Yellow Okeetee?

Originally Posted by Jynx

she does have the faint stripes, which could mean she is a hybrid with a yellow rat.

I don't think the eye color or the presence of striping mean anything.

The only (non-amel) corns I've seen that do not have those stripes are from Kathy Love's Okeetee and Sunkissed lines, and she spent generations breeding the striping out of them. I doubt you'll find many wild corns with no striping.

I think the easiest way to tell is the eyes. Every striped yellow rat I've had has amber eyes almost the same color as their ground color.

The eye color of corns is generally that of either the ground or the saddles. I'm not sure how this has any bearing on whether or not something is a hybrid.

Here are two hypo motleys. They look similar in overall coloration, notice the colors of the eyes compared to the ground/saddle colors.

Ditto!!!!!

well at this point in time, I don't think we should rule ANYTHING out or in yet until we figure out what she is. I'm giving my opinion based on my experience.

[quote=Serpwidgets]I don't think the eye color or the presence of striping mean anything. QUOTE]

the striping in wild corns had to have some from somewhere, thats where I'm basing my info from. The eye color of every yellow rat I've had was not subtle at all like a corn. I guess by saying amber I was understating what I meant. Maybe I should have said "golden" or something like that.

the striping in wild corns had to have some from somewhere, thats where I'm basing my info from.

What makes you say this? Of course the striping came from somewhere, it came from ancestors and natural selection as the species evolved. Saddles came from somewhere, eyes came from somewhere, checkered bellies came from somewhere.

I'm not trying to say this snake is or is not a hybrid based on the striping that the majority of wild corns exhibit is a waste. Many north american rats, corns being just one, have some degree of longitudinal dark striping that is variably expressed. Bairdi, yellow rats, corns, etc.

I agree that many hybrids have an altered shape to their heads and eye sockets and many have lighter eyes, but again I think this has no bearing here. Like Serp said, some corns have ground color/tan eyes, and they are as pure as any other corn.

I have to say that the snake appears to be "pure" corn to me, nothing in the photos says otherwise as far as I can tell.

I'm not arguing that its pure corn, but I think I can safely say that we have never seen the yellow color this extreme in something that was not amelanistic (like butters) or an intergrade. Therefore, i think its a safe assumption that it could be a hybrid because of this oddity. I threw the yellow rat possibility in there because A) the striping which, yes, most corns have anyways and B) the HIGH yellow color. As for eye color, I'm not talking about the eye color of a corn. Yes, some corns have eyes that are the same color as the gound color...I know this. I'm talking about the eye color of a different species.

Hope this will dispell any rumors about the "photo shop" myth! The pic was taken in my front yard, with partly cloudy conditions. It IS real. I do not have any yellow corns living in this county or anywhere near here, except near the coastal areas. I live to far inland to have any yellow rats. I DO have grayish/blue rats here, and today I caught my first ever pure black rat snake - but it was 20 miles north of here! I will take some close ups in a little while so you can see it's head. The longitudal stripes you're referring to are very faint (as is the case with most wild corn snakes) at least around here, and in GA., SC., FL., MS., LA. (those are all the places I used to find corns in many years ago).

Zee

I think I can safely say that we have never seen the yellow color this extreme in something that was not amelanistic (like butters) or an intergrade. Therefore, i think its a safe assumption that it could be a hybrid because of this oddity.

This is a very dangerous way of reasoning, IMO. Considering the fact that hybrids carry a stigma with them, I don't think it's a good idea to make such a suggestion unless there's a good reason to do so.

Just because we haven't seen it in corns is no reason to suggest it's a hybrid. The same was true of striped, motley, bloodred, anery, caramel, and pretty much every morph we know today. Before those were discovered, nobody had seen anything of the sort in a pure corn.

My point is that none of the things you've pointed out even lean in the direction of "it's a hybrid" so I don't think it's wise to act as if they do. I think there's a difference between not ruling something out, and saying what you were saying. I think it's all too easy for others to read it as "it looks like a hybrid to me."

Anyway...

Below is a picture of a diffused corn with a dark brown ground color and almost orangey saddles similar to some miami corns. I was wondering what if she were expressing a genetic trait that caused even half of the erythrins to instead be xanthins. Just for fun, I made the altered "yellow" picture below, which I think she could look like.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the F1. I don't think we'll have an idea until there are a couple clutches of F2s, no matter what happens in the F1. Keep the pics coming, Zee. I can't wait to see the outdoor pics, too.

This pic was taken when it was cloudy, and in a shady area of my front yard.

Zee

Here's a head shot of the golden corn (No red-eye, LOL)

Zee