Welcome, glad to have another thinking mind here...

The only example I can think of right now are the obsoleta ssp. crosses, the ontogenetic melanism exhibited by Black Rats does not seem to be "dominant" in the crosses with guttata. It does appear to influence the adult coloration however as the animals I have seen are certainly darker than other guttata crosses, particularly the quadrivittata x guttata. I think the genetic "triggers" that cause the change to black are still there but to a lesser degree than in the parent species. Meaning if you crossed a Black milk with a corn instead of the Honduran you would get a substantially darker adult hybrid but not a solid glossy black snake...All just a guess till someone takes the time to do it.

I would love to see any Spalerosophis sp. crosses as it would be interesting to see if the resulting hybrids used the distinctive defensive behaviors (flattening of the head, tongue waving, and that incredible hissing) in addition to the drastic coloration changes. Great question & good luck. One very sucessful hybrid guy here in GA had a pair of beautiful orange & black "atriceps" in his collection, I would think he tried to breed them with the other projects he had at the time, but I don't remember seeing any offspring other than pure ones he produced.

Very beautiful retic BTW.

Horridus

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