Category: Morphs

Blizzard 2014

Blizzard (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Blizzard
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive
Morph Type: Double Mutation Compound (Amel & Charcoal)
Eye Color: RED pupil

 

The Blizzard corn is the finished product of combining the two recessive color mutations, Amel and Charcoal.  If you pair a Blizzard with a non Blizzard, Amel, or Charcoal, in the absence of any other mutations in these snakes, 100% of the progeny will be common corns that are heterozygous for Amel and Charcoal.  By then breeding two of these F1 snakes together, you will get approximately one Blizzard for every 16 hatchlings — in addition to some wild-types, Amels , and Charcoals.

  

What to expect:
As hatchlings, Blizzards can be nearly patternless, mildly patterned (dirty white or cream on white or pink ground zones), or heavily patterned, but no yellow will be present.  As adults, some Blizzards mature to be completely white and virtually pattern-less (although pattern is usually obvious in strong light or flash photography).  Most adult Blizzards at this time show obvious yellow which is the result of carotenoid retention from diet – which slowly manifests throughout maturity.  Early in corn snake herpetoculture, the majority of Blizzard corns lacked most (or all) such yellow, but through subsequent breeding to change the patterns of Blizzards, the trait for manifesting yellow was infused into many genetic families.  Breeding trials are ongoing — in an effort to create family lines that are devoid of this color feature.  This should result in the general appearance of white and pattern-less corns.

 

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.

 

 

Okeetee Extreme 2014

EXTREME OKEETEE (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Extreme Okeetee
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Dominant (wild-type) + Selective Variation
Morph Type: Selective Variation of wild-type
Eye Color:  Black pupil & body ground colored iris

 

Arguably the most famous example of a corn snake morph named for its geographic origins, the Okeetee is also considered to be the most beautiful non-mutant corn snake in the species.  First popularized by Carl Kauffeld in at least two books describing his field discoveries of this beautiful and robust race of corn snake on or near the Okeetee Hunt Club in South Carolina, Okeetees have since been selectively bred for extremely bright and saturated colors.  When we say locality Okeetee, we are referring to animals whose genetic origins can be traced to the Jasper County, South Carolina region.  Okeetees that have been selectively bred for appearance and consequently satisfy a visual hobby standard are sometimes called Okeetee morphs, but more often are called simply Okeetee corns.

Okeetees (in the hobby) are a premier example of the promotion of polygenic traits through selective breeding.  By breeding together specimens with desired characteristics, through generational selection of pairing only the ones with the desired features, it doesn’t take long to render stunning examples of the morph – without the aid of gene mutations.  Please, do not attempt to hunt for Okeetee corns on private property.  The Okeetee Hunt Club in South Carolina expressly forbids trespassing, and it is possible to be arrested, if caught on their land without express written permission.

Okeetees have since been selectively bred for extremely bright and saturated colors. When we say locality Okeetee, we are referring to animals whose genetic origins can be traced to the Jasper County, South Carolina region. There is nothing magic about the Hunt Club that makes only animals in that area outstanding looking. Corns in other states of the Corn Snake’s range can be just as beautiful, but proportionally speaking, the corns from this region out-number those that have inferior color and pattern.  Okeetees that have been selectively bred for appearance and consequently satisfy a visual hobby standard are sometimes called Okeetee morphs, but more often are called simply Okeetee corns.

 

What to expect:
Oddly, most of the best Okeetees we produce are the least beautiful – as hatchlings.  If you tossed a good Okeetee in a bucket of hatchling common corns, you’d likely not identify it until after several months of maturity.  Neonates should show bold black blotch margins, but until one or two sheds, the bright ground colors are not obvious.  By that time, blotch colors are beginning to show, and adult Okeetees should have clean (low color freckling) ground and blotch color zones, separated by noticeably broad, black borders.  Most of the spectacular examples of this morph are so good, they are sold by other names in the hobby – and are consequently more expensive (i.e. Extreme Okeetees, Buckskin Okeetees, Banded Okeetees).  Another notable feature of this morph is its robust size and feeding vigor.  Okeetees (which CAN have orange on their bellies – but is relatively rare at this time) have the most spectacular black and white checkered bellies, compared to other wild-type corns.
 
 
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Do not expect any hatchling/neonate Okeetee to look anything like the adults.  This picture shows an adult female Extreme Okeetee with several of her newly hatched babies (no, she was not present when they hatched in the incubator).  This adult looked exactly like the babies shown in this image when she was their size.

 

 

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.

 

Ultramel Bloodred-2014

Ultramel Bloodred (aka: Diffused Ultramel)
Most Commonly Used Name: Ultramel Bloodred
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Codominant with Amel
Morph Type: Codominant only with Amel
Eye Color: Dark Red pupil & body ground colored iris
 
Note:  Ultramel is the heterozygote of the the mutation, Ultra.
See ULTRamel for an explanation of the genetic mechanics of the ULTRA codominant mutation.

 

 

INTERSPECIES  HYBRID

The founder (discoverer) of the Ultra mutation states that he originally paired a gray rat snake with a corn snake, in the discovery of this mutation.  By the time most of us were made aware of the HYBRID origins of Ultra types (originally named Ultra Hypos), we had already bred it into many other corn snake mutations.  It was therefore collectively decided that in so much as it would be virtually impossible to track down (and eliminate) each and every snake containing the Ultra gene (surely thousands of individuals in the collections of hundreds of breeders and keepers), the mutation would be treated like other pure corns.  In so much as it generally did not alter the corn snake appearance, it was known that even if peoples’ snakes had the Ultra gene mutation, they would either be unaware or could avoid mentioning it.  Those of you out there that are boycotting HYBRID corns are advised to avoid acquisition of suspicious-looking corns with the word ULTRA in the morph description. Likewise, purists that admirably endeavor to promote only the genetically purest of corns are urged to question corns that have suspiciously abnormal features that have been historically identified as hybrid markers.  Not that all such markers are proof of alien origins. Especially because of the difficulty and expense of formulating a DNA base line for all North American colubrid snake species, and in the absence of expensive DNA testing to identify authenticity of pure corns, without obvious visual and/or genetic distinctions, identification of legitimately pure (or impure) corns is difficult at this time, if not completely impossible.
 

Other than appearance, the primary (and inherent) value of Ultra Type Corns (Ultras and Ultramels and their color and pattern compounds) is their mode of genetic inheritance.  Since they are co-dominant to Amelanistics, pairing any Ultra Type to ANY Amel corn (or Het thereof) will render Ultra types in the F1 (first) generation of out-crossing to non-Ultra type corns.  The results of pairing an Ultra-type with a non-Amel corn (or Het thereof) will render Mendelian results that parallel recessively-inherited mutations; no Ultra-types will result and all progeny will be Het for Ultra when bred to non-Amels.

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

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.

 

 

Palmetto 2014

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Palmetto 
Most Commonly Used Name: Palmetto
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Dominant to Wild-type
Morph Type: Leucistic
Eye Color: Black pupil or dirty white to silver iris
Price: $4,000.00 usd – DOMESTIC SHIPPING INCLUDED

 
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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 at that time.  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.    
 
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, and those will be 2015 hatchlings only.  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.  
  

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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 inherited in a dominant fashion.  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.  A friend in South Carolina recommended that I call them PALMETTO CORNS for the state where the famous male was captured.  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.

Palmetto Corn SnakeThe 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.  

Update: 2014

By 2014 summer’s end, we have now hatched four Palmetto corns with abnormally large eyes.  We believe that this collateral condition (not exhibited in Het Palmettos) is just like that of “Bug Eyes” demonstrated in other leucistic serpents, i.e., Leucistic Gray-banded Kingsnakes, leucistic Texas Ratsnakes, leucistic Texas Ratsnakes, and other species.  Read more about this by clicking on this hyperlink:  

httpss://www.corn snake.

Snow 2014

Snow (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Snow
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive
Morph Type: Mutation Compound (Amel&Anery)
Eye Color: Red pupil

 

The first compound mutation in corns, Snow corns (genetically, Anery Amels) are the F2 finished product of pairing an Amel with an Anery.  Both base mutation phenotypes are obviously supplanted with different shades of white (no Amel or Anery traits showing). Pairing an Amel with an Anery yields 100% wild phenotypes (common corns) that are of course all Heterozygous (abbr. Het) for both Amel and Anery. In so much as both base gene mutations are inherited in simple recession fashion, approximately one out of 16 of the F2 progeny will be a Snow.  Of course, there will be NO black on any snow corn that lacks the genetic impacts of other mutations.  Sometimes, black is visible in parts of the eye, but this is not melanin.  It is eye tissue whose density defies light reflection, so it appears to us to be black.  At this time, many breeders are changing the colors of Snow corns through the addition of other gene mutations that alter the mature phenotype.

 

 

What to expect:
Since they have been commonly bred for so long, there is a wide variety of different color schemes in Snow corns.  As hatchlings, most are some shade of white with contrasting white or pink markings, but most end up being off-white with dirty white markings.  Pink can show through on adults and yellow is becoming a fairly common color in adult snows (not the carotenoid yellow that manifests through maturity from retention of carotenoids in their diets).  Such non-carotenoid retained yellow is sometimes mixed in the ground color, sometimes only in the markings, sometimes only in the boundaries of the blotches, and any combination thereof.

 

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.

 

 

Coral Snow 2014

Coral Snow (aka: Champagne, Neon, Salmon, Snow) 

Most Commonly Used Name: Coral Snow
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive & Dominant
Morph Type: Mutation Compound ( Anery & Amel) + Dominant RED MASK Mutation (?Strawberry?)

Eye color:  RED pupils

 

The Coral Snow-types featured here are general in nature.  That is to say, when we cannot denote heritage to respective Salmon, Neon, Bubblegum, or Champagne lines, we generically call them Coral Snows. 

 
Before describing Coral Snow Corns, first, a brief history of 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. Back then, 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 mature to be white on white) so in the absence of genetic test 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 gene mutation responsible for pink or coral colored snows was the result of Snow corns also possessing both copies of 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 toward 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.

 

Therefore, here at SMR, we consider any Snow (or ghost) that exhibits exaggerated/remarkable pink or coral colors to be one of several different family lines of the general group we call CORAL SNOWS.  Below are those popular lines;
  • Salmon
  • Champagne
  • Neon (a refinement of Lloyd Lemke’s Bubblegum Snow)

Pairing any two of these popular lines (and other similar lines) will render snows that demonstrate exaggeration of the pink or coral colors.  Instead of Strawberry (because enough evidence points to more than one gene causing this coloration) we generally call the gene Red Mask or Red Factor.  Therefore, you could call any of these lines simply, Coral Snows.  

What to expect:
As hatchlings, any CORAL-type Snow corn exhibits some degree of pink or coral (compared to snows without the gene mutation being just two shades of white).  Throughout ontogeny (maturity) all corns dramatically change from usually drab coloration to spectacular coloration.  Even if a Coral-type Snow only has a little of the pink or coral expression as a hatchling, it’s guaranteed that such colors will be at least doubled in color saturation and intensity.  Lately, some demonstrate extremely saturated pink or coral as hatchlings.  Those individuals also super-saturate colors through maturity and are guaranteed to be more colorful than average Coral-type Snows.  The scheme of colors is highly variable from Coral markings on a barely pink ground color, Pink on Coral, Coral on white, Coral markings with greenish margins-on a white ground zone, greenish ground coloration with pink markings, some of which are bounded by white blotch margins, and every conceivable and inconceivable combinations thereof.  It is generally expected that several genes comprise the variety of pink/coral color schemes demonstrated in Coral Snow-types toDAY.  

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.

Palmetto 2014

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Palmetto Het 
Most Commonly Used Name: Palmetto
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Dominant to Wild-type
Morph Type: Leucistic
Eye Color: Black pupil or dirty white to silver iris
Price: $4,000.00 usd – DOMESTIC SHIPPING INCLUDED

 

 
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. 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 from 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 affordable to the masses.  
 
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 lot of our customers and competitors.  
  

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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.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. 

PRICE ?

In 2012, we began selling Palmettos for $4,000.00 USD each, but only females were offered.  Heterozygous females began selling in 2012 for $2,000.00 USD each and no males of any color were sold until 2015.  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. 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 grams – 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 dominant to wild-type, making most of their F1 progeny VISUAL HETS that have a phenotype other than wild-type (most look like hypomelanistic mutants).  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, after suggestions from many people, in favor of a name that did not require a mental or visual association, 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.

Palmetto Corn SnakeThe 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 Snakes have one (or a scant few) “smudges” of color on them, but far fewer than the first five captive specimens exhibit, and those color anomalies are generally much smaller than seen on this Palmetto. It is rare to see more than one or two such color smudges on Leucistic Black or Texas Rat Snakes, and as you can see on Palmettos, there are dozens (if not hundreds) of scales that have deeply defined colors AND far too many color smudges like the few that are seen on some Leucistic Rat Snakes.  Among the many hundreds of Leucistic Texas and Black Rat Snakes I’ve produced and many more that I have seen in the industry, I estimate that only one of every ten of them have color anomalies (smudges), and at least three times rarer are ones that have more than one small color smudge.

 

Hurricane Snow Motley 2014

Hurricane Snow Motley (no aka)

Most Commonly Used Name: Hurricane Snow Motley
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive Plus polygenetic pattern trait, Hurricane
Morph Type: Compound (Anery, Amel, & Motley plus Hurricane pattern variation)

Eye Color: Red pupil

This compound morph results from combining the color mutations Anery and Amel = Snow with the pattern mutation Motley but also with a twist.  Through selective-breeding, the hurricane pattern trait changes an otherwise ordinary Snow Motley into a Motley with noticeable and thick margins around the dorsal circles of the Motley pattern.  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 Snow 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 Snow Motleys show NO black circle boundaries, but Hurricane pattern variants seem to ignore this genetic trait of the classic Motley.

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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:
Snow 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.

 

 

 

 

Kastanie-German Line 2014

Kastanie (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Kastanie (German for Chestnut, it’s pronounced Kuh-stawn-yuh)
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive
Morph Type: Single Recessive Mutation
Eye Color:  Black pupil & body ground-colored iris

 

First discovered by a German Corn Snake breeder, Frank Schaub, the Kastanie is a color mutation that is recessive to wild-type.  We have been breeding them for many years, but they were called Rosy Bloodreds.  The Rosy reason for that name turned out to be the Kastanie mutation causing the color namesake of the Rosy Bloodreds.  Ours originated from a collector who found a pair of Rosy Rats in the upper keys of Florida.  He bred them together and got nothing but more Rosy Rats (Key Corns), but when he bred two of those together, 1/4 of the brood was what we now call Kastanies.  

The German line of Kastanies from Frank’s German lineage are often slightly less-brightly colored as adults than most U.S. Kastanies, but have more beautiful deep and rich dark reds and the head and neck of the German Kastanies are much redder than the U.S. line.  I personally prefer the German Kastanies over the U.S. Kastanies, but both are beautiful.  

Like most corn snakes, Kastanie hatchlings begin very differently than they will look at maturity.  This picture shows two U.S. Kastanie hatchlings and one German-Line Kastanie hatchling (head on far-right).

I CANNOT guarantee that any of the German-Line Kastanies will have the red heads seen in the pictured adults. 
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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 Stripe

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.