Hello,

I am curious to know if anyone is noticing the presence of single post cloaca scales instead of the usual split scales in either their captive born or wild caught stock eastern chain kingsnakes(or any species of kingsnake for that matter).

If so, do eastern chain breeders or any kingsnake breeders view the presence of single scales as normal/variation, or is this the first sign of inbreeding or a mutation? I have seen chain kingsnakes that have perfect split scalation and a few that have single scales. In the picture attached, this eastern chain (captive born) has 17 single post cloacal scales before they split for the remainder of the tail.

I am new to breeding them, and I want to know if one phenotype is preferred over another.

Thanks!