SMR Archive – Page 401 – Posts from old SMR Website

Snake of the Day 06-30-13

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.

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The disproportionate size of the eyes of these Hypo Pewters demonstrates an optical illusion seen in some pale and/or weakly-patterned corn snakes (the most extreme being Palmetto mutants). The eyes appear to be overly large because their dark pigmentation exaggerates the contrast against their pale face (in other words, the eyes don’t color phase into the surrounding face). The usual color and pattern on the faces of dark corns somewhat “hides/disguises” their eyes, which have similar color. Therefore, the eyes of corns appear larger to us on many corn snake color and pattern mutants. After measuring the eyes of these snakes (and those of their cousin, Palmettos). relative to the length of the heads I find their eyes to have the exact size and proportion of average dark-colored corn snakes. The eyes of Blizzard mutants also appear to be over-sized, but because they lack melanin (in both eyes and face) the proportionate size of the eyes is less dramatic. For both eyes and face pale or both eyes and face dark, the result is normal to our perception. Since the iris of the eyes of dark corns matches the ground color-shade of their body, the dark pupil is the most obvious ocular feature, facilitating the illusion of a smaller eye. Some serpent species take disguise of their eyes one step further by having a lateral stripe in their eye that connects a facial stripe from the front of their face, tailward beyond their head (i.e. Boa constrictor). Obviously, the color and pattern of wild corn snakes facilitates crypsis in their natural habitat of leaf litter. Such crypsis is more complete if prey and predators do not detect their eyes. Naturally, we need eyes to see, but in Nature, eye contact between prey and predator (or lack thereof) is often crucial to survival. I’ve been able to get very close to birds and other animals in the wild if I approach them with my eyes hidden by a camera. We’re left to imagine that evolution may someDAY completely disguise the eyes of serpents, rendering them even more efficient predators.

Snake of the Day 06-27-13

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The first Lava Tessera of the season. It should be a sensational looking adult in a couple of years.

Snake of the Day 06-28-13

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Two Saffron Motleys (aka: Sunkissed Butter Motleys) and one Butter Motley, Het Sunkissed. Note the head pattern distinctions.

Not all Saffron Motleys have such atypical corn snake head markings, but most do. Naturally, the Saffron mutants will mature to

be bright yellow as adults. These three (and their other siblings) are progeny from pairing a Saffron Motley to a Butter Motley,

Het Sunkissed (therefore, Het Saffron).

Snake of the Day 06-26-13

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This is part of the brood resulting from the pairing of an Amel Tessera to a Buf. At least two Amel Bufs and one Buf Tessera are shown above.

Snake of the Day 06-29-13

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Part of a brood of the progeny from the pairing of two Common corn snakes — both Het for Blizzard (Amel & Charcoal), Anery, Sunrise, and Palmetto. The Charcoal Palmetto on the right with lots of freckling is the one featured on SOTD a few DAYs ago, but you will notice that there is a second Charcoal Palmetto in the center of the image. This one demonstrates an arrangement of “freckles” that is rarely seen in Palmettos (perhaps one out of 15). I cannot imagine that the destinations of melanophores and chromatophores have such a simplistic destination mechanism, but it APPEARS as though many of the scale colors that were meant to to be randomly distributed throughout the body (but never on the ventrum) are clustered together in two different locations (with a third grouping near the tail – not visible in this pic) see red arrows. When we see this phenomenon in the fully-colored Palmettos, it is 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 such clusters of color.

Also seen in this image are Common, Charcoal, Blizzard, Amel, Anery, Snow (maybe Snow Blizzard), 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 that color mutation. I will surely have to rely on the appearance of the eyes in Charcoals to distinguish between Anery and Charcoal Palmettos and non-Palmetto Charcoals and Aneries. 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 eyes of a typical Charcoal, so it may be an Anery Charcoal. We have produced many like this that indeed did turn out to be homotygotes of both color mutations.

Snake of the Day 06-25-13

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Can you determine which of these three siblings is not a Buf mutant corn snake? Parents are Extreme Okeetee x Buf. The question is rhetorical since it’s easy to tell (in THIS image), but I posted this picture to demonstrate the relatively subtle distinction between common corns and Bufs. In this picture, you see obviously more yellow in the Bufs, but others I have only show a slight color distinction from Common or Okeetee corns. This is why some people offer snakes they say “might be Bufs“.

Snake of the Day 06-24-13

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This Charcoal Palmetto shows promise for what we expected; freckles that are all shades of gray and black. It could be that unlike typical Palmettos that only show perhaps 1/3 of their colors as hatchlings — and show more of them as they mature — maybe the Charcoal Palmettos show all of its markings from DAY-one? Since this is the first of its kind, we’ll just have to find out as she matures. It definitely is obvious that she is showing many more color flecks than typical Palmettos of this age.

Snake of the Day 06-22-13

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In addition to being pattern mutants, head markings suggest that these two striped-type corns from pairing a Honey Motley to a Butter Motley-Het Sunkissed are actually Sunkissed mutants. The dorsal color zone between the dark dorso-lateral stripes having an obviously darker and continuous tone resembles a pattern mutation demonstrated in other serpent species. It almost gives the appearance of having all the dorsal markings blended together to form one long and contiguous marking down the back — but I’m not saying that is what’s happening. This is rare in corns, and I’m suspicious that it could be the result of a pattern gene mutation for this species. Breeding trials will substantiate or refute my suspicions. No other Sunkissed siblings of these exhibited this pattern, including the Honey Motley siblings.

Snake of the Day 06-21-13

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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.

Snake of the Day 06-27-13 wrong

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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.