Category: SOTD

The Snake-of-the-Day headliner of this web site features photographs that we believe will interest our web site visitors.  Each daily photograph will be posted at 11:00 am. central (GMT – 5) and replaced in 24 hours. Feel free to make suggestions regarding what snake photographs you would like to see in this daily feature.   The animals pictured here are not for sale, unless otherwise noted, but you can find available surplus snakes for sale on the Surplus Page of this web site.  We appreciate your patronage and welcome any suggestions you may have.

  

Pictured is some of the progeny from the pairing of two Common corn snakes — both Het for Blizzard (Amel & Charcoal) and Palmetto.  The Charcoal Palmetto on the right with lots of freckling is the one featured on SOTD two DAYs ago, but you will notice that there is a second Charcoal Palmetto at the extreme left end of the image.  This one demonstrates an arrangement of “freckles” that is rarely seen in Palmettos.  I cannot imagine that the destinations of melanophores and chromatophores have such a simplistic placement mechanism, but it APPEARS that many of the colored scales that were meant to to be randomly distributed throughout the body (but never on the ventrum) are clustered together in two different locations.  When we see this in the fully-colored Palmettos, it’s rendered in what Martin and TJ Baker call “splashes” of color; mostly red and orange.  I like that term and plan to use it when describing Palmettos with clusters of color.  

 

Also seen in this image are Charcoal, Amel, ?Anery?, Snow, and Sunrise Amel, non-Palmetto siblings.  The “black & white” non-Palmetto in the upper-left quadrant of this image could be an Anery, since the grandparent Blizzard of this brood is Het for Anery. I will surely have to rely on the appearance of the eye in Charcoals to distinguish between Anery and Charcoal Palmettos.  In certain light theaters, many Charcoal phenotypes almost appear not to have a pupil, since there is so little contrast between iris and pupil.  This “Anery” mutant has the typical body color contrast of an Anery, but the eye of a typical Charcoal, so it may be an Anery Charcoal.  We have produced many like this that indeed did turned out to be homotygotes for both color mutations.  

 

 

This is the only Amel Palmetto we hatched last year.  I will contact the new owner to ask if he will show us a picture of her at 10 months-old now.  We plan to have a couple more of the Amel Palmettos again this year.  

The Snake-of-the-Day headliner of this web site features photographs that we believe will interest our web site visitors.  Each daily photograph will be posted at 11:00 am. central (GMT – 5) and replaced in 24 hours. Feel free to make suggestions regarding what snake photographs you would like to see in this daily feature.   The animals pictured here are not for sale, unless otherwise noted, but you can find available surplus snakes for sale on the Surplus Page of this web site.  We appreciate your patronage and welcome any suggestions you may have.

Part of a brood of 2013 corns hatching yesterDAY from parents that were both products of pairing a Rosy Bloodred

(aka: Diffused Kastanie) to a Sunkissed corn.  The grayish Sunkissed mutants are Sunkissed Kastanies contrasted

 by a typical Sunkissed mutant in the lower-left corner.  The non-pattern mutants in the upper left-hand corner are

Kastanies. They look like Anery mutants at this age, but will begin developing Kastanie colors in the coming weeks 

and months. I know what you’re thinking.    With Anery mutants slitherin around in there, the Sunkissed corns are

actually Sunkissed Aneries.    Anery is not in either side of this family tree AND most of my hatchling Kastanies look

like Aneries at this age.  

 

 

The more richly pink Palmetto (head on right) is a Charcoal Palmetto and the paler one (head on left) is a classic Palmetto.  The degree of pink ground color has nothing to do with the Charcoal mutation distinction, as I have had both these shades of pink in Palmettos that matured to be equally overall-white. The most obvious marker for the Charcoal Palmetto is the eye being nearly devoid of contrast between pupil and iris (virtually appearing not to have a pupil/iris).  Also, the blue undertone showing more prominently than non-charcoal Palmettos through the supraocular scale above the eye is a marker for the Charcoal Mutation in light-colored corns. The Charcoal Palmetto’s eye appears to be a bit large (and may well be), but having no lighter iris, the transition from black eye to white facial scales contributes to exaggerated appearance of the eye’s size.  Naturally, the visual distinction between Charcoal and Classic Palmettos will be more obvious in the next six to nine months of ontogeny (maturity).  I’ll keep everyone updated on color changes, but we anticipate that all color flecking will be shades of gray and black on the Charcoal Palmetto. I’ll get better shots of the eyes after they shed, to demonstrate how the eyes of Charcoal Palmettos barely (if at all) show the transition of pupil to iris.  Unlike most Anery corn snake mutants, many charcoal-type corn snake mutants barely demonstrate a demarcation between iris and pupil.  AND btw, neither of these Palmattos have yet sloughed their egg skins. 

 

This young female with her eggs shows one of several Terrazzo egg clutches we have in the incubator now.  

The sire of this clutch has precious little striping so some of the hatchlings from this pair should have greatly

reduced pattern; like the Terrazzo namesake (formerly known as the Granite Corn Snake).    Terrazzos are

expected to begin hatching in early July.  

 

I am hoping this corn (hatched three DAYs ago) is a Diffused Sunkissed Kastanie.     His parents are the products of pairing a Rosy Bloodred

(aka: Kastanie Bloodred Corn or Diffused Kastanie) to a Sunkissed Corn. I’ll show pix of him again in a year, when we may have a better idea

of his genotype.  Naturally, no declarations can be made until results of breeding trials are rendered. It’s only a little more pale than Sunkissed 

Bloodreds  I’ve hatched, so that may be all he is.  Only time will tell.

 

Part of a brood of Palmettos the DAY after their first shed.   Note that very little color is demonstrated at this age,

but in the coming weeks and months, slowly, colors that are now visible will saturate, and new red smudges will

appear where there was previously no color.  Their pinkish ground coloration will change to stark white.

   

The first brood from this beautiful Extreme Reverse Okeetee began hatching on SunDAY, June 9th. In one week, they will have shed and eaten their first meals. A week later, after a second consecutive successful feeding of unaltered frozen/thawed pinky mice, we will begin shipping orders of these beautiful albino corns.  Most of our Extreme Reverse Okeetees are amel versions of our Extreme Buckskin Okeetees (like the dark one pictured in the R/H image). 

 

    

The answer to yesterDAY’s quiz, “HOW MANY HATCHLINGS ARE IN THIS PHOTO??” is 15.    

This image reveals three of the shy ones, in case you missed them.  Also, a Blue dot for one eye of each snake.