Well, the truth of the matter is nobody really "knows why" this happens, but there are other snake's that I've seen and heard of that have also done this as they aged. It's called "piebaldness", and most of the time it affects random areas of the body.



Most snakes that are piebald in the hobby, start out that way genetically right from the egg, with this and other forms of the piebald trait having been found to be a simple recessive trait, as in the "pied-sided" corns that Don Soderberg has produced, but these two traits of course are very different from one another here.



To be quite honest, I would take your pied corn over a regular amel ANY day of the week, as this is MUCH MORE unusual. It would be very interesting to see how far this "piebaldness" progresses as time goes on.



This phenomenon of course affects the pigment cells known as erythrophores(red pigment cells),and very likely the xanthophores(yellow pigment cells) as well that are responsible for the production of reds, and/or yellow pigments of the animal.



In any case, it's VERY interesting to see this, and it is VERY unusual. I would hold onto that one!





~Doug
-----
"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

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