Category: Old Shop

Ultramel Tessera

INTERSPECIES  HYBRID

Ultramel Tessera (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Ultramel Tessera
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Dominant
Morph Type: Dominant & Recessive Mutation Compound
Eye Color:  Dark Red pupil & body ground-colored iris

FIRST, what makes Tesseras so expensive? Other than appearance, the primary (and inherent) value of Tessera-type Corns is their mode of inheritance.  Since they are dominant to wild type, pairing any 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.
See ULTRamel for an explanation of the genetic mechanics of the ULTRA codominant mutation.
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.

Combining the codominantly inherited, hybrid-derived color mutation, Ultra (co-dom with Amel mutations), with the corn snake pattern mutation, Tessera, yields a heretofore never possible genetic potential.  Instead of waiting two generations for the target product (Tessera Ultramel), when pairing an Ultramel Tessera with any form of Amel, you will receive some Ultramel Tesseras in the F1 (first generation) progeny.

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, Ultramel Tesseras look virtually identical to what you would expect to see in a Hypo Striped Motley; Hypo coloration with the pattern of an exceptional Striped Motley. Of course, the primary distinction is not visible.  It is that of the dominant-type inheritance from both Ultra/Ultramel (co-dom with Amel) and Tessera. We’re still not quite sure what to tell you about the adult appearance of Amel Tesseras, as 2010 was the first year they were produced here.  Updated pictures will be made available as they mature.

Important Note:
The advertising images on our web site are representations of the average adult example of each morph.  These images are not renderings of the actual animals being offered, (except for uniquely offered snakes found in the SURPLUS section of this web site).  We do not provide pictures of individual hatchling snakes for sale, nor do we recommend that you ever choose a new pet based on an image of its neonatal form.  Corns change so dramatically from hatchling to adult, they will NEVER have the same colors or contrasts throughout maturity. While most of the snakes we produce will mature to resemble the featured adult image(s) on our web site, unlike manufactured products that are respectively clones of each other, the nature of polygenic variation results in each animal being similar but not identical to others of its morph. The snake we select for you may not mature to be identical to the pictured examples, but will be chosen based on our experience of observing which neonates will mature to properly represent their respective morph.  We take this responsibility very seriously, and therefore publish the guarantee that we will exchange your SMR snake if it does not mature to be like our advertised examples.

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INTERSPECIES  HYBRID  – ULTRA / ULTRAMEL

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.

Ultramel corns are the heterozygous (hobby abbreviation Het) products of the Ultra mutation.  At SMR, we seldom offer the homozygous version of the Ultra mutation because there is a subtle and often indistinguishable difference between the homo (Ultra) and het (Ultramel) versions. Genetically speaking, Ultras are the powerhouse genetic version of this mutation in so much as when you breed one to any Amel corn snake, 100% of the progeny will be Ultramels.  Breeding Ultramels to Amels results in approximately 50% Ultramels and approximately 50% Amels.  Generally, Ultramels are more colorful than Ultras, but there are exceptions in both directions.

Both Ultras and Ultramels render some of the most extreme examples of hypomelanism in corns, but a hypo phenotype is their genetic and visual function we recognize.  Some people call them Ultra or Ultramel Hypos, but I prefer to leave off the “hypo” since the chromosomal location of this mutation is the same as Amel (Ultra and Amel reside on the same locus of the chromosome).  Also, the hobby vernacular for the double mutant that is homozygous for both Hypo A and Ultramel would be Ultramel Hypo.  Upon hearing/reading these two words together, you would surely presume that the snake Ultramel Hypo is a double mutant.  Hence, those two words together are incorrect and confusing — when describing the single mutant, Ultramel or Ultra.  When you breed an Ultra type to a phenotype and/genotype of non-Amel, this mutation genetically behaves as a recessive.  Example:  Pairing an Ultra with an Amel results in 100% Ultramel progeny.  Pairing an Ultramel with an Amel results in progeny consisting of approximately 50% Amels and approximately 50% Ultramels.  Pairing an Ultra with a wild-type corn that is not het for Amel results in 100% normals (wild type) th

Strawberry Anery 071611

This 2010 male Strawberry Anery is now 28″ long and eating frozen/thawed hopper or small adult mice.

Strawberry is the dominantly-inherited mutation that is believed to be responsible for the deepened pinks and corals seen in many compound morphs toDAY (most notably in the Coral Snow Types).  Strawberry is an allele to the Hypo A chromosomal locus.  Of course this male is also homozygous for the Anery A mutation, so he exhibits the classically grey/silver/white iris common in Anery A corns, but the heightened flesh tones in his markings and ground color zones is mainly owing to the Strawberry mutation.

 

Glossary Term Hyperlinks:

aerobic allele amelanistic anerythrism anomaly anterior atypical axanthic Bechtel, Dr. H. Bernard brumation Carl Kauffeld carotene carotenoid Celcius chromatophore chromosome cloaca codominant colubrid compound conjunct contiguous cryptosis disjunct diurnal DNA dominant dorsal dysecdysis ecdysis ectothermic embryo embryogenic empirical epidermis erythrism erythrophore F1 Fahrenheit genotype gene genotype gravid guarantee hatchling herpetoculture heritable heredity herpetology heterozygous homozygous Hume hybrid hyper hypomelanistic hypo integument intergrade iridiophore lateral leucism line-breeding locus marker melanin melanophore melanosome Mendelian morph mutation neonate nominate novel ontogenetic out-cross pathogen phenotype pinky polygenic progeny punnett recessive respire rheostat selective variation SMR taxonomy thermoregulation thermostat trait ventral ventral keel wild-type xanthin xanthophore yearling


Morph Hyperlinks:

Leucistic Texas Rat Snake

Leucistic Black Rat Snake Pantherophis obsoletus

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

Eye Color: Black pupil & blue to silver iris


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


lbr8

What to expect:

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


 

Important Note:
The advertising images on our web site are representations of the average adult example of each morph.  These images are not renderings of the actual animals being offered, (except for uniquely offered snakes found in the SURPLUS section of this web site).  We do not provide pictures of individual hatchling snakes for sale, nor do we recommend that you ever choose a new pet based on an image of its neonatal form.  Corns change so dramatically from hatchling to adult, they will NEVER have the same colors or contrasts throughout maturity. While most of the snakes we produce will mature to resemble the featured adult image(s) on our web site, unlike manufactured products that are respectively clones of each other, the nature of polygenic variation results in each animal being similar but not identical to others of its morph. The snake we select for you may not mature to be identical to the pictured examples, but will be chosen based on our experience of observing which neonates will mature to properly represent their respective morph.  We take this responsibility very seriously, and therefore publish the guarantee that we will exchange your SMR snake if it does not mature to be like our advertised examples.

Glossary Term Hyperlinks:

Leucistic Texas Rat Snake

Leucistic Texas Rat Snake Pantherophis obsoletus lindheimeri

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

 

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

 

 

lbr8

What to expect:

 

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

 

Important Note:
  These images are not renderings of the actual animals being offered, (except for uniquely offered snakes found in the SURPLUS section of this web site).  We do not provide pictures of individual hatchling snakes for sale, nor do we recommend that you ever choose a new pet based on an image of its neonatal form.  Corns change so dramatically from hatchling to adult, they will NEVER have the same colors or contrasts throughout maturity. While most of the snakes we produce will mature to resemble the featured adult image(s) on our web site, unlike manufactured products that are respectively clones of each other, the nature of polygenic variation results in each animal being similar but not identical to others of its morph. The snake we select for you may not mature to be identical to the pictured examples, but will be chosen based on our experience of observing which neonates will mature to properly represent their respective morph.  We take this responsibility very seriously, and therefore publish the guarantee that we will exchange your SMR snake if it does not mature to be like our advertised examples.

2009 Bloodred 06-24

This 2009 Female Bloodred came from parents (Bloodred Het Hypo x Hypo Bloodred).  She is probably a Hypo Bloodred, but in that I have not examined her sloughed skins for verification, I’m selling her for the beautiful base morph Bloodred that she obviously is.  She is 35″ long and eating frozen/thawed, hopper or small adult mice.

2009 Snow 06-24-11

This 2009 female snow corn is from reverse Okeetee parents, and displays unusual coloration, which is common in snows from reverse Okeetees.  She is currently 34″ long and eating frozen/thawed, large hopper or small adult mice.

2009 blue 06-24-11

This 2009 Male is the product of pairing two corns that are both het for Lavender, Anery, Dilute, and Motley. Colors suggest he is at least Anery and Dilute, and may also be lavender.  He is possibly het for Motley.  He is 37″ long at this time, eating frozen/thawed medium adult mice.

2009 Hypo p/s BL 06-24-11

This 2009 female Pied-sided Hypo Bloodred is from Ward Smith’s line of P/S Bloodreds.  Her volume of white on the sides is very low, but many of our best p/s bloodreds are from parents that had little or no white on their sides.  She is currently 33″ long, eating frozen/thawed, small adult mice.