Relic - Cinder 2014

Originally Posted by Dragonling

Many cinders are known to have slightly triangular body shape vs. the loaf shape of most healthy corns. I agree, her keys ancestry might also be affecting her size and growth rate.

A second vote for keys/size connection. Now that I've finished updating everyone's threads, I'm going to look this up right now!

Originally Posted by DollysMom

So cute. I lespecially love her face in the last pic!

Thank you DollysMom, she apparently loved the camera.

Everything I've read so far described Upper Keys corns as either "slender bodied" or "long and lean". So it doesn't necessarily sound like they are *shorter* in length. I guess time will tell, but I am hoping that she grows a little more. She's still such a small little thing.

I can't believe I didn't update this thread after the first time last month, but Relic has now had a second shed with hemipenes. After comparing tail lengths with Ripley (using photos from back when they were the same size) I am convinced that Relic is definitely male.

Just so you can compare, while unproven this is Cleo's last shed and I do presume she has been sexed properly. I haven't posted this before, but this is a pretty clear pic of the vent area of the shed.

In any case, Relic's name is unisex so you are good! He or she is absolutely stunning.

Thanks DollysMom. Raven's (sold as female) shed looked like Cleo's, as did Meri's (sold as male), but the red "spurs" on Relic's shed were at least 3 times bigger than both of theirs. The picture below was from last month (the shed ripped as I was pulling it out of the viv), and this month the spurs were even larger than that.
I have always thrown sheds out as soon as I confirmed eye caps, but now I'm saving them until I have one from each of the corn snakes. I want to compare tail shape/length and I'm not sure if you can do that with shed skins, but if you can, it would sure be easier than trying to compare live snake tails!!

Yeah, those are definitely more pronounced than Cleo's little dots.

There are things you can do with the sheds, like make art with them. I just save the pretty ones, just because. They take little to no space in a plastic bag.

When I did all my other updates Relic was looking dark, so I figured he was going to shed soon. I waited and waited and he finally went blue, shed, and... he's still really dark! I guess this is just a new development in his coloration. He has some heavy dark lines down his back now. His belly also looks quite grey, which has always been an indication of oncoming shed before, but maybe his belly color is just fading out??? I don't know. Anyway, he has also developed the typical cinder triangular body shape, which is quite interesting. I completely forgot to check his weight, but he's just under 4', and doesn't seem to have gained much weight or length in the last 6 months or so, so I think he's actually done growing. If I remember correctly, he's just over 400g. I think he'll end up being my smallest corn snake. But still a favorite.

Now, for the pictures! The sun is intense today, so the pictures are just a little bit washed out, but I think they're good enough to give a good idea of his colors. Enjoy!

He looks awesome!

Thanks Tavia.