Okeetee 2018

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Okeetee (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Okeetee
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Dominant (wild-type) + Selective Variation
Morph Type: Selective Variation of wild-type
Eye Color: Black pupil & body ground colored iris
 
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Arguably the most famous example of a corn snake morph named for its geographic origins, the Okeeteeis also considered to be the most beautiful non-mutant corn snake in the species. First popularized by Carl Kauffeld in at least two books describing his field discoveries of this beautiful and robust race of corn snake on or near the Okeetee Hunt Club in South Carolina, Okeetees have since been selectively bred for extremely bright and saturated colors. When we say locality Okeetee, we are referring to animals whose genetic origins can be traced to the Jasper County, South Carolina region. There is nothing magic about the Hunt Club that makes only animals in that area outstanding looking. Corns in other states of the Corn Snake’s range can be just as beautiful, but proportionally speaking, the corns from this region outnumber those that have inferior color and pattern.  Okeetees that have been selectively bred for appearance and consequently satisfy a visual hobby standard are sometimes called Okeetee morphs, but more often are called simply Okeeteecorns.

Okeetees (in the hobby) are a premier example of the promotion of polygenic traits through selective breeding. By breeding together specimens with desired characteristics, through generational selection of pairing only the ones with superior target features, it doesn’t take long to render stunning examples of the morph – without the aid of gene mutations. Please, do not attempt to hunt for Okeetee corns on private property. The Okeetee Hunt Club in South Carolina expressly forbids trespassing, and it is possible to be legally prosecuted, if caught on their land without express written permission.

 

What to expect:
Oddly, most of the best Okeetees we produce are the least beautiful – as hatchlings. If you tossed a good Okeetee in a bucket of hatchling common corns, you’d likely not identify it until after several months of maturity. Neonates should show bold black blotch margins, but until one or two sheds, the bright ground colors are not obvious. By that time, blotch colors are beginning to show, and adult Okeetees should have clean (low color freckling) ground and blotch color zones, separated by noticeably broad, black borders. Most of the spectacular examples of this morph are so good, they are sold by other names in the hobby – and are consequently more expensive (i.e. Extreme Okeetees, Buckskin Okeetees, Banded Okeetees). Another notable feature of this morph is its robust size and feeding vigor. Okeetees (which CAN have orange on their bellies – but is relatively rare at this time) have the most spectacular black and white checkered bellies, compared to other wild-type corns.
 
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.