Reptile & Amphibian Forums

After seeing an adult okeetee at Scott Smith’s
All Animal Expo a little while back I wanted one.

The issue is apparently okeetee vary greatly from one to another, one locality to another, one line to another, etc. It seems like just about every aspect can vary with them, and I'm only talking about non-morphs.

Is there anything out there that has the different subclasses of okeetee illustrated so I can describe and eventually find what I consider perfect for me?

If I was trying to find say a high yellow, thin black band, wide head, what would that be considered? And what about the opposite?

I'd very much appreciate the help, thank you.

-george

I don't know that there are different classes of Okeetees.

There are a few true Okeetee locale animals that actually originated from animals from the hunt club and have never had any other blood introduced... so true 100% Okeetee corns. Some of these have bright colors and thick black borders while others leave a little to be desired.

There are Okeetee phase corns that are just generally great looking natural type corns that have been selectively bred to have the traits of prized Okeetee locale animals (thick black borders, bright orange ground color, glowing yellow throat, deep red saddles, and checkerboard belly. Some of these might have actual Okeetee locale blood in them, but there are Okeetee looking corns from all over the corns range so various locales have been used.

some common examples are Abbott, Love, and Extreme. I personally like the Abbotts versions the best, though I think the Extremes usually have crazy thick black borders that most people love.

plus, you have breeders/sellers that will call any normal corn by any name in order to make a buck.

the best you can do is find quality breeders and buy directly from them. Also ask to see photos of the parents... any good breeder will provide them. Do not buy from pet stores, whole selles, reptile shops, etc... unless they breed there own animals because you have no way of knowing what you will get (babies changing colors as they grow)

you can always look for adults that have already developed wonderful coloration, but expect to pay double (possibly triple) the cost of a baby.

Thank you very much, I really appreciate it. Most people selling okeetee seem to say that they come from hunt club lineage, even kathy love (who's website is retro-awesome btw).

As a follow up, is there any way to tell from a baby how they will end up as adults, I understand pictures of the parents would be the best way, but if all I have access to is the snake in question?

Again, thank you for all the help.

I've heard a lot of breeders say "the ugliest babies make the prettiest adults" but i've never personally seen that to be accurate.

From what i've personally seen, Okeetee babies with the bright orange dots going down the back between the blotches on the front 1/4 of the snake usually turn out better than average.

If you are wanting a true Okeetee that is 100% locale specific with no mixing, you might not end up with "grade A Okeetee"... possibly, but not likely. Seems like most (but not all) people with real Okeetee have kept the animals looking normal rather than selectively breed for an enhanced look.

On the other hand, i've seen some Abbott X Extreme Okeetees that also have the Red Coat trait bred into them that are absolute nuts... they just glow and the black borders are so thick that the rear 11-12 blotches are just solid black.

A information. Thank you! Exactly what I was looking for, more or less.

Here is my true locality Okeetee corn, from John Meltzer:

As a baby:

As a yearling:

As an adult:

Now, I am not for calling something an Okeetee, which is a locality term, when it is not 100 percent a locality animal. Just my opinion. Using the term " Okeetee " to describe something that is what one thinks an Okeetee should look like, is a marketing term. Neither good nor bad. I have many friends who have herped that area, and seen many specimens, and the look can vary so much, from the ugliest corn, to the image that those breed for the phase, have in their minds, or in between.

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Genesis 1:1

That is a sweet looking corn, but if you hadn't called it an Okeetee, I'd have called it a normal corn.

Thanks!!
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Genesis 1:1

Here's one of my Extreme Okeetees. You won't find any true locality Okeetees that look as vivid as the Okeetee phase animals. The Okeetee phase animals (often called "hobby Okeetees" ) have been bred for decades to have thick borders and vivid orange/red color.

Great looking snake!

Howie Sherman has locality Okeetees that do look just as good as any of the non-locality " Okeetee " phases out there.
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Genesis 1:1

Really nice corn! THIS is what I assume to be an "Okeetee" - thick black bands as opposed to the skinny bands. Regardless, gorgeous corns.

This male was actual fair to middle in the quality department when compared to its clutch mates. It was about 7-8 months old in this pic. Howie kept back a female that blows this on away. I too do not like using the term Okeetee for anything other than locality okeetees but I do use the term "Okeetee phase" when talking about those with the okeetee look.

Howie also produced the only known true amelanistic locale specific Okeetee as well. I say amel Okeetee so people are not confused with reverse okeetee although I guess you could say that this beauty is a true Okeetee Hunt Club locality reverse okeetee. It was a spontaneous mutation that occured in 2007? It was the only one out of the whole clutch and no other prior or subsequent clutches ever produced another. Notice how the coloring does differ from the typical reverse okeetees. A friend of his has it now and has done some test breeding with it and has some very interesting results. That's all I will say about it

Here is a young female that is the product of breeding an Abbotts to an Extreme. She in my opinion is GORGEOUS even though she doesnt have the typical Okee phase look. I will try to reproduce this look.