>> what is really strange is the fact that the first pic marked "Bubblegum " looks like a "normal" Yellow/Black Rat cross,...



Actually it looks nothing like a normal yellow/black rat cross. A subadult normal yellow/black rat cross is pictured below, its colors are fully developed yet but you can get the general idea:







This animal was hatched by me.



Most yellow/black rat crosses are various shades of olive/green and black with bright yellow highlights. The snake in Frank's picture has much more brownish orange, which is typical of the normal phase of yellow/black/everglades (bubblegum rats). Most I've seen were more brown but that could have been due to a higher percentage of black rat in the mix versus everglades.



An exception to the more brownish (copper?) look can be seen below. It is a photo of an intergrade animal produced by breeding a black/yellow rat (greenish rat) to an everglades rat snake. Although the snake is comprised of 50% everglades "genes" it doesn't show near the orange that Frank's snake does.







Hope this helps,

dg

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