Pied-Sided Blood-Red: Still fairlynew, current breeding trials suggestthat this is a modified pattern inblood-reds. Highly variable, theconstant seems to be an abrupt cut-off of white color on the lower sides.Do not confuse it with some typicalblood-reds that show a little whitecreeping up the sides from the belly.

In recent years, the corn snake world has seen numerousnew genetic traits come to light. It’s not clear if they haveappeared spontaneously as mutations or if they have

masqueraded beneath our notice for decades, because they werenot as obvious as things like amelanism. The hypo- (having lessthan usual) and hyper- (having more than usual color traits) areespecially prone to lurking unnoticed, because corn snakes arenaturally so variable in the amounts of pigments they display.Hypomelanism has been particularly puzzling, as at least fourseparate genetic types of anomalies, that all reduce the amount ofblack in corns, have been demonstrated as “hidden” in corn

collections. It often takes multiple generations of line breeding(crossing related animals to concentrate traits) crypticphenotypes like that to reveal the hidden presence of inheritablecolors and patterns that were formerly considered justtendencies toward or against showing those looks. This will giveyou a good introduction to the how corn snakes have evolved tothe mass market ‘universal’ pet snake they are today. If you find itdaunting, rest assured that it’s perfectly acceptable to simplyenjoy them as pets and forego breeding them at all. But if you’reinspired to investigate further, here are some brief descriptionsof corn morphs on the cutting edge of herpetoculture:

Hypo Lavender Blood-Red:Some might call this diffused,because the lavender masksthe red color.The lavendercolor is lightened by the hypogene, and the lower sides arediffused because of the blood-red/diffused gene.The result isthis stunning corn.

New, Cutting-Edge Corn Snake Morphs ARTICLE BY KATHY AND BILL LOVE

PHOTOS BY BILL LOVE

Ice: When lava iscombined with anery, itproduces a sort of ghostthat often exhibitsincreased yellow and asubtle difference in thehue of the gray colors.

Hypo Pewter: Three traits inone snake! When blood-redis combined with a genethat erases the signatureblood-red color, only thediffused pattern remainson the lower sides. Thus,

many breeders callsuch animals diffusedinstead of blood-red.Pewter combinesdiffused and charcoal,and the hypo lightensthe color even more.

Sun-Kissed Blood-Red: Thereds of blood-reds, coupledwith the light, bright colorand pattern variations ofsun-kissed, make up thisgorgeous snake.

Sun-Kissed Caramel: Sun-kissed is another hypogene that originated inpure Okeetee bloodlines.Like blood-red, there is apattern component as wellas lighter and brighter

reds. Breeding to any othertype of hypo will result innormal babies. The caramelgene intensifies yellow andreduces red, as in thisunusual example.

Tessera: Don’t confuse it with theold striped corn! This new traitappears to be a dominant gene.That means it can be reproduced(and combined with lots of differentcolors) in the first generation. Unlikestriped corns, there may be somecheckerboarding on the belly.Thenew combos coming soon shouldbe really eye-catching!

Salmon Ghost: Some breeders callthis hypo version strawberry whileothers use salmon. Here is where itcan get complicated: It appearsthat strawberry is co-dominantwith the original hypo.That meansa corn can be het for both types ofhypo, and intermediate betweenthe two. Strawberry seems tointensify red colors and may be

useful in projectswhere light, brightreds are the goal.When combinedwith anery, thereds show throughmore intensely thanin a typical ghost.

Lava: This relatively newgene mimics the old,original hypo gene inlightening and brighteningthe reds, but it will producenormal babies if bred tothe original hypo corn. Itoften (though not always)adds an unusualtranslucent quality to thegrays in the blotches.

Ultramel Motley: Most corn traitsare recessive and easy for beginnersto understand. But ultramel (similarto hypo and strawberry) occur on thesame allele, and an ultramel isheterozygous for both the ultra typeof hypo and amel. Thus ultramels areoften the lightest colored corns,other than true amels. In addition,the motley genes causes a generallightening of the black colors, givingthis animal a double dose of light,bright colors.