, the percentage of white on the three classes of this morph (Low white, Medium white, and High white) will be possible to grade.  Virtually all P/S Bloodreds randomly demonstrate the shocking white blotches only on the lower sides of their bodies – predominantly in the first half of their bodies.  Some will have one (or a few) white scales (or partially white scales) on their faces.  It is still rare for a SMR P/S Bloodred to have white on the sides that is disjunct to the belly white (not touching the belly color field).

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.

Amel Tessera

(no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Amel Tessera
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Dominant
Morph Type: Dominant & Recessive Gene Mutations
Eye Color:  Red pupil
 
 

FIRST, what makes Tessera corns so expensive? Other than appearance, the inherent (and primary) value of Tessera-type Corns is their mode of inheritance.  Since they are genetically dominant to wild type, pairing any Ultra Type that is a Visual Het with ANY corn snake (other than a Tessera-type) will render 50% visual 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.


Amel Tesseras are virtually identical to exceptionally well patterned Striped Amel Motley in appearance, but that’s where the resemblance ends.  The remarkably consistent Striped Motley-type pattern that derives from the base mutation, Tessera, is in herited dominantly.  Hence, when you breed a Amel Tessera to a Amel, both Amels and Amel Tesseras (approximately 50/50) will comprise the F1s (First Generation Progeny).  No waiting one more generation to get pattern mutants, since Tessera is dominant to wild type.

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 behavior that is 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).
 
As hatchlings, Amel Tesseras look virtually identical to exceptionally patterned Striped Amel Motley.  Of course, the primary distinction is not visible.  It is that of the dominant inheritance. We’re still not quite sure what to tell you about the adult appearance of Amel Tesseras, as 2010 was the first year they were produced here.  Updated pictures will be made available as they mature.
 
 
History of the Tessera Mutation:
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 dominant mutation, 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 F1 s (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.

In the 100+ Tessera mutants produced by me as of Fall, 2010, I’m seeing the following features:
The most obvious advantage of having Tesseras in your breeding inventory (aside from their inherent beauty) is that because the mutation is dominantly inherited, 50% of every brood of corns from them will be Tessera mutants. With most other corn snake mutations, one must raise all the Het F1 progeny, and won’t receive any mutants until F2 reproduction (a task that can take four to six years).  In the course of adding Tessera to the myriad current patterns and colors of corns, an entirely new market is now in the making.

Predominantly contiguous dorsal striping is the most unique feature of most Tesseras.  Even when the stripe is broken, it resumes immediately thereafter (unlike Striped and Motley mutants whose dorsal striping never resumes with any degree of renewal). Roughly 1/3 of all that have been produced so far have no stripe breaks.  Another 1/3 or so have two to four stripe breaks, and the other 1/3 can have five to 20+ stripe breaks, but those breaks are merely interruptions of the stripe.  Not unlike very good Striped Motleys, many Tesseras have an interruption of stripe at the girdle (anatomical location – polar to the cloaca), but unlike Striped and Motley mutants, the dorsal stripe almost always continues to the tail tip.  Thus far, fully striped Tesseras have been produced from parents with some-to-many dorsal stripe breaks.  Hence, broken-striped Tesseras can produce fully striped striped Tesseras, even though their stripe is broken.  Incidentally, none of the original 2.1 original Tesseras in this line have complete dorsal striping, but many of their progeny and grand progeny do.

More than 2/3 of the Tesseras produced by me so far have atypically large amounts of black pigment in their non-ventral pattern — a feature roughly 1% of all Striped and Motley mutants have demonstrated to date.  Less than 1/4 of all Tesseras produced by me have little to no black in their markings, and these are mostly Striped Tesseras.

blps092013

FOR SALE
{simpleproduct:id=674}
DAY09201313 

This 2012 female low-white expression Pied-sided Bloodred Corn Snake shows very little lateral white but is capable of creating babies with more white than she has (if bred to another P/S Bloodred.  She is 26″ long and eating large frozen/thawed pinky mice.  Her $175.00 price includes U.S. FedEx Overnight service to any of the lower 48 contiguous United States. 

 

Leucistic Texas Rat Snake

Leucistic Texas Rat Snake Pantherophis obsoletus lindheimeri

Most Commonly Used Name: Leucistic Texas Rat
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive
Morph Type: Single Recessive Mutation
Eye Color: Black pupil & blue to silver iris

 

Leucism has been demonstrated in most vertebrate species of the world (not just snakes), and surely lurks in the collective genome of ALL vertebrates. In serpent herpetoculture, the Texas Rat Snake (Pantherophis obsoletus lindheimeri) is considered the first North American colubrid species to predictably reproduce the recessively inherited leucistic mutation.  Many snake keepers in the hobby toDAY believe that in the absence of visible color and markings, and adequate DNA data, it is virtually impossible to visually distinguish between the two cousin species, Black Rat Snake (P.o.obsoletus) and the Texas Rat Snake (P.o.lindheimeri) – hereafter referred to as LBR and LTR respectively – for convenience.   Therefore, the two subspecies may indeed have a common LTR ancestor. I have bred and sold LTRs for years, and 95% of them would bite me nearly every time I picked them up.  Most of the LTRs in our lines mature to average 6.4 feet in length.

 

 

lbr8

What to expect:

 

As hatchlings, LTRs are not white.  They are usually shades of pink at hatching, but quickly manifest to dirty white after their first shed (at approximately seven DAYs of post-egg age).  Some demonstrate what we believe to be visible water that is retained between skin layers, but that has not been proven.  If you see differently colored areas of white, randomly located on the snake, don’t be overly concerned, as it is probably something that all snakes have, but can’t visually demonstrate because of the colors they possess.  After several months of maturity, the dirty white coloration changes to a brighter white, until at maturity, they are white like the pictured examples on this web site.  Approximately 20% of all I have produced over the year will have one or two randomly located color spots on them.  Not to the extent of the Palmetto, but the similarity of those color spots will remind you of the many different color spots seen on the Palmetto.  Are Palmettos actually leucistic mutants?  We may know in a few short years, but at this time, there are not enough to form a hypothesis.
 
 

 

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.

Leucistic Texas Rat Snake

Leucistic Black Rat Snake Pantherophis obsoletus

Most Commonly Used Name: Leucistic Black Rat
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive
Morph Type: Single Recessive Mutation

Eye Color: Black pupil & blue to silver iris


Believe it or not, Leucistic Rat Snakes ARE from Planet Earth. Leucism has been demonstrated in most vertebrate species of the world (not only snaks), and surely lurks in the collective genome of ALL vertebrates.  The first leucistic snake mutant species to be popularized in herpetoculture was discoverd in the Texas Rat Snake, Pantherophis obsoletus lindheimeri. Many snake keepers in the hobby believe that since it is virtually impossible to visually distinguish between the two cousin species, Black Rat Snake (Pantherophis obsoletus obsoletus) and the Texas Rat Snake (Pantherophis obsoletus lindheimeri) that essentially have identical scalation and body conformation – and in the absence of visible markings – Leucistic Black Rats (LBR for convnience in this discussion) may actually be Leucistic Texas Rats.  I too was skeptical that the LBR version of this mutation in the hobby that co-incidentally had higher value AND was conveniently impossible to distinguish from it’s virtually identical Texas Rat cousin (LTR for discussion convenience).  In the absence of DNA evidence, I can only tell you this.  After I purchased some from a dealer – and after we both agreed that they may be a tough sell since the likelihood of the only two large North American leucistic mutants not intergrades of Black Rat x Texas Rat was obviously high – I DID notice a significant difference between the two species.  I have bred and sold LTRs for years, and 98% of them would bite me nearly every time I picked them up.  In the first generation of the LBRs I had – less than 50% would eagerly draw blood from me.  We seldom handle our snakes, but of my LBR customers that reported back to me, only 25% of them said theirs were biters – compared to roughly 80% of my LTR customers.  I’ve also noticed that my line of LBRs seldom grow to be as large as the average leucistic Black Rat – which is odd since the nominate race (Black Rat Snakes) is generally larger than their Texas cousins – even though there are monstrously large Texas Rats down here.  My Texas Rat leucistic mutants average 6.4 feet in length, while our average Black Rat leucistic mutants average 5.5 feet in length. 


lbr8

What to expect:

As hatchlings, LBRs are not white.  They are usually shades of pink at hatching, but quickly manifest to dirty white after their first shed (at approximately seven DAYs of post-egg age).  Some demonstrate what we believe to be visible water that is retained between skin layers, but that has not been proven.  If you see differently colored areas of white, randomly located on the snake, don’t be overly concerned, as it is probably something that all snakes have, but can’t visually demonstrate because of the colors they possess.  After several months of maturity, the dirty white coloration changes to a brighter white, until at maturity, they are white like the pictured examples on this web site.  Approximately 20% of all I have produced over the year will have one or two randomly located color spots on them.  Not to the extent of the Palmetto, but the similarity of those color spots will remind you of the many different color spots seen on the Palmetto.  Are Palmettos actually leucistic mutants?  We may know in a few short years, but at this time, there are not enough to form a hypothesis.


 

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.

Glossary Term Hyperlinks: