Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a young cornsnake..first off I dont know if its a boy or a girl but eventually I would like to breed it (possibly)
I bought him as a black motley but after doing some research I've noticed hes not very black at all. Hes definitely motley and has those spots on his back but hes more grey/dark brown...I've heard this is a sort of ghost motley?

Well my first question is can anybody tell me what he might be?
Also what colors should I look to breed him with? Or does it matter? I dont know anything about cornsnake genetics theres just so many different kinds and when they get older they arent even the same color. we have a snow corn that started pink and ended up white. Any help would be appreciated, I'm tired of raising balls and am ready to get into something a little more simple.
Jessica

Anerythristic corn snakes (corn snakes that have a genetic mutation that keeps them from producing red pigment) are sometimes sold as "black albino" snakes. Gray with black patterns are the normal colors for them. My guess is that it was just easier for the breeder to say black motley than black albino motley, so that's where the confusion came in.

Insofar as breeding, what morph you should breed it to depends on what morphs you're trying to get. I personally do not breed, and so haven't paid all that much attention to the way the motley trait is inherited. What I can tell you is that if you breed it to another anerythristic corn, you should get anerythristic hatchlings. If motley is a simple recessive gene, they would be anerythristic heterozygous for the motley trait, however, as I said, I'm not sure how the motley trait is passed on.

is a recessive mutant gene, too.

Paul Hollander