Hello Everyone!

Zephyr and I have recently been corresponding about issues concerning corn genetics, and I just got the obsessive-compulsive desire to relay a few pointers on understanding some of the combos...

Corn genetics is amazing, but you have to watch out for what's going on with certain traits, understand how they work. Most of us may be familiar with the "simple" recessive traits, those that you can track with punnett squares - which you can use to make statistical predictions. In corns these are:

Amelanism ("Red Albino", no melanin/black)

Anerythrism Type A ("Black Albino" [silly name], no red)

Anerythrism Type B ("Charcoal", no red, sometimes no yellow)

Hypomelanism Type A (reduced melanin, perhaps not necessarily the reduction, but the narrowing of the field where melanin would show up -THUS often enhancing other colors! Also, sometimes reduces belly-checkering)

Hypo Type B ("Sunkissed" - linked to an "Okeetee" line... Kathy Love has these)

Hypo Type C ("Lava" - not common)

Hypo Type D ("Ultra-hypo": this is a recessive gene that is co-dominant with Amelanism; one of each of these recessive genes produces "Ultramels")

Lavender (anomalous variable beauties with hypo/anery appearance topped with lavender-gray hues).

Caramel (exactly what it sounds like - reds and yellows take on dark and light caramel colorization).

Motley ("not so simple!" - highly variable pattern reversal that may include reverse-blotching, striping, and anything in between; complete ventral pattern loss; sometimes has a hypo effect on color. This gene is interestingly co-dominant with as well dominant over the Striped gene.

Striped (laterally striped head to tail [dorsal stripe is wide compared to dominant potential striping of Motleys]; complete ventral patttern loss; somewhat hypo effect.

Those are the basics, MORE TO COME (I haven't forgotten the Bloodreds!).

Wow! 11 traits to start with... Let's look at a few popular combos:

Snow (Amel + Anery Type A)
Blizzard (Amel + Anery Type B)
Ghost (Anery Type A + Hypo Type A)
Phantom (Anery Type B + Hypo Type A)
Sunglow (Soderberg line[rare]= Amel + Hypo Type A) "Sunglows" are usually selectively-bred low or no-white Amels (not a combo)
Butter (Amel + Caramel)
Amber (Caramel + Hypo Type A)
Opal (Amel + Lavender)

Mind you, these are among the fancier titles. Some are more basic like: Hypo-Lavender, Lavender-Anery A, etc.; visual differentiations in the appearances become more subtle with some of the hypo/lavender/anery combos - many will have pastel/gray hues that are difficult to distinguish.

Okay, how about a headache: Bloodred (the original most-awesomest blood-red line is gone - sterility and feeding issues!) Many attempts have been made to bringing it back. The bloodred trait, however is available, if still misunderstood. This snake is Hypererythristic (overproduction of red pigment expression dorsally and ventrally), but it also lacks both a dorsal and a ventral pattern. Young have a charctersitic gray head. Some believe up to 3 different mutations may be involved with this trait. Bloodred characteristics may show up in the 1st generation of a crossing with the Normal Type; this implies co-dominance as well. Bloodred may of course be crossed with other simple morphs to produce the likes of :

Pewter (Bloodred + Anery Type B)
Anery Type A Bloodred (sexually dimorphic color expression)
Amel Bloods, Hypo A Bloods, etc.

Yes there are triple recessives:

Coral Snow (Amel + Anery A + Hypo A)
Hypo (A)-Lavender Bloods

Keep mixing and matching; the fun never ends!Then there are the polygenic phases that are blended with the recessives:

Okeetee (not a regional morph, but a common variant with bold, rich reds, oranges, and bold black borders (Includes the highly defined Abbott's Okeetee)

Miami (not a regional morph; characterized with thinner black borders and very light ground colors ranging from lt. orange, tan to lt. gray to white)

Additionally regional morphs such as the Kisatchie corn or the Rosy rat may also have blending effect on a mix (usually ill-defined however)

Common recessive/phase combos include:

Reverse Okeetee (Amel + Okeetee; may include "Flourescent Orange" morph which is selectively bred for "no white where melanin would appear around the blotches")

Crimson (Hypo A + Miami)

Silver Queen Ghost (Zuchowski line: Hypo A + Anery A + Miami)

Candycane (Amel + Miami)

I could go on and on with the combos... Don't forget you can add Motley or Striped to any of the combos already or not yet listed. As for pattern mutations, there is also "Cubed" or "Aztec" or "Zig-zag", all related and equally unpredictable, implying co-dominance; I mean 2 zig-zags might produce all normals; I had a normal and a partially zig-zagged Okeetee produce only a couple more fully z-z'd young in the 3rd annual clutch!)

And what about Creamsicles?! These are a blend of Amel + the creamyness derived from blending corns with Emory's Rat Snake (many still agree it's a sub-species of corn). A normal variant of this sub-specific intergrade is the dull "Chocolate" corn. Add to that an additional Emory's variation of Amelanism, and you've got even more new possibilities on the horizon. Creamsicle may also be produced by hybridizing corn Amelanism with Black Rat Snakes and their sub-species.

Perhaps I have only scratched the surface of all the possibilities, but maybe this will give some of you a better understanding of how all is not as it sometimes seems in the wonderful world of corn genetics!

Steven (not a morph!)