Old Shop – Page 165 – SMR Archive

Palmetto – Reservation for 2012

Reserve your Palmetto female for the 2012 season

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.

Snow Motley13

Snow Motley (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Snow Motley
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive

Type: Triple mutation compound (Motley + Amel + Anery)

Eye Color: RED pupil

Combining the three recessive genemutations; Motley and (Anery & Amel = Snow) combine to render this beautiful Snow compound mutation. Typically, they have many subtle colors found throughout the spectrum of the Snow compound mutation.

What to expect:
Both male and female hatchlings look alike (essentially white snakes with some tainted shade of what Motley markings), but many of our males lose a noticeable amount of their stripes through maturity. Some females will lose SOME of their stripe with maturity, but some do not lose any.

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.

Striped Hypo-13

Striped Hypo (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Striped Hypo
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive

Morph Type: Mutation Compound (Stripe and Hypo)

Eye Color: Black pupil & body ground colored iris (some can be so hypomelanistic, their pupils can be gray to dark red).

The Stripemutation has its usual enhanced impact in this double recessivemutation compound, but since the primary role of theHypo mutation is in the realm of melanin reduction (not unlike that of the Stripe mutation), the effect is amplified in this aggregate. Striped Hypos are usually paler than either of their cousins, Hypo or Stripe.

What to expect:
Hatchlings often look like their non Hypo cousin, Striped Corns. Throughout maturity, the color and contrast in both pattern and ground zones diminishes to the point of most adult Striped Hypos being extremely faded in appearance. They are essentially lightened versions of the wild type color, since they are modified by both the Stripe and Hypo mutations. Striping can change in this morph, but always in reduction. They never gain striping or any other pattern, but some pattern can fade to the point of almost being impossible to see in their adult form.

Anery Tessera

Anery Tessera (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Anery Tessera
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Dominant
Morph Type: Dominant & Recessive Gene Mutations

Eye Color: BLACK pupil and ground-color matching iris

FIRST, what makes Tesseras so expensive? Other than appearance, the primary (and inherent) value of Tessera-type Corns is their mode of inheritance. Since they are dominant to wild type, pairing any Ultra Type that is a Visual Het to ANY corn snake (other than a Tessera-type) will render 50% Tessera mutants in the F¹ (first) out-crossed generation. The results of pairing an Tessera homozygote with ANY corn snake (other than a Tessera-type) will render 100% Tessera mutants.

Anery Tesseras are virtually identical to exceptionally patterned Anery Striped Motleys in appearance, but that’s where the resemblance ends. The remarkably consistent Striped Motley-type pattern that derives from the base mutation, Tessera, is inherited dominantly. Hence, when you breed a Anery Tessera to a Anery, both Anerys and Anery 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, Anery Tesseras look virtually identical to exceptionally patterned Striped Anery 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 Snow 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 F¹s (first familial generation) or F²s (the originator of this line is now out of the hobby and difficult to reach – for clarification). If these three Tesseras are F¹s, my deduction is that the striped corn he used in the original pairing was actually Striped AND Tessera. Even if those three were F²s, the likelihood of the mutant patriarch being a Striped Tessera is strong.

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.

The belly patterns are all over the charts. A precious few have enough belly checkering to qualify them as wild-type common corns — until you flip them over to see their mutant pattern elsewhere. About 1/3 of them have roughly 15% to 30% of the volume of checkering seen in wild-types, and about 1/3 or more have virtually no belly checkering at all. Some of the ones with NO belly checkering have organized strings of black markings running the length of both sides of the belly, along the ventral keel.

Having grafted another entire branch on the already sprawling corn snake family tree, we think the Tessera mutation will offer genetic flexibility never before possible; mainly in the realm of making Stripe and Motley types without losing the black (or white in albinos). Imagine all the current colors of corns infused with the Tessera, Striped Tessera, and Motley Tessera patterns?

2009 Sunglow 05-28

This 2009 female Sunglow is from a project geared toward making the most yellow albino corns (not butters) that have the least amount of white saddle borders and the prettiest orange markings. Most are also HET for Motley. She is currently 35″ long, so she will be a large 2012 breeder for someone. Currently eating frozen/thawed hopper or small adult mice.

2009 StamHca 05-28

2009 Striped Amel 05-28

Our Striped Butter lines originated from boldly and LONG striped individuals. This Striped Amel HET caramel (butter) loves frozen/thawed hopper mice, and will make a great addition to any striped butter project. He is currently 35″ long (as of 05-28-11) and is probably mature enough for breeding right now.

Striped Tessera

Striped Tessera (no aka)

Most Commonly Used Name: Striped Tessera
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Dominant
Morph Type: Both Dominant & Recessive Gene Mutations

Eye Color: Black pupil with ground zone-colored iris

Striped Tesseras are at least homozygotes of the recessively-inherited STRIPE mutation and the dominantly-inherited TESSERA mutation. At this time, there appears to be no direct mutational relationship between those two mutations (when in genetic union), except for the seemingly collateral features that distinguish virtually all Striped Tesseras from simple Striped mutants. The features that are demonstrated in most Striped Tesseras that distinguish them from simple Striped corn mutants are:

Contiguity of pattern. Striped Tesseras have remarkably continuous striping and if it does break – unlike simple mutant Striped corns – it resumes in the same form – without fading to broken striping and eventually no striped pattern at all, as we see in ALL simple mutant Striped corns.

Stripe that extends to the tail and beyond. I have never seen a simple mutant Striped corn that had a stripe that continued to the tail tip. I’ve seen nearly full striping in some lines of Striped Motleys, but never in Striped mutants. When one corn possesses both the STRIPE and the TESSERA mutations, most of these corns have striping that continues to the tip of the tail, regardless of how many stripe breaks there are between the neck and tail tip. When the striped pattern of Striped corn mutants begins to break up and/or fade, it does not resume in recognizable form. My reference to “tail pattern” is the dorsal location that is the polar opposite of the cloaca (polar as opposing points on the same vertical plane).

Variable stripe width. It is not common, but some of the Striped Tesseras we’ve produced have varying stripe width, which is something seldom observed on simple Striped mutants. Generally speaking, the striping of Striped Tesseras widens as it extends tail-ward. Some have intermittent and abrupt changes of width from the neck to the tail, but except for gradual widening of stripe, some have remarkably clean stripes. The question that can’t help but be asked is, “In STRIPED TESSERAS, is the striped pattern the result of the Striped mutation, the striped version of the Motley mutation; Striped Motley. OR the striped version of the Tessera mutation?” I don’t know the answer at this time.

Note the comparison of a Striped Amel (Het Caramel) and a Striped Tessera in this image.

stvsstte4792my11

What to expect:

Striped Tesseras are still fairly rare. So far, the only feature that is atypical – compared to typical corn snake mutations – is that many of the non-mutant siblings of Tessera types seem to have enhanced pattern and color features. So far, I don’t recognize any traditional markers that are unique to hybrid colubrids, 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). I’m intrigued by the collateral nature of some of the non-Tessera siblings co-incidentally having improved characteristics without changing standard features of the species (i.e. body shape, belly checkering, head pattern, shape and number of markings).

As hatchlings, Striped Tesseras generally look like Striped corns, except for the precision of striping and retention of black pigment seen in most Striped Tesseras . Other than the obviously better quality of striping in Striped Tesseras, the primary difference between the closest corn snake phenotype (Striped Motley) and Striped Tesseras is that of the dominant genetic inheritance of the Tessera. Naturally, the Stripe and Motley mutations (which are alleles of the Motley locus) are inherited in recessive fashion. Just like all corns, Striped Tesseras gain improved color saturation as they mature.

History of the Tessera Mutation:

In the 100+ Tessera mutants produced by me as of Fall, 2010, I’m seeing the following features:

The belly patterns of most Tesseras that are not also homozygous for other pattern mutations (i.e. Stripe) are all over the charts, but so far, all the bellies on Striped Tesseras have had no pattern at all. Apparently, the STRIPE mutation trumps what normally occurs on the bellies of Tessera mutants, thereby not allowing belly pattern.

Having grafted another entire branch on the already sprawling corn snake family tree, we think the Tessera mutation will offer genetic flexibility never before possible; mainly in the realm of making Stripe and Motley types without losing the black (white in albinos). Imagine all the current colors of corns infused with the Tessera, Striped Tessera, and Motley Tessera patterns?

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.

Whiteout13

Whiteout (aka: Blizzard Bloodred, Diffused Blizzard)

Note: Expect DIFFUSED and BLOODRED to be incorrectly but synonymously used
Most Commonly used Name: Whiteout
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Three Recessive mutations; Amel, Charcoal, Bloodred
Morph Type:Single recessive mutations

Eye Color: Red pupil

Whiteouts are the compound of three mutations that are recessive to wild-type; Amel, Charcoal, and Bloodred (aka: Diffused). They are arguably the most white and unpatterned corn snake of all to date. Many of them have a slight blush of yellow on the lower cheeks and neck, but it seldom goes beyond the neck area through maturity as does carotenoid yellow in other corn snakes. Do not expect markings to be noticeable at maturity, though some may show faint markings when young.

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, Whiteout corns are sometimes faintly patterned (sides are generally faded or lacking typical lateral markings), but they will show NO YELLOW. Most (if not all) of them show head patterns that are notably unlike those of typical corns. ALL SMR Whiteout corns change dramatically through maturity, thereby rendering adults that are nearly devoid of head markings, side markings, (any visible dorsal markings they may have will be very faint), and little or no yellow. Most of our breeders have NO yellow at all, but that doesn’t guarantee that all of their babies will mature to be devoid of facial yellow from carotenoid retention. 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. Generally, next to Whiteout corns, Avalanche (Snow Bloodreds – aka: Diffused Snows) have the most white and least pattern.

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.