Lavender

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Lavender (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Lavender
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive
Morph Type: Single Recessive Mutation
Eye Color:  Red pupil & body ground colored iris (see details below about some having black pupils)

 

There are several distinct features among Lavender mutants of any variety. One baffling characteristic common in the Lavender mutation is that most of them have eye pupils that are some shade of pink – virtually identical to most albino (Amel) corn snakes.  Nobody yet knows why but some have black pupils.  Another feature in most Lavender corns is that virtually all of them hatch smaller in size than any other corn snake mutation.  What they lack in hatchling size they make up for in appetite.  Not so much that they are ravenous feeders (they actually ARE), but collectively relative to all other corn snake mutations, Lavenders statistically favor pinky mice more than any other corns we produce.  Our adult Lavender types are essentially the same size as other corn snake morphs, even though they start out so tiny. Many lavenders resemble Ghost corn snakes, as babies and adults.

 

What to expect:
Most hatchlings are some shade of pale lavender or gray, and as detailed above, they are the tiniest hatchlings in the corn snake hobby.  Some have peach tones between markings, while some have pale and are lacking in contrast between markings and ground color zones.  Through maturity, most will keep their basic neonate coloration, but unlike most corns whose colors become more saturated with age, Lavender types almost always lost color saturation through maturity.  It is difficult to discern between basic lavenders and Hypo Lavenders, since there is a distinct lack of melanin in both.  Most have red pupils, but for genetic reasons we don’t yet understand, some have black pupils.  I’ve seen other morphs that were virtually identical to most adult lavenders, so distinguishing between them is not easy without a genetic family history.  Unless Lavenders are bi-colored (having a peach or coral ground color between dorsal markings), they are highly variable in color.  Expect everything from pale gray to lavender. 

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