Category: Morphs

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:

Genetically speaking, Fluorescent corns are Amel corns that have been selectively bred to promote their target look (red or orange blotches on an orange background, with separating white blotch margins), but we have taken this to a new and better version by selectively toward stretching the markings from blotches to bands.  Since the only gene mutation they possess is Amel, the obvious distinction between Banded Fluorescents and the classic Fluorescent corn is the obvious banding.

What to expect:

The Blizzard corn is the finished product of combining the two recessive color mutations, Amel and Charcoal.  If you pair a Blizzard with a non Blizzard, Amel, or Charcoal, in the absence of any other mutations in these snakes, 100% of the progeny will be common corns that are heterozygous for Amel and Charcoal.  By then breeding two of these F¹ snakes together, you will get approximately one Blizzard for every 16 hatchlings — in addition to some wild-types, Amels , and Charcoals.

What to expect:
As hatchlings, Blizzards can be nearly patternless, mildly patterned (dirty white or cream on white or pink ground zones), or heavily patterned, but no yellow will be present.  As adults, some Blizzards mature to be completely white and virtually pattern-less (although pattern is usually obvious in strong light or flash photography).  Most adult Blizzards at this time show obvious yellow which is the result of carotenoid retention from diet – which slowly manifests throughout maturity.  Early in corn snake herpetoculture, the majority of Blizzard corns lacked most (or all) such yellow, but through subsequent breeding to change the patterns of Blizzards, the trait for manifesting yellow was infused into many genetic families.  Breeding trials are ongoing — in an effort to create family lines that are devoid of this color feature.  This should result in the general appearance of white and pattern-less corns.

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.

The first compound mutation in corns, Snow corns (genetically, Anery Amels) are the F² finished product of pairing an Amel with an Anery.  Both base mutation phenotypes are obviously supplanted with different shades of white (no Amel or Anery traits showing). Pairing an Amel with an Anery yields 100% wild phenotypes (common corns) that are of course all Heterozygous (abbr. Het) for both Amel and Anery. In so much as both base gene mutations are inherited in simple recession fashion, approximately one out of 16 of the F² progeny will be a Snow.  Of course, there will be NO black on any snow corn that lacks the genetic impacts of other mutations.  Sometimes, black is visible in parts of the eye, but this is not melanin.  It is eye tissue whose density defies light reflection, so it appears to us to be black.  At this time, many breeders are changing the colors of Snow corns through the addition of other gene mutations that alter the mature phenotype.

What to expect:
Since they have been commonly bred for so long, there is a wide variety of different color schemes in Snow corns.  As hatchlings, most are some shade of white with contrasting white or pink markings, but most end up being off-white with dirty white markings.  Pink can show through on adults and yellow is becoming a fairly common color in adult snows (not the carotenoid yellow that manifests through maturity from retention of carotenoids in their diets).  Such non-carotenoid retained yellow is sometimes mixed in the ground color, sometimes only in the markings, sometimes only in the boundaries of the blotches, and any combination thereof.

Extreme Reverse Okeetees are variants of the basic Amel Mutation, but with the polygenic impact from the Buckskin Okeetees. Therefore, their only visual distinction from Amel corns is their polygenetic color and pattern scheme.  Genetically speaking, like their cousins, Extreme Reverse Okeetees, are Amel corns that have been selectively bred to promote their target look (Highly saturated blotch colors, separated from clean and unspeckled ground coloration by prominent white blotch margins). Red or orange markings are not difficult to reproduce through generational line breeding, but the quality and size of the white blotch margins is often difficult to achieve, and sometimes difficult to maintain through subsequent generations.  Note that the ground color zones of Extreme Reverse Okeetees run toward yellow, relative to their Reverse Okeetee cousins. The degree of color purity in the orange background and red (or orange) markings have been enhanced via polygenetic traits, modified through selective promotion of only the best target phenotypes. Some will exhibit color “clutter” in these zones, but a distinction between Reverse Okeetees and most Amel corns should be a dramatic reduction in color “noise” — rendering richer colors of blotch and ground color zones.  The blotch margins are often very wide, compared to most Okeetee and Amel Okeetee types. 

What to expect:

Reverse Okeetees are one of the few corn snake mutations that change very little between neonate and adult, so expect some deeper color saturation throughout maturity.  The often “neutrally colored” blotch margins turn bright white throughout maturity.  I don’t recall ever seeing one that was completely devoid of color litter in the pattern and ground zones, but we’re getting closer to that  with  each generation. Some of the hatchlings displaying orange markings mature to have redder markings, and some of those starting with red markings change to orange, but approximately 75% of all our red ones stay red, and about the same percentage of the orange marked ones stay orange.

 

Two Extreme Reverse Okeetees (Amel Extreme Buckskin Okeetees) pictured with a Buckskin Okeetee sibling on 06/10/13. 

 

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.

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.

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.

 

 

 

The genetic product of combining the Amel and Caramel recessive mutations render the ultimate expression of yellow in corns. Both color and pattern are variable in hue and shades, but all adults demonstrate what is left when the Amel mutation removes melanin from the Caramel mutation; YELLOW.