Tessera 11-10-12

toDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Sat. Nov 10, 2012)
DAY111012
 
This 33″ long adult male Tessera is now mature enough to breed.
 
Tessera (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Tessera
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: DominantMorph
Type: Dominant to Wild-Type
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 theF1s (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 dominantmutation, 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.

te01110953-042411v
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?
 
 
 

Anery Tessera 11-09-12

toDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Thu. Nov 8, 2012)
DAY110912

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.

te01110953-042411v
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?

Kastanie110812

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.
DAY110812
.toDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Thu. Nov 8, 2012)

#110812
Kastanie
Male
d.o.h. 2011
33″ long on Nov. 6, 2012
$375.00 shipped

Details:

Kastanie (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Kastanie
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive
Morph Type: Single Recessive Mutation
Eye Color:  Black pupil & body ground-colored iris

 

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.

 

What to expect:
Most hatchlings are quite differently colored than their adult counterparts. Some neonatal Kastanies look like many Anery Corn Snakes, showing very little color at all.  The example here is a six month-old neonate.ka10-01-06a
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.

Striped Corn 110712

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.
DAY110712

Details

{simpleproduct:id=392}


ToDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Tue, Nov 7, 2012)

#110712
Striped Corn
Female
d.o.h. 2009

46″ long on Nov 6, 2012

$175.00 shipped

This 2011 hatchling female is either a Visual-Het Striped Tessera Mutant or a Striped Tessera homozygote (aka: Super-Form) Mutant.  Both parents are Striped Tesseras. She is also possibly het Amel.  If she is a Super-form Striped Tessera, breeding her to any type of corn will result in 100% Tessera progeny.

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.

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.

 

Striped Ghost Bloodred 03-28-13

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.
DAY032813

 {simpleproduct:id=538}

toDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Thu. Mar. 28, 2013)

 

 
#032813
Bloodred Het Striped Ghost
Male
d.o.h. 2011
34″ long on March 25, 2013
$300.00 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.

 

Striped Tessera032213

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.
 
DAY032213a 
{simpleproduct:id=391}

ToDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Fri. March 22, 2013)

 
#032213
Striped Tessera
Female
d.o.h. 2012
27″ long on March 21, 2013

$300.00 shipped
 
27″ long female 2013 Striped Tessera with no black.  These are fairly uncommon, but not as desirable as the Striped Tesseras with black bounding their pattern.  Hence, the lower price on this female.  She’s eating frozen/thawed large fuzzy mice and is currently in a growth spurt.  
 

 

Striped Tessera (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Striped Tessera
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Dominant to wild-type
Morph Type: Either a Striped Tessera Heterozygote or Striped Tessera Homozygote (aka: Super-form).
Eye Color: Black pupil with ground zone-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-crossedgeneration.  The results of pairing an Tessera homozygote with ANY corn snake (other than a Tessera-type) will render 100% Tessera mutants.

 
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.

     

     
     
     

    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 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.  The following year, the Lodrigues produced several Tesseras from Graham’s gender pair of these beautiful corn snake mutants.  Virtually all of the Tessera corns in the world toDAY are visual Het forms of the mutation.  As more are produced, we’ll surely see more homozygotes (aka: Super Forms), since as of toDAY (March 22, 2013) there is only one known Super Form Tessera in existance.  
     
    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 F2reproduction (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 S

    2009Amber110512A

     

    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.
    DAY110212

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    {simpleproduct:id=390}


    ToDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY Fri, Nov 2, 2012)

    #110212
    Low-White Pied-sided Bloodred
    Male
    d.o.h. 2010
    44″ long on October 31, 2012
    250.00 shipped


    This 2010 male Low-White P/S Bloodred shows little white, but is capable of producing lows, mediums, and highs in the realm of the degree of white – when bred to other SMR Line P/S Bloodreds.  He is possibly het for the McDonald Line of P/S Bloodreds.  he’s 44″ long and eating frozen/thawed adult mice.


    Details:
    Pied-sided Bloodred (aka: p/s bloodreds)
    Low White Expression
    Note:  Expect DIFFUSED and BLOODRED to be incorrectly but synonymously used in the hobby
    Most Commonly used Name: Pied-sided Bloodred
    Mode of Genetic Inheritance:     Selective Variation + Recessive
    Morph Type: Single recessive mutation & selective variation
    Eye Color:  Black pupil & body ground colored iris

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

    At this time, this author suspects that P/S Bloodreds owe their atypical white lateral and facial markings to polygenetic traits versus simple recessivemutation. It is sometimes difficult to determine the inheritance of a trait or mutation when expression of the atypical feature is highly variable.  In other words, are the Bloodred siblings of P/S Bloodreds not P/S Bloodreds OR are they P/S Bloodred mutants that are at the lowest end of the 0-to-10 scale for white expression?  When proving the mode of inheritance via evaluation of Mendelian Phenotype Proportions in a single brood of snakes, visual expression is crucial.  Hence, if the expression of white in this morph can be so extremely variable, when citing the ratio of visual mutants compared to visual non mutants, the very description of inheritance can be in doubt.  I therefore honestly don’t know if P/S Bloodreds owe their distinctive pied-sided white appearance to a recessive mutation OR polygenic trait modifications.

    Aside from the random lateral white feature that is obvious in most members of this morph – compared to standard Bloodreds – is the extreme diffusion – even if they don’t demonstrate any of the randomly distributed white patches on the sides.  On most – even in the absence of lateral white patches – there is an obvious line of demarcation between the dorsal and lateral pattern fields – just above the half-way point on the sides (dorso–laterally).  This stark break line between dorsal and lateral markings also begs questions about the lateral white being a mutation OR variable expression of polygenetics.

     

    Amel 02-16-13

    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.

    DAY021613sold

    {simpleproduct:id=495}

    toDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Sat. Feb 16, 2013)
     

    #111612
    Amel Motley Het Caramel – possibly het Sunkissed
    Female
    d.o.h. 2010
    49″ long on Feb. 16, 2013
    $200.00 shipped


    Comments:  Superior color and genetic potential

    49″ long 2010 female Amel Motley is HET for Caramel is eating frozen/thawed adult mice.  She brumated from October 10th, to January 31st so she will soon want to be married.  

     

    2009Amber 11-05-12

     

    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.
    DAY110512
     
     
     
     
     
     

     
     

    Details

    {simpleproduct:id=389}

     

    ToDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Mon, Nov 5, 2012)

     
    #110512
    Amber
    Female
    d.o.h. 2009

    48″ long on October 31, 2012

    $200.00 shipped
     
     

     
    This 2009 proven breeder female Amber has made beautiful Amber babies for us here at SMR.  She’s now in her breeding prime.  Last year, she laid 27 eggs in her first clutch of the season.

     

    Details:

    Amber (no aka)
    Most Commonly Used Name: Amber
    Mode of Genetic Inheritance:     Recessive
    Morph Type: Mutation Compound (Caramel + Hypo A)

     

     

     

     

    This compound recessive morph results from combining the two recessive color mutations, Caramel and Hypo A.  Just as one would expect, the product of the two is a pleasantly yellow corn snake.  Many mature to be virtually the same yellow as Butter corns, but with black pupils, instead of the pink eyes of the their Amel counterpart, the Butter corn.

     

    RED Banded Reverse Okeetee 110412

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    All snakes will be chosen for their rarity and/or unique beauty.
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    DAY110412

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    {simpleproduct:id=388}


    ToDAY’s SNAKE of the DAY (Sun, Nov 4, 2012)

    #110412
    RED Banded Reverse Okeetee
    Male
    d.o.h. 2011
    37″ long on October 31, 2012
    $300.00 shipped

    This 2010 male Reverse Okeetee exhibits what is rarely seen in our hobby; banded pattern. He should make a great addition to any breeding product to produce redder Reverse Okeetees with banded triads.

    Details:
    Most Commonly Used Name: Reverse Okeetee

    Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive + Selective Variation
    Reverse Okeetee (aka: Amel Okeetee, Albino Okeetee)
    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..