Well Don, I heard that there was two stories about the orgins.. from my best understanding, one had felt these were pure while the other said it was a grey rat cross.. The story may have changed by the time it came down my lines, but I am quite sure where I got it from, would not BS myself.. Of course, as things turned out, my opportunity to try that cross this year did not go as planned.. I know the lines of ultramels I work with and a few others, well they don't look like the frosted animals..
Yeah, the "second" story was added after he said he used a gray snow, and I believe it's because he took so much heat from admitting they were hybrids, he had to add that "twist" to the story. Reminds me of the reason one member of a firing squad is given a gun that shoots blanks. Nobody in the squad knows which one of them is shooting a blank, and they're all instructed to aim for the heart. Hence, there is no way to know which one did not contribute to the death, so they all walk away knowing there was a likelihood that THEY were the one shooting a blank. People telling me they are sure they got one of the ultramels from the pure snow, just because theirs have no hybrid markers, always reminds me of the firing squad thing. Premeditated or not, saying that first snake was bred to both hybrid and pure corn was a stroke of genius; infamous or not.
I’ve known quite a few breeders that “borrow” traits from alien species. They like the markings on one species, so they breed that snake to a corn one time only. From then on, they selectively breed progeny back to pure corns only, to mask the alien features but retain the one feature they borrowed from the non corn. A classic one is the leucistic Texas rat. I’ve known guys to breed those to corns, with the goal of making all white animals - tame as corns. It would only take two or three generations of selecting the best of each brood, to end up with animals that are completely devoid of obvious characteristics of the alien donor. To everyone's eyes, they are PURE corns. Of course, there will always be throw-backs, but just like most of my ultramels (and yours), there are NO obvious hybrid markers. Pour a glass of milk in a pitcher of water. You get just what you’d expect; opaque liquid. Pour that pitcher into a bathtub of water, and you barely notice the milk. Pour all that into a swimming pool, and the milk is totally invisible. It’s there, but it’s masked by the water.
My trial this year, well it didn't happen.. Apparently the male was a little intimadated from the goliath female white oak..
I have a few ultramels here that have obvious hybrid markers. I got them from a breeder who shall remain nameless. He showed me what he called SUPER HYPOS at a reptile show about nine years ago. I told him they were something very special. He told me that he didn’t even know his albino female was het for hypo until he produced these, and even said, “look at the ruby-colored eyes”. Of course, when we see this scenario now, we think ULTRAMEL. Sure enough. I bought several of those, and they’re all ultramels, but with a twist. They have very obvious hybrid markers and all have a wash of orange over them. If I told you they were ultramels het for caramel, you’d believe it; however, these are not het for caramel. When I quizzed him about their genetic origins, he ducked and dodged like a boxer. He NEVER did tell me how he made those. Where’s a lie detector when ya need it? 
As far as genetic testing goes, CB stock *lol*, we are more than likely to find a lot of things mixed in.. Emoryi and Cali King come to mind, amongst other things..
I’m certain you are correct. Head markings on some of mine are the most obvious hybrid markers.
South Mountain Reptiles
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