Category: Morphs

Amel Tessera

(no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Amel Tessera
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Dominant
Morph Type: Dominant & Recessive Gene Mutations
Eye Color:  Red pupil
 
 

FIRST, what makes Tessera corns so expensive? Other than appearance, the inherent (and primary) value of Tessera-type Corns is their mode of inheritance.  Since they are genetically dominant to wild type, pairing any Ultra Type that is a Visual Het with ANY corn snake (other than a Tessera-type) will render 50% visual 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.


Amel Tesseras are virtually identical to exceptionally well patterned Striped Amel Motley in appearance, but that’s where the resemblance ends.  The remarkably consistent Striped Motley-type pattern that derives from the base mutation, Tessera, is in herited dominantly.  Hence, when you breed a Amel Tessera to a Amel, both Amels and Amel 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, Amel Tesseras look virtually identical to exceptionally patterned Striped Amel 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 Amel 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 F1 s (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.

2010-Pied-sided Bloodred – high

Pied-sided Bloodred (aka: p/s bloodreds)
High 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 recessive mutation. 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. 

What to expect:
As neonates, P/S Bloodred corns are often heavily patterned (sides are generally faded or lacking typical lateral markings). Some exhibit black (or partially black) scales bordering some of the pattern blotches, and most of them have head patterns that are notably unlike those of typical corns. Like most SMR Bloodreds, P/S 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, like virtually all Bloodreds, P/S Bloodreds do not rank high in the realms of sterility or reluctance to eat rodents.   In fact, there are some seasons in which Bloodreds are among the best feeders of our corn snake neonates.
The amount and random distribution of white that will be on High White Expression members of this morph are difficult to quantify.  As more are produced, the percentage of white on the three classes of this morph (Low white, Medium white, and High white) will be possible to grade.  Virtually all P/S Bloodreds randomly demonstrate the shocking white blotches only on the lower sides of their bodies – predominantly in the first half of their bodies.  Some will have one (or a few) white scales (or partially white scales) on their faces.  It is still rare for a SMR P/S Bloodred to have white on the sides that is disjunct to the belly white (not touching the belly color field).

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.

2010-Pied-sided Bloodred – med

Pied-sided Bloodred (aka: p/s bloodreds)
Medium 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 recessive mutation. 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. 

What to expect:
As neonates, P/S Bloodred corns are often heavily patterned (sides are generally faded or lacking typical lateral markings). Some exhibit black (or partially black) scales bordering some of the pattern blotches, and most of them have head patterns that are notably unlike those of typical corns. Like most SMR Bloodreds, P/S 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, like virtually all Bloodreds, P/S Bloodreds do not rank high in the realms of sterility or reluctance to eat rodents.   In fact, there are some seasons in which Bloodreds are among the best feeders of our corn snake neonates.
The amount and random distribution of white that will be on Medium White Expression members of this morph are difficult to quantify.  As more are produced, the percentage of white on the three classes of this morph (Low white, Medium white, and High white) will be possible to grade.  Virtually all P/S Bloodreds randomly demonstrate the shocking white blotches only on the lower sides of their bodies – predominantly in the first half of their bodies.  Some will have one (or a few) white scales (or partially white scales) on their faces.  It is still rare for a SMR P/S Bloodred to have white on the sides that is disjunct to the belly white (not touching the belly color field).

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.

Pewter

Pewter (aka: Charcoal Bloodred, Charcoal Blood, Diffused Charcoal )
Most Commonly Used Name: Pewter
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive
Morph Type: Mutation Compound (Charcoal + Diffuse)
Eye Color: Black pupil & body ground colored iris
 
No photo description available.
 
 

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

This compound morph results from combining the color mutation, Charcoal with the pattern mutation Diffuse.  As with most morph compounds that include Diffuse, the Pewter mutation‘s color effect is greatly diffused (markings sometimes barely visible).  I can think of no other morph name that more accurately reflects the general appearance of most of the examples of the Pewter Corn.  Most are exactly the color of the metal, pewter. Some have greatly reduced lateral pattern that is obvious result of the original highly diffused Bloodred founding stock of all our Pewters.

What to expect:
Many Pewter hatchlings look like little more than regular Charcoal Corns, but the head should have some form of Diffuse head pattern, and the belly will be devoid of classic Charcoal Corn snake black & white checkering.  The belly pattern can have colors – and even pattern – but not organized checkering. Most Pewters have a soft gray overall appearance, but in the past few years, very dark (virtually black on black) ones have entered the trade.  We founded our Pewter stock by using the most diffused and patternless Bloodreds. 

2010 Striped Hypo

Striped Hypo (no aka)
Most Commonly Used Name: Striped Hypo
Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive
Morph Type: Mutation Compound (Stripe and Hypo)
Eye Color: Black pupil & body ground colored iris (some can be so hypomelanistic, their pupils can be gray to dark red).


The Stripe mutation has its usual enhanced impact in this double recessive mutation compound, but since the primary role of the Hypo mutation is in the realm of melanin reduction (not unlike that of the Stripe mutation), the effect is amplified in this aggregate.  Striped Hypos are usually paler than either of their cousins, Hypo or Stripe.

 

What to expect:
Hatchlings often look like their non Hypo cousin, Striped Corns.  Throughout maturity, the color and contrast in both pattern and ground zones diminishes to the point of most adult Striped Hypos being extremely faded in appearance.  They are essentially lightened versions of the wild type color, since they are modified by both the Stripe and Hypo mutations.  Striping can change in this morph, but always in reduction.  They never gain striping or any other pattern, but some pattern can fade to the point of almost being impossible to see in their adult form.

 

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.

2010 Striped Lavender

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

Other than looking like the expected striped version of the Lavender color mutation, Striped Lavenders have the most subdued colors of virtually all other Striped corns.  Add to that the reality that most Striped Lavenders lose much of their striping during maturity, and the result is often an almost pattern-less Lavender corn.

 

What to expect:
Hatchlings often have less striping than most striped mutants of other colors.  Those that do have considerable striping often lose much of it through maturity (especially in the males).  Some lose almost all their striping from hatchling to adult.  Colors pale dramatically through the aging process.  Most actually look like Striped Ghosts.

 

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.