Category: Old Shop

Miami Okeetee-014143

Each DAY at 11:00 am. ct (GMT – 5) we will post a different SMR snake being offered at a special price.
All snakes will be chosen for their rarity and/or unique beauty.
FREE U.S. SHIPPING for each Snake-of-the-Day.

m32okmi8597ap13bbb 

toDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Sun., April 14, 2013)

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#041413
Product of pairing Miami Phase with Okeetee
Male
d.o.h. 2011
32″ long on April 12, 2013
$150.00 shipped
 
Some of our best High-White Reverse Okeetees originated from this F1 product of crossing Miami Phase with Okeetee.  One of the trickiest parts of retaining white ground colors in such Albino Corns is starting with low/non-orange ground color zones, as seen in this snake.  In other words, if you seek superior High-White Reverse Okeetees, this will save you two generations of selective breeding.  No mutations were used in the production of this “wild-type” corn morph compound.

 
 

 

 

JavaXKastanie 04-15-13

Each DAY at 11:00 am. ct (GMT – 5) we will post a different SMR snake being offered at a special price.

All snakes will be chosen for their rarity and/or unique beauty.

FREE SHIPPING for each Snake-of-the-Day.

DAY041413

toDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Mon. April 15, 2013

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Details

#041513
Cross from Java x Kastanie
Male 
d.o.h. 2011
26″+ long on April 12, 2013
$175.00 shipped

Comments: Prospect of new morph as a result of this genetic pairing.

This 26″ 2011 hatchling corn is the product of pairing a Java corn with a Kastanie mutant and is now eating frozen/thawed fuzzy mice.  What is Java?  Is it a Kastanie, a separate (and new) mutation, or just a polygenic production that’s similar to Kastanies?  IF Java is actually Kastanie, these are pure Kastanie mutants.  If Java is something new, these babies are double hets, and if Java is just a polytenic color modifier, these are beautiful corns that are het for Kastanie??

What are Java and Kastanie corns?

KASTANIE
The first Kastanie to be discovered was by a German Corn Snake Breeder and teacher named Frank Schaub.  The English translation of Kastanie is Chestnut.  That was before the year 2000.  Since that discovery, the Kastanie mutation has been bred into many other color and pattern mutations to produce beautifully-colored corn snakes.  The mutation is recessive to wild type.  Generally, they are anything from mahogany to mocha colored with contrasting markings against ground color zones.  As they mature, they usually darken, but the color scheme seen in most non-albino corns (the first 1/4 to 1/3 of the body having more color-saturated colors) is pronounced in Kastanies.
Example of small adult:

DAY110812

JAVA
The first Javas were produced and named by a corn snake breeder in South Africa.  We purchased several of the Java corns from him, but neither he or anyone else at this time can identifiy the inheritance (are they polygenetic productions, a new mutation, or a variant of an existing mutation?). Some believe that their likeness to some of the Kastanies points to the potential that Java and Kastanie are the same mutation, but more breeding trials are necessary to make that determination.
Our Java types come in many shades of brown, not unlike the Kastanies.  The albino version of Javas (aka: Tangerines) look virtually identical to the albino version of the Kastanies (aka: Mandarins), so it is possible they are the same mutation, but again, more trials are indicated.
Example of a small adult Java Motley:
mojv2823nv12

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Extreme Okeetee13

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.
 
 
okex007
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.

 

Avalanche13

MID-JULY, 2013 ANTICIPATED  AVAILABILITY
 
Avalanche (aka: Snow Bloodred, Diffused Snow)
Note:  Expect DIFFUSED and BLOODRED to be incorrectly but synonymously used
Most Commonly used Name: Avalanche
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Three Recessive mutations; Amel, Anery, Bloodred 
Morph Type: Single recessive mutations
Eye Color:  Red pupil

 

A few years ago, due to confusion regarding the heritability of the Bloodred’s base mutation (specifically that the namesake snakes were not red and/or diffused), the base mutation name was changed away from Bloodred – to Diffused.  The mechanics of this gene mutation barely diffuse the F1 homozygotes through maturity (if at all), so do not expect Diffused corns to look like Bloodreds.  It is currently believed that Bloodred corns are the product of enhancing the base mutation, Diffused via polygenetic trait modification (selective breeding) to render a red and almost pattern-less (highly diffused) corn snake.  That is not the opinion of this author, but in the absence of empirical evidence to the contrary, the best hobby and market interests are not served by published opposition to popular opinion.  In other words, I’m not in favor of changing the morph name away from the original Bloodred since the new name Diffused is equally inaccurate.  Without polygenetic modification, Diffused corns do not have a diffused appearance.

The visual expression of the three simple recessive mutations, Amel, Anery, and Bloodred, most Avalanche corns are predominantly white.  Most of them do exhibit varying degrees of soft colors embedded in ground and marking color zones.  They are often opalesque in expression and usually bound the markings. 

 

A brief history on Diffused mutants VS Bloodred mutants:

 
Initially, the corn snake gene mutation, Diffusion (formerly called Bloodred) was described as being recessively inherited, but many of the F1 generational heterozygotes exhibited some of the obvious features of the gene mutation homozygotes.  It is extremely rare for simple recessive F1 heterozygotes to exhibit ANY features of their recessively inherited genetic mutation.  For example, F1 heterozygous Amel corn snakes have no markers that demonstrate a hint of their simple recessive mutation, Amel.  The paradoxical partial-exhibition of the Diffusion mutation in the heterozygotes resulted in the Diffused mutation being re-described as having codominant inheritance (codom for short), but was tagged with the descriptor, variable.  At that time, variable codom seemed an accurate and satisfactory genetic description for the radical color and pattern diversity among members of this mutation, but far too many genetic anomalies persisted. Identification of the inheritance of this mutation is once again considered simple recessive, but the Bloodred corn that most of us identify with toDAY is virtually always the aggregate of traits resulting from the Diffused (new mutation name) gene mutation PLUS polygenetic traits promoted by selectively breeding toward the highest expressions of melanin reduction, diffusion, and red color saturation.
 

 

What to expect:
As neonates, Avalanche corns are often heavily patterned (sides are generally faded or lacking typical lateral markings). Most (if not all) of them show head patterns that are notably unlike those of typical corns. Most SMR Avalanche corns change dramatically through maturity, thereby rendering adults that are nearly devoid of head markings, side markings, (any visible dorsal markings will be very faint) other than the opalesque colors mentioned above.  There will be NO belly checkering.  Many of the early Bloodred-type 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, Bloodreds no longer 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.  Whiteout corns (Blizzard Bloodreds) are closest in appearance to Avalanche corns, but most SMR Whiteouts are almost completely devoid of markings and color.  Arguably, Whiteouts (Blizzard Bloodreds) are the whitest and most patternless mutation in corns. 
 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rootbeer Bloodred13

MID~JULY, 2013 ANTICIPATED  AVAILABILITY

 

INTERSPECIES  HYBRID !

Rootbeer Bloodred (aka: Diffused Rootbeers, Rootbeer Bloods)
Most Commonly Used Name:  Rootbeer Bloodreds
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive corn snake Emory’s Rat Snake + recessive Diffused
Morph Type: Single recessive HYBRID Mutation + recessive Diffused
Eye Color:  Black pupil

 

 

The HYBRID element of this morph compound was formerly considered an intergrade of what used to be two corn snake subspecies (Elaphe guttatus guttatus X Elaphe guttatus emoryi), Creamsicles are the final product of crossing an Emory’s Rat (aka: Great Plains Rat Snake) with an Amel corn. Their non-Amel counterparts without red pupils are called Rootbeers.  Since the new taxonomic classification assigns distinct species to each (Pantherophis emoryi and Pantherophis guttatus), in herpetocultural vernacular, Creamsicles are now officially considered hybrids.  ANY progeny from Creamsicles or any corn snake that has any degree of Emory’s Rat Snake in it, is considered a HYBRID.  The albinos are called Creamsicles and the non-albinos are often called Rootbeers.

 

 

Combination of the Diffused/Bloodred mutation (see Diffused VS Bloodred history) and the Emory’s Rat Snake ancestry render these beautifully pale wild-type colored corn snake morph.

 

 

 
What to expect:
Hatchling Rootbeers have any pattern you see in corn snakes.  I’ve seen Rootbeers that were as dark as Chocolate, but most look like their namesake drink, Root Beer.  Not unlike some hybrid snakes that can be selectively bred to eventually hide all visual traces of their alien ancestor, some Creamsicles and Rootbeers can be respectively identical to Amel and wild-type common corns .  Root Beers (and their creamsicle cousins) usually have what we call Hybrid Vigor (robust size and propensities for hardy appetites and rapid growth) from being out-crossed to unrelated snakes.  We all hope that breeders will always reveal the genetic background of all their snakes, but I know people that have purchased obvious Creamsicles and Rootbeers in pet stores and reptile expos, but were never advised of their hybrid origins.

 

 

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:

Common Corn 041613

Each DAY at 11:00 am. ct (GMT – 5) we will post a different SMR snake being offered at a special price.

All snakes will be chosen for their rarity and/or unique beauty.

FREE U.S. SHIPPING  for each Snake-of-the-Day.
DAY041613
 
{simpleproduct:id=592}
ToDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Tue. April 16, 2013)

 
#041613
Common corn het for Stripe and Sunkissed
Male
d.o.h. 2011

32″ long on April 15, 2013

$175.00 shipped

The parents of this snake are comprised of a Striped Tessera and a Sunkissed.  Due to parentage, I expect F1s from this pairing (including this male) to promote better striped pattern for Sunkissed mutants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SonoranMtnKing041713

Each DAY at 11:00 am. ct (GMT – 5) we will post a different SMR snake being offered at a special price.

All snakes will be chosen for their rarity and/or unique beauty.

FREE U.S. SHIPPING  for each Snake-of-the-Day.
 
Not a corn snake, but just as friendly.  
 
DAY041713
 
{simpleproduct:id=593}
ToDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Tue. April 16, 2013)

 
#041713
Sonoran Mtn. King (Lampropeltis pyromelana pyromelana)
Male
d.o.h. 2010
27″ long on April 15, 2013

$145.00 shipped

At South Mountain Reptiles, we used to breed many species other than corns.  My personal favorites were the tri-colored kings.  It had been years since I had any pyros here so when a friend offered me a brood of hatchlings three years ago, I just couldn’t resist.  I had forgotten the reason I got out of the pyros years ago.  Most of them have the annoying natural instinct to fast when sensing what they perceive to be even the slightest warning of Winter.  In the Fall months when our homes suddenly change overnight temperature from unexpected – but intermittent – cold spells, most pyros take this to be a warning to hunker down for the winter.  Some pyros don’t do this, but this one does.  I sold all but the last gender pair of that brood and now that I am again concentrating efforts to make new corn morphs, I’m going to sell the last two of these beauties.  Know that they love long and cold winters, but they also have the innate ability to manage calories accordingly.  The first year I had this lot I brumated them for 17 months.  It was more of an experiment than a necessity, but they more than tolerated the long dormancy and none perished as a result.  Since then, they have been on a normal brumation regimen.  They never turn down food for me (unless they sensed the onset of Winter) and right now this one is eating frozen/thawed or live large pinky or small fuzzy mice.  If you like bright colors and have an empty cage, you won’t regret watching this stunning mountain king snake grow to around 36″ long.  If a species in our hobby is as friendly as the corn, this is surely it.  I’ve literally never been bitten by the 150 or so pyros I’ve had in my life and not unlike our corns, they seem to love being handled.  

Striped Ghost Bloodred 041813

Each DAY at 11:00 am. ct (GMT – 5) we will post a different SMR snake being offered at a special price.

All snakes will be chosen for their rarity and/or unique beauty.

FREE U.S. SHIPPING  for each Snake-of-the-Day.
DAY041813a
 
{simpleproduct:id=594}
ToDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Thu. April 18, 2013)

 
#101512
Striped Ghost Bloodred
Male
d.o.h. 2011
34″ long on April 16, 2013
$250.00 shipped


Comments:  Beautiful mature pattern and coloration. 

 
Striped Ghost Bloodred (no aka other than exchange of word order)
Note:  Expect DIFFUSED and BLOODRED to be incorrectly but synonymously used
Most Commonly used Name: Bloodred
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Selective Variation + Recessive
Morph Type: Selective variantion of four recessive mutations
Eye Color:  Black pupil & body ground colored iris
 
FIRST, about Bloodred vs. Diffused:
A few years ago, due to confusion regarding the heritability of the Bloodred’s base mutation (specifically that the namesake snakes were not red and/or diffused), the base mutation name was changed away from Bloodred – toDiffused.  The mechanics of this gene mutation barely diffuse the F1homozygotes through maturity (if at all), so do not expect Diffused corns to look like Bloodreds.  It is currently believed that Bloodred corns are the product of enhancing the base mutation, Diffused via polygenetic trait modification (selective breeding) to render a red and almost pattern-less (highly diffused) corn snake.  That is not the opinion of this author, but in the absence of empirical evidence to the contrary, the best hobby and market interests are not served by published opposition to popular opinion.  In other words, I’m not in favor of changing the morph name away from the original Bloodred since the new name Diffused is equally inaccurate.  Without polygenetic modification, Diffused corns do not have a diffused appearance.

A brief history on Diffused mutants VS Bloodred mutants:Initially, the corn snake gene mutation, Diffusion (formerly called Bloodred) was described as being recessively inherited, but many of the F1 generational heterozygotes exhibited some of the obvious features of the gene mutationhomozygotes.  It is extremely rare for simple recessive F1 heterozygotes to exhibit ANY features of their recessively inherited genetic mutation.  For example, F1 heterozygous Amel corn snakes have no markers that demonstrate a hint of their simple recessive mutation, Amel.  The paradoxical partial-exhibition of the Diffusion mutation in the heterozygotes resulted in the Diffused mutation being re-described as having codominant inheritance (codom for short), but was tagged with the descriptor, variable.  At that time, variable codom seemed an accurate and satisfactory genetic description for the radical color and pattern diversity among members of this mutation, but far too many geneticanomalies persisted. Identification of the inheritance of this mutation is once again considered simple recessive, but the Bloodred corn that most of us identify with toDAY is virtually always the aggregate of traits resulting from theDiffused (new mutation name) gene mutation PLUS polygenetic traits promoted by selectively breeding toward the highest expressions of melanin reduction, diffusion, and red color saturation.

 
Striped Ghost Bloodred:
Combining the four recessively-inherited gene mutations (Stripe, Anery, Hypo, and Bloodred/Diffused) results in this beautiful morph compound.  Many begin with striped pattern showing and slowly lose some or all of that pattern through maturity.  Others, retain their neonatal pattern, but regardless, the finished genetic product is beautiful AND worthy of breeding into other gene mutations.
 
What to expect:
As neonates, Striped Ghost Bloodred corns are often heavily patterned. Most of them demonstrate head patterns that are notably unlike those of typical corns. Most SMR 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, Bloodreds no longer rank high in the realms of sterility or reluctance to eat rodents.   In fact, there are some seasons in which Bloodred typesare among the best feeders of our corn snake neonates.

Important Note: 
  These images are not renderings of the actual animals being offered, (except for uniquely offered snakes found in the SURPLUSsection 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 yourSMR snake if it does not mature to be like our advertised examples.

Common-04-09-13

Each DAY at 11:00 am. ct (GMT – 5) we will post a different SMR snake being offered at a special price.
All snakes will be chosen for their rarity and/or unique beauty.
FREE U.S. SHIPPING for each Snake-of-the-Day. 
 
DAY040913

 {simpleproduct:id=579}

.
toDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Tue., April 9, 2013)

 
 
 
 
 
 
#040913
Common corn full of eggs
Female
d.o.h. 2007
50″ long on April 8, 2013
Eating frozen/thawed adult mice
$475.00 shipped

This female is the result of pairing a Butter Corn with an Ultramel Motley Corn.  She is therefore het for at least Motley, Caramel, and either Ultra or Amel.  Of course, she loves eating frozen/thawed adult mice.  On March 17th, I bred her to a Gold Dust Het for Striped Bloodred.  Hence, there’s a chance of getting Sulfur Motleys and lots of other cool morphs.  

If she has not sold by WednesDAY morning (Apr. 10th) at 11am, I’m keeping her to let her lay eggs here the following week or so.  She is opaque in this picture and should shed in the next three or four DAYs.  She should lay her eggs six to nine DAYs thereafter.  I estimate that she has at least 15 eggs, but we don’t guarantee how many eggs she will lay. 

Note:  Gold Dust Corns are hybrids of their original ancestors, Gray Rat Snake X Corn Snake.  Hence, all of her offspring are considered hybrids.  

Salmon Snow Motley 041013

Each DAY at 11:00 am. ct (GMT – 5) we will post a different SMR snake being offered at a special price.

All snakes will be chosen for their rarity and/or unique beauty.
FREE U.S. SHIPPING for each Snake-of-the-Day.

DAY041013
toDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Wed. April 10, 2013)
{simpleproduct:id=580}
 
 
 
 
#041013
Salmon Snow Motley
Male
d.o.h. 2011
32″ long on April 9, 2013

$250.00 shipped
 

Comments: Superior color and size maturity. It’s difficult to photographically capture her true colors.  His Corals and Pinks are deeper than this picture shows (at least on MY computer monitor) and his greens are much prettier in person.  Since no two monitors render colors the same anyway, perhaps the true colors of this beauty will be expressed better on other monitors.  He is 32″ long, the product of pairing a Salmon Snow Motley to a normal corn that is heterozygous for Salmon Snow Motley. Judging from other snakes from such a pairing, he should develop more of the Coral overtones and green accents she now exhibits.