Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got this guy just over a month ago. I bought him as an Oketee but to my inexperienced eye his head looks like a blood red. Could this mean he is het (doubt it) or he just has that head marking?
Bear with me I don't know how to post more than one pic at a time! His colors are also dull because he is in shed.

Joanna

body

Belly

I'm not seeing Bloodred in that particular animal.

This is a hatchling Blood...Notice the grey head?

[image]http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/10069HypoBlood2003.jpg[/image]

Thanks for the reply. I just found the pattern on Chili's head to be "different". I was surprised at the grey on his nose.
Joanna

Just an FYI, if a snake is het for something, it won't make any difference on the external markings. Only way you can tell is looking at the parents, and what it produces.
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Chondros and colubrids... my 2 favorite types of snakes!

"Life is hard. Life is harder if you're stupid." - John Wayne

Unless, of course, that genetic trait for which the animal is het is one determined by a gene that is dominant in nature to the wild type gene.

If the episkiastic gene (that which causes the bloodred pattern) is, as I believe, (at least partially) dominant to the wild type, then one would expect the het animals to show a range of episkiastic traits.

Of course het episkiastic animals DO usually show such traits, and it is very common to pick out an animal that is het for episkiastism from among a bag filled with normal babies. You might not get them all, and there may be a few "false positives" but you'll be able to spot the het animals purely on their own patterns more often than not.
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Darin Chappell
Hillbilly Herps
PO Box 254
Rogersville, MO 65742

Thanks for the reply. I think I should have posted my question differently. I am new to corn snakes and find the coloring of Chili's head different from most corns that I have seen. The tan/gray patch in front with some "freckles" is what I am referring to. The only thing that came to mind was what I had remembered about bloodred's heads as hatchlings. I thought his head markings almost had the skull appearance.

Joanna