Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok i know in the past i have posted for help with morph ids but this time i already know i have a normal het for amel. my question is what could be up with the pattern here? i have never seen any thing like it.

Wow, it sure looks like a great plains rat! Yeah, the pattern is funky.

Mitch

I agree with Mitch there. If you mean a het amel pure genuine CORNSNAKE, I would say no way. If you meant it is a het amel emoryi, or "rootbeer" cross het for amel, I would say sure thing.

That color and pattern phenotype don't look at all typical for a corn, but are VERY typical for a Great Plains ratsnake(emoryi), or at the very least, a corn x emory cross with VERY strong emoryi influence.

regards, ~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Is there any way we can get a pic of the belly on this snake. We often find baby black racers down here in Florida that have back patterns like that.

i thought the same thing of the great plains rat.the snake came from a buddy of mine the had a late clutch. it was the only one out of the clutch that looked like this. the rest were all normal and amel. here is a belly shot with the checkering. sorry its not the best shot but as many of you know they dont like to sit still very good.lol

"the rest were all normal and amel"

Yes, but normal and amel...WHAT????. That's pretty much the question. Many times intergrade crosses can have offspring that look more like one parent or the other, or intermediate between the two, and this also depends on what percentage is involved in the cross combination.

Even though the rest of the clutch might very well "look" to be pure cornsnakes, they could very easily be crosses. Whithout knowing what the parental lineage is for certain, it is virtually impossible to say with any certainty, but I highly suspect there is emoryi in the genetic "melting pot". This is very common to see this cross anyway, and has been that way for many years.

The other possibility is, you could indeed have one freak individual in the clutch. But this is far less likely than them being emoryi crosses, that is really the bare-bones reality of it I think.

Cool snake though whatever the case is.......enjoy!

regards, ~Doug
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

I agree with Mitch and Doug. That looks a lot like a Great Plains Ratsnake. It was probably crossed with a corn. There have been albino, hypo, snow, anery, etc. GPR/Corn Snake crosses made.

As far as pattern, it looks a bit aberrant, but that's nothing unusual - either for a GPR, Corn Snake or cross of the two.

I'll say what I always say to people who post asking "What's this morph?" - if you're serious about the genetics of your snakes, get them from a reputable breeder. There's a lot of "funny stuff" going on out there. Not long ago I saw someone advertising "Ablino Pueblan Milk Snakes." There's no such thing.

Tim
Third Eye

I agree 100% with getting your morphs from reputable dealers if breeding those morphs is your priority. Trying to identify these animals on the forums is a major shot in the dark, and most can only be proven out through breeding trials. I feel many are buying these mystery snakes at bargain prices "hoping" they turn out to be some cool and profitable morphs. Like that new reality series Storage Wars. Hoping to buy bargain priced lockers and find priceless artwork or something LOL!! My philosophy has always been to leave it alone if I dont know what it is, OR just be happy for what it looks like and leave it at that!!! I certainly would not expect members of this forum to be able to give me an absolute answer on ANY unknown animal regardless of what it looks like.