Okeetee (Jasper County Locality)

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Jasper Country Okeetee (aka: Locality Okeetee)
Most Commonly Used Name: Locality 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

 

Arguably the most famous example of a corn snake morph named for its geographic origins, the Okeetee is 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.  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 Okeetee corns.

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 the desired 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 arrested, if caught on their land without express written permission.

 

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 out-number 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 Okeetee corns.

 

 

What to expect:
Even though most locality snakes sold in the trade are not necessarily stellar examples of the species, but in so much as our stock comes directly from Chip Bridges (famous in corn snake herpetoculture for his stunning Oddly, most of the best Okeetees we produce are the least beautiful – as hatchlings.  If you tossed a good Okeetee in a bucket of common corns, it’s possible you could 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.  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 incredible black and white checkered bellies, compared to other wild-type corns.
 

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.