Some of that brown could be from melanin, melanophores are involved in more coloration than simply jet black alone, most of the brown colorations are the result of melanin and other pigments combined. However, that said, that snake could possibly still be producing less (hypo) melanin. It's more a question of characterizing: is that just normal random variation of a wild type or is it a dramatic variant (morph)? then is it inheritable, and then further, does it have a predictable inheritance pattern that follows a typical genetic inheritance model?

Hope you make nice snows, Shawn!