How can you tell what a hatchling will look like as an adult?

Hi there! I don't know if this is the right place for this, but I'll give it a shot.

I've recently developed a huge obsession for corn snakes and am hoping to get one (preferably a hatchling) some time in the near future. I really, really, REALLY love the look of caramel corns! However, after doing some Google Image searching and looking at photos on this site, I've noticed a lot of variation in the look of snakes that are supposedly the same morph (this may also be due to age and lighting in their photos, but I imagine there is also some individual variation as well). Caramels, for example, seem to range from bright yellow and gold to dull yellow-grey and brown. I personally like the yellower adults, but since the Caramel hatchlings are so dark brown and grey, it's really hard to visualize what they will look like as it gets older. Does anyone have any good tips for determining how colorful a baby Caramel (or any other morph) will be as an adult?

Ask to see the parents. That will give you a good idea of what the hatchling will grow up to look like. That's reason 647 why it's worthwhile buying directly from a breeder.
If you really like yellow but don't like the whole red eye thing, try Gold Dusts.

Terri

I like to visit the VMS snake website. They show you pictures of the snakes for sale and also have a section that shows what their typical adult breeders look like too.

Well, good luck with that. This sort of reason is exactly why I had to keep so many babies each year so I could pick from the young adults instead of shooting in the dark picking out the babies I wanted for keepers. Some colors just don't express themselves until some age gets on them.

And on the other hand, some colors expressed in the babies will go away when they reach adulthood. Either by fading or being overpowered by other colors and factors being expressed.

All quite true, the best a breeder can do is show what the average adult of the morph chosen looks like. Then you must consider that some caramels, for example, are produced by parents het for caramel. Pictures of the adults in that case won't help the buyer.

Thanks for your replies, everyone!

Terri, you've read my mind because red eyes definitely aren't my things. I've been bouncing between Caramels, Ambers and Honeys on which morph I like best, but I will definitely add Gold Dusts to the list. I'm torn because I love bright yellows, but I also love really distinct saddles (preferably dark-lined, but I'm trying to not be too picky). It seems like individuals of the two and three trait Caramel morphs are less likely to have those distinct saddles, which is why I'm currently leaning towards true Caramels, but again, that's just individual variation for you.

Twolunger, I love VMS! They are a huge part of the reason I developed this corn snake obsession. It's a little hard to truly get a feel for what their hatchlings will turn out like since they only show one example of adult appearance usually. I did try using the Wayback Machine on the Internet Archive to see what the two yearling Caramel girls they have for sale looked like as hatchlings and that was somewhat helpful. I've also looked at Walter Smith's site since he does show the actual parents, which like you said, is only truly helpful if the parents actually have the same phenotype. His site is also part of the reason I asked about variation because he has two clutches where Butters with exact same genotypes are the parents and look like they could be from completely different morphs!

http://www.wscornsnakes.com/clutch-21.html
http://www.wscornsnakes.com/clutch-37.html

Rich, sounds like it might just be the luck of the draw for me, which is fine of course since I'm just looking for a potential pet rather than a breeding snake so I will love whatever I get and not have a fit. Based on my little bit of research I did with VMS and the Wayback Machine, the Caramel babies with yellow spots (the ones between the saddles) going the furthest down their back seem to grow up the brightest. However, like you said, it probably could go either way (plus, you know, you've been at this for decades and I've only been oogling at snakes on my computer for the past few weeks so you probably know WAY better than I do).

If you are looking for a potential pet why not find an adult with the color you want? I know some people feel they must have a hatchling and believe it will bond with their new owner. I've bought adults that were raised in a rack system and never handled, except to move to another container while theirs was being cleaned. They are just as calm, and love being handled, as the corns I raised from hatching. As you know, corns typically live a long time, so a young adult is a wise investment.

Yeah, my worry was mostly about bonding and handling issues, but if you don't think that's much of an issue, then maybe I will consider the yearlings and young adults a little more.

It's not an issue for any of the adults and sub adults I have bought. I have friends who adopted adults that were dropped off at the local animal shelter, and they quickly made great pets.

Topaz is another to consider. I may have a few diffused topaz next year.