Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here's a few more pictures of the lone hatchling including a vent shot. 25 saddles (or would be if not for the zig-zag). Let me know what you all think...

Without holding it in my hands and looking at scales, my guess is that it is a hybrid.

Tough call because I just don't see any corn snake in it but it's strange over all.
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Steve W.

My guess would be it's a cross.. The pattern, high band count,and the extra skin on the neck it what my decision is based on.

~ Mike Russo

The pattern isn't what factors in it for me. I've seen plenty of abberrant alterna. The other things could be something of concern or something that will change like the neck. For example, I've had a baby or two born with kinks that grew out of them and were perfectly normal.
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Steve W.

I have never seen a baby grow out of a kink, but, i do agree that there are plenty of abberrant alterna out there.. What I based my opinion on was that all of these things together in this one animal and the fact that we know that the corn and alterna spent a few days together..

~ Mike Russo

They can grow out of a kink depending on the severity and assuming you keep it long enough to give it a chance. Even though it spent some time with a corn snake it also spent some time with an alterna and i just don't see any corn snake in that snake. That being said it's still been tainted by the fact it was in with the corn and I couldn't call it pure.

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Steve W.

I guess we will just have to agree to disagree on this one Steve.. And, agree NEVER to put a corn snake with an Alterna... os ANY other king for that matter..

Hope all is well!

~ Mike Russo

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I am in the camp that says that snake does not look normal and would suspect a hybrid, but I do not see any corn snake at all either. I have seen the cal-king x corn hybrids and you can see some corn influence there in that cross at least. It could just a malformed alterna from that small male, after all it does not take a big or old male to pull off a breeding, but there is no simple way to be sure.

So if I ended up with it, it would be a pet and I would raise it up to see what it looked like later.
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