Reptile & Amphibian Forums

think my corns about this size

willzy

That thing is huge. The record is 72 inches and that snake may someday be the record breaker!

Tim

hey there. Just wanted to mention that I had a conversation with Terry Vendeventer(a fellow dinosaurian field herper and great guy).In the conversation we talked about the corns we have caught and seen in Okeetee and their immense size. Often one would see a 5 footer and 5 and one half to over 6 foot specimens were exceptional but not at all unknown. One of my founder breeding stock , which I caught in switzerland(whoever knows switzerland is a fellow Okeetee fan)measured 76.5 inches at his demise and was as big girthwise as any large pine snake!!To the documented record length of 72" I say bah, humbug. I was wondering if any others low country/Jasper county enthusiasts have similar record setting Okeetee stories.

Sure,......I totally agree!,.......as I also stated before, all the "record" thing proves, is that was the biggest corn "documented" and KNOWN of to the proper authority to BE documented. Sort of like the IGFA(International Game and Fishing Association) and someone landing a MONSTER fish. If the right people DON'T KNOW about it, it doesn't get recognised, and might as well of never existed.

If I knew of a 76.5" corn, and did the measuring to verify it, I certainly would have gotten in touch with the Museum of Natural History, and made an effort to let them know, and take proper steps to get the animal documented,....a freezer would be all it would take to do it. I also would have taken a good quality shot of the snake straightened out next to a tape measure too.

There is NO DOUBT in my mind that MANY records are not the largest, just the largest that happened to be DOCUMENTED by the proper authorities.

There could very well be a 82" Cornsnake underneath the very "floor-boards" of the "Okeetee Gun Club's" Main building on the 50,000 acre estate right now!..................maybe not though either!..LOL!

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

Yep. The official way to document record sizes and lengths is to have them verified by an outside source - most commonly the local Musuem of Natural History.

The same goes for range extensions.

Now I'm a big fan of Howie, so I'm not doubting him. I've read that the Okeetee race is one the largest of the corns (locality-wise).

I'd sure love to see some pics of 6 foot plus corns!

Tim

Third Eye

Yeah Tim,...that "Okeetee" race definitely has potential for getting quite large. As a matter of fact, the biggest ones I've ever personally held were textbook "Okeetees". Don't know if they were actually FROM Jasper,County or not though, but they were real "WHOPPERS"!

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

Hey Tim, unfortunately I could not find any pics of the 76.5" brute. fortunately several of my friends have seen him close up and some helped me measure him so I can corroborate the length. Here is a pic of one of his grandsons, at 3 years old and pushing 5.5 feet. I never got to see how big he would get as he was lost in a winter accident in 2005(long lousy story). Funny how the 1st generation of young from breeding a 5 foot plus female with the monster male was producing baby corns at an unprecedented neonate length of 12-15"!!!! This has not been duplicated by subsequent generations, but wow, you should have seen those robust babies. Howie

A real eye catcher. We had one like that resently, if a female she might be at my house. Not as bright as your, but same color combos.
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Thanks for reading.
Big Tom

www.HerpZillA.com

Yup that is LARGE. Any more pics, maybe close ups?

Whats it's name? At the shop we had a 7' florida king they called KONG. He ate anything.

Hope to see more pics.
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Thanks for reading.
Big Tom

www.HerpZillA.com

i'm sorry. that was my only dig pic . wish i had more to show ya.

I've already seen a difference of opinions combining the 2 threads.

I've seen a lot of corns, biggest being a normal I guess. But I had a very large (presumable) miami "phase". I've also see a few rather large okeetees.

I realize 2-5 snakes does nto make a scientific study. And most snakes in collection are crosses of locales. So this goes to guys herping the "childred of the corn", since were all big kids at heart.

I've got my own view I'd post later.
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Thanks for reading.
Big Tom

www.HerpZillA.com

Hey Tom, I can only make a broad generalization but of all the corns I have seen(and it's been alot) since 1968, the biggest ones on average(and I'm talking up to a foot larger in avg length than outside the area), are the corns I have seen from the Okeefenokee area in Ga. to the low country of South Carolina. I always wondered if the greater size might have something to do with past interbreeding with the yellow rat snakes also found in same locales, especially with the frequent longitudinal striping often seen in the corns. I caught a corn(yellow rat)? that was a few miles outside the entrance to the savannah wildlife refuge that I swear to you had strong characters of both yellow and red rats. Just fuel for thought.

I alwasy talk about this shop I help at, but it's where I got most of my experience. I'm almost 49, I worked there and almost lived there form 1972 to 1980. Most of the Cleveland gang was a bit older than I. But in 1980 I left herps for my wife lol. I just lost interest, although I was still in and out of the shop a lot.

When I returned in 2001, I was calling the corn a red rat snake. Someone that posts right in here CORRECTED ME!. lol I had a lot of unlearning to do. But it is all good, and still fun.

2 pics, a rare pic of me as a late teen ager, as I was very camera shy. And a rather pic of my wife and I the xmas before we got married.

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Thanks for reading.
Big Tom

www.HerpZillA.com

Tom,........I used to ONLY call them "Red Rat's" back in the day, even though I knew they were "technically" more often called cornsnakes. That's just what EVERYONE called them back then. It's funny,.....I gradually started to use the term "corn" more and more, until as of fairly recent years, don't EVER call them anything but "cornsnakes" now!...the term Red Rat almost sounds funny to me now!..LOL.....hmmmm, imagine that!

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

I think that has an AWEFUL lot to do with it myself, even if they look MUCH more "corn", the subdued genetics are still in the "stew" so to speak......

You've been into snakes EXACTLY how long I have been into them as well......1967-68. I used to bring big Indigos, Cornsnakes, and Yellow Rats to third grade "Show & Tell"!....man, those were fun times.

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

actually i was snake hunting as early as the late 50s. but it wasnt till i was 15 when i made my first trip south and caught my first corn snake. so you must remember when the old price lists priced snakes by the foot and scarlet kings by the inch. remember how cheap they were back then and how shipping costs were about non existent?i yearn for the days before this rampant over regulation.

them, and scan and post, they are funny. We have one with boas at $2 I think, another newer one with albino leo geckos at $125 WHOLESALE. Not to mention stuff you just can not get any more.

Fun stuff.
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Thanks for reading.
Big Tom

www.HerpZillA.com

Yeah!,...I remember all that!..LOL....that reminds me of the time(approx. 1970) when some older kids from the neighborhood wanted to sell me a GIGANTIC/MONSTER Indigo(8.5 - 9ft.) they had for a mere eight bucks!............truth was, I didn't HAVE the big bucks to buy it, so I had to watch those two kids walk that regal, noble beast down the sidewalk into the sunset.....imagine an Indigo like that being approx. $1.00 per ft..LOL!!! now, if you could find such a bohemoth, it would surely run at least in the 1,500-$2,000 dollar range from a breeder.

Those were different times my friend!

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

Here's some older pics of my 04 male that came from Howie. Would this guy be related to that 76 inch founding male you had Howie? I'll have to get an updated pic soon. This male is a pretty good sized corn.

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"Book ‘em, Danno”

Hey there Steve. I would have to check my records, but by appearance he certainly looks very similar to his great(?)grand dad/ How big is he?

Hey Howie, I'd say he's around 55-57 inchs. Also, I meant to say, he is a 2003, not 04. I picked him out from several you had at one of the Richmond shows.

Dogs don't like Mc Donald's French Fries.

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"Book ‘em, Danno”

First i appologize for the crappy pics my D70 is on the brink of extinction right now, and my new powershot s5is has not came yet.

This is """GUS"""

He is a 15yr old male Okeetee right off of 17s from Okeetee property. My vet freind caught him there when he was a wee lil squirt. Its hard to tell really how long he is, he measures over 5ft kinked up. I guess i need to get some yarn and stretch down his body. I aqquired him last year after i saw him, and I HAD to have him. Once i get my new cam in, i will take shots of him and his purdy female from jasper co blood lines, and there offspring that they produce.

I hate to even post this close up, its so blurred..lol. I will post better pics soon...lol!!

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My herps..
1.1 Amel bloodred corns
1.1 reverse okeetees
1.0 normal corn
1.0 Anery
1.2 Amel corn
1.1 Jasper county Okettee's(YES true locale specimens)
2.0 American alligators
0.1 Northern Copperhead
1.2 Timber rattlesnakes(canebrake phase)
2.3 black rat snakes
1.1 Eastern box turtles
0.1 shtc leopard Gecko
0.1 Red tal boa
0.2 eastern hogs

You should Serpwidget that bad boy!

Here's my Female Creamsicle - her old man was bigger but has passed away.

The boards are approximately 5 1/2 inches wide.

John D

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I am so not lesdysxic!

0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
1.1 Eastern Kingsnakes