SMR Archive – Page 161 – Posts from old SMR Website

Bloodred Het Striped Ghost 03-27-13copy

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.

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toDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Tue. Mar. 26, 2013)

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#032613aa

Bloodred Het Striped Ghost

Male

d.o.h. 2011
31″ long on March 25, 2013

$175.00 shipped

Comments: Superior color and size maturity. Brumated from December 15th, 2012 to March 16, 2013, he could breed in 2013, but will for sure be mature enough in 2014. He is currently eating frozen/thawed large fuzzy or small hopper mice.

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 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.

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.

Amel-03-21-13

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DAY032113

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toDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Thu. Mar. 21, 2013)

# 032113

Amel – from Red Mask mutant parent

Male

d.o.h. 2011

31″ long on Mar. 19, 2013

$175.00 shipped

Comments: Superior color and fresh out of brumation.

31″ long 2010 male Amel is from a Red Mask Mutant parent and is eating frozen/thawed hopper mice.

He brumated from December 5th until Mar. 15, 2013 and as you can see he lost very little weight during his winter dormancy.

Reverse Okeetee 03-20-13

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toDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Wed. Mar. 20,2013)

#032013
Reverse Okeetee
Female
d.o.h. 2009
39″ long on Mar.19, 2013
$165.00 shipped

Comments: Superior color

This 39″ 2010 female Reverse Okeetee corn could be a first-time breeder this year. She’s lean from a long brumation (11 weeks), but already eating me outta mouse and home. I like her low volume of white around her markings, probably because it’s a clean white. She’s eating frozen/thawed adult mice.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Reverse Okeetee (aka: Amel Okeetee, Albino Okeetee)
Most Commonly Used Name: Reverse Okeetee
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive + Selective Variation

Morph Type: Selective variant of single recessive mutation

Eye Color: Red pupils

Reverse Okeetees are variants of the basic Amel Mutation, so their only visual distinction from corns is their polygenetic color and pattern scheme. Genetically speaking, Reverse Okeetees are Amel corns that have been selectively bred to promote their target look (Highly saturated blotch colors, separated from clean and unspeckled ground coloration by prominent white blotch margins). Red or orange markings are not difficult to reproduce through generational line breeding, but the quality and size of the white blotch margins is often difficult to achieve, and sometimes difficult to maintain through subsequent generations. The degree of color purity in the orange background and red (or orange) markings have been enhanced via polygenetic traits, modified through selective promotion of only the best target phenotypes. Some will exhibit color “clutter” in these zones, but a distinction between Reverse Okeetees and most Amel corns should be a dramatic reduction in color “noise” — rendering richer colors of blotch and ground color zones.

What to expect:

Reverse Okeetees are one of the few corn snake mutations that change very little between neonate and adult, so expect some deeper color saturation throughout maturity. The often “neutrally colored” blotch margins turn bright white throughout maturity. I don’t recall ever seeing one that was completely devoid of color litter in the pattern and ground zones, but we’re getting closer to that with each generation. Some of the hatchlings displaying orange markings mature to have redder markings, and some of those starting with red markings change to orange, but approximately 75% of all our red ones stay red, and about the same percentage of the orange marked ones stay orange.

Striped Champagne 03-18-13

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#031813

Striped Champagne

Female

d.o.h. 2010
40″ long on March 18, 2013

$250.00 shipped

Comments: She’s not much in the pattern or color departments, relative to some Coral Snow types, but she appears to have ovulated so if you’re looking for egg practice, she should accept a male for you or for me this week. She needs to be shipped this week. If she is still here on ThursDAY (after this week’s last shipping DAY), I’ll breed her to something here so she can help keep the lights on.

Description of Striped Champagne Snow Corns

Striped Champagne Snow (no aka)

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

Before describing Champagne Corns, first, a brief history on 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. Early in Corn Snake Herpetoculture, 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 turn white on white) so in the absence of genetic 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 that also possessed 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 in 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.

What to expect:

Champagne snows are thought to owe their general pink/coral coloration to a form of dominant mutation we categorically call CORAL, but breeding trials are ongoing to explain other mutations and/or polygenic traits render the finished product. The actual gene thought to influence the pink/coral coloration is the Strawberry Mutation, explained in the paragraph above. I use the name CHAMPAGNE SNOW and STRIPED CHAMPAGNE SNOW interchangeably because the original Champagne Snows were also Striped-type mutants. Since what causes them to have the color they do is actually the same gene as what causes other Coral-type Snows (Neons, Salmons, etc.) I only use the name Champagne when referring to the Striped-type pattern snow mutants. I say “striped-type” because a characteristic of MOST Champagne Snow mutants at this time is the somewhat unrecognizable Striped/Motley type pattern. It is often difficult to tell if the pattern is Stripe or Striped Motley. Usually, they display a bit of both. Hence, Striped Champagne Snows may sometimes actually be Striped Motley Champagne Snows. I have had limited success in cleaning up the pattern in this morph – to render classic stripes – but they’re virtually always broken up by “tweener” markings (markings that are neither wild-type, Striped, or Motley). Often the “tweener” markings take the form of ovals, rectangles, bowties, and so on. Like virtually all Snow corns, expect carotenoid yellow to manifest throughout maturity.

Striped Hypo Bloodred 03-17-13

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#031713

Striped Hypo Bloodred

Female

d.o.h. 2011
33″ long on March 16, 2013

$175.00 shipped

Comments: Superior color and size maturity.

This Striped Hypo Bloodred female is now 33″ long and eating frozen/thawed fuzzy mice. In the inset pic above you will note that her right eye has a noncircular pupil. Her left eye has a similar anomaly, but not as noticeable. This is not rare in corns, but often missed by the casual observer. I’ve never known this ocular anomaly to be heritable, but then again, I’ve never done intentional breeding trials toward that goal. Like most snakes with unpatterened and uncontrasting facial colors, both eyes of this snake appear to be disproportionately large for the snake’s size, but it’s an illusion. She’s a sweet snake and was almost embarrassingly calm during her photo-shoot.

Snow Tessera 03-15-13aa

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toDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (FRI., March 15, 2013)

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#031513
35″ long on March 12, 2013

Snow Tessera

Female

d.o.h. 2011

$600.00 shipped

Comments: Feeding on frozen/thawed fuzzy mice. She brumated from December 15, 2012 to March 12, 2013.

The inherent Value of the Snow Tessera – in addition to the fact that breeding it to ANY other corn snake color or pattern you will get approximately 50% Tesseras – is that if you breed this snake to a Snow corn snake (or any compound of the Snow mutation), approximately 50% will be Snows and 50% will be Snow Tesseras. By pairing this snake to a common corn that is Het for Snow, in the first brood of their progeny you can get:

Common corns
Amel corns
Anery corns
Snow corns
Tessera corns
Amel Tessera corns
Anery Tessera corns
Snow Tessera corns

seriously, and therefore publish the guarantee that we will exchange your SMR snake if it does not mature to be like our advertised examples.

toDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Wed., March 13, 2013)

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#031513
35″ long on March 12, 2013

Snow Tessera

Female

d.o.h. 2011

$600.00 shipped

Comments: Feeding on frozen/thawed fuzzy mice

Common corns
Amel corns
Anery corns
Snow corns
Tessera corns
Amel Tessera corns
Anery Tessera corns
Snow Tessera corns

~~~~~~~~>

Snow Tessera (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Snow Tessera
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Dominant + recessive (Amel + Anery = Snow)
Morph Type: Single Dominant Mutation + recessive color mutations

Eye Color: RED pupil

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.

Snow Tessera is the combination of Amelanistic + Anerythristic = Snow & Tessera.

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.

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).

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 a

GRANITE031413a

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.

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DAY031413

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ToDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Thu., March 14, 2013)

#031413

Granite (aka: Anery Bloodred)

Female

d.o.h. 2010
36″ long on March 12, 2013

$300.00 shipped

This 2010 female Granite Corn Snake (Anery Bloodred) is the second generation product of pairing a Snow Corn with a Rosy Bloodred (aka: Kastanie Bloodred). Therefore, in addition to being a Granite, she may also be a Kastanie. Only breeding trials will reveal this. She brumated from December 15, 2012 to March 12, 2013. She is in a stage of impending shed at the time of this picture (03-12-13). Her cage is marked with a frownie face that indicates when she hatched a spinal anomaly was evident. Typically, many of such congenital spinal anomalies are essentially rendered undetectable when musculature develops in those areas. Such is the case here, as I cannot find any such anomalies. I just wanted people to know that an Xray could reveal what I must have seen when she first hatched. ???

Click HERE for more information on Granite Corn Snakes

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Granite (aka: Anery Bloodred)
Most Commonly Used Name: Granite
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive
Morph Type: Mutation Compound (Anery+ Bloodred)

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

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

This compound morph results from combining the color mutations, Anery and Hypo with the pattern mutation Diffused. As with most morph compounds that include the Diffused mutation, the Anery Bloodred mutation‘s color affect is generally more diffused than a typical Anery corn, and some are so hypomelanistic that their eyes are reddish in color (vs. the black pupil of the Anery Bloodred; aka Granite). Except for some of the color and pattern variants of this mutation compound.

Buckskin Okeetee 03-16-13

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

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#031613

Buckskin Okeetee

Female

d.o.h. 2010
37″ long on March 16, 2013

$200.00 shipped

Comments: Superior color and size maturity.

The Buckskin Okeetees are the result of selective breeding toward the obvious tan ground colors that accentuate the red markings. This female emerged from brumation on March 10th, 2013 after 10.5 weeks of cold dormancy.

Details about this corn snake morph:

Product Details

Buckskin Okeetee (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Buckskin Okeetee
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Dominant (wild-type) + Selective Variation
Morph Type: Selective Variation of the wild-type, Okeetee

Eye Color: Black pupil & body ground colored iris

The Buckskin Okeetee is another example of the promotion of polygenic traits through selective breeding. By breeding together specimens with an atypically tan ground coloration, through generational selection of pairing only the ones with the most buckskin ground coloration, we are now producing beautiful Okeetees with pale brown or tan ground colors. Of course, this means that no mutations are involved, since instead, changes are made through selective breeding via changes in non-mutant gene interactions.

What to expect:

In both neonates and adults, the ground color should be obviously pale by comparison to typical Okeetees. Note that neonate Okeetees of any persuasion are initially disappointing, as all their colors are drab through much of their youth. Colors will change with maturity, but always get richer and more saturated through maturity. As it is with most relatively new morphs, we don’t yet know what potential variation exists in Buckskin Okeetees, but the obvious target should have clean blotch and ground colors with little or no stippling or speckling that is often seen in the ground color zones of most non-mutant corns, heavy black blotch margins, buckskin-colored ground color zones, and richly saturated red blotches.

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.

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.

Ultramel Tessera 03-15-13

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 U.S.SHIPPING for each Snake-of-the-Day.

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toDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Fri. Mar. 15, 2013)

#031513

Ultramel Tessera

Female

d.o.h. 2010
36″ long on March 12, 2013
Possibly Het Anery

$500.00 shipped

This female Ultramel Tessera is now 36″ long, eating frozen/thawed small to medium adult mice. She offers great genetic potential when bred to any non-Lavender red-eyed corn snake. Since the Ultra gene mutation is codominant with Amelanism, by breeding this female to any Amel corn, approximately 1/2 of the progeny will be Amel and the remainder of them will be Ultramels (along with a percentage of any recessive mutations that both snakes possess).

Comments: Superior color and size maturity.

Re: Ultra mutation involved in this mutation compound:

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.

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.

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.

This is one of the few corn snake morphs that you should not purchase based on the pictured example. This is because of the extreme diversity of appearance within the mutation/morph. I could easily make this statement about most corn snake mutants, but the reason I do so here is because the real value of this mutation is its mode of inheritance. Few corn snake mutations are inherited in dominant fashion, so the primary reason most snake lovers purchase Ultras or Ultramels is because when they breed one to any snake with a form of classic amelanism, approximately 50% of the F¹ broods will be Ultra-type mutants (or approximately 25% – in the case of breeding the an Ultramel to a corn that is het for Amel and 100% if you breed an Ultra to an Amel type). I think you will be amply satisfied with any phenotype you receive from an Ultra type, but should you choose to buy one based on the sample picture on any web site, you may be disappointed if your’s does not mature to be exactly like the one that inticed you to purchase one.

Both Ultras and Ultramels render some of the most extreme examples of hypomelanism in corns, but a hypo-type phenotype is the 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) and therefore has nothing genetically to do with the Hypo gene locus. 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 genotypes, Ultramel or Ultra. When you breed an Ultra type to any corn that is not Amel (or Het 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) that are all het for Ultra.

Strawberry-03-10-13

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.

DAY031013a

toDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Sun. Mar 10, 2013)

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Details

#031013

Strawberry

Female

d.o.h. 2011
50″ long on Mar. 09, 2013

$350.00 SHIPPED

Comments: Superior color and size maturity.

This female Strawberry mutant hatched in 2008 here at SMR and has been a great producer. I have few genetic resources to complement her so I may as well put her in the hands of someone who has. She brumated from October 25th, 2012 to February 1, 2013. She should be ready to breed one to three weeks from now.