Female Unknown Hets - Advice for Which Male?

Hi. I have a PetCo girl now, I think, of age -- she's big enough, anyway. She's in the attached pictures, previous advice has suggested she's possibly a Hypo Okeetee. Overhead and belly shot provided for reference. Please ignore the background stuff on the table in the "belly shot", she was squirming so much, I got the camera to focus on the stuff so I could quick-snap a picture. All things considered, I thought the focus was okay.

I have 3 adult males --
Luke - Amel ZigZag, het Caramel, Anery, Motley, phet Stripe (proven breeder, 2007, from Corn Moon Snakes)
Ivan - Stripe het Snow (Amel, Anery - I always forget) (2009 from Corn Moon Snakes - may not have been bred yet after all but I thought he had been?)
Tane - Hypo Okeetee het Alabama (2008, 2nd breeding to het Alabama just completed, yes, I'm in the South)

I'm thinking, with all his hets, Luke might be the better genetic choice, though Luke is a big boy, by far the largest of all my snakes.

Okay, somebody taught me the "don't put 2 in the same habitat, you won't like the results", very, very well -- I'm kind of scared he's going to eat her. :-/ I guess that's silly, if I'm sitting there watching them. Having read a couple of other threads, however, it does not sound as though it would actually *hurt* to introduce young female "Snakey" to smaller male "Ivan", and since his genetics actually seem to overlap "Luke"'s a great deal, getting courageous and introducing "Luke" 3 or 4 days later might not be so damaging to figuring out genetic outcomes? Except for nailing that "phet" on Luke's Stripe, were that to happen, unlikely though it were.

I am actually thinking that PetCo, being lazy bums, probably had adult breeders het for as many things as possible to produce a multi-colored group of hatchlings with hets that they didn't give a darn about. In any case, I figure at worst I'm going to have a bunch of plain little corns het for hypo & amel, &/or maybe stripe...

Thoughts? Recommendations, including not wasting the time n' energy?

Thanks!
Other pictures with better/worse lighting/angles might be seen at
http://www.iherp.com/ryoverde, simply because I didn't want to take up space duplicating too many pictures, not because it's "better" or anything.

i dont have advice for what snake to breed her with but i do suggest you choose a more appropriate substrate for your snake other than sand..

Agreed with the sand. I can't really see hypo in her, definitely not Okeetee phase either. To me, she looks like a rather pretty normal. :shrugs: Also, you can't have a het for Alabama. Alabama is strictly a locality or wild-type - basically a normal from that specific area, like Boot Keys, locality Okeetees, etc. In order to be an Alabama, the snake has to either be WC from that locale, or come from a line directly descended from that WC locale with no other added influence.

I'm squinting at her belly checks like an old man trying to figure out if they look light to me due to possible hypo or just the lighting in general. Can you get a close up of her eyes?

Let me be a realist here.

I do not see any reason why you should breed her. If you like the looks of your males, or those projects, then you should seek out females of known similar genetics. If your female has no hets that line up with any of the males, you will get all normals that only have possible hets.

I highly recommend that you read this: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126082

I know people are excited about breeding, but I think you would do much better in the long run to find a female that matches up to your males better.

Also, I really hope sand is not their full time substrate. Aspen (shredded or chips) paper towel, or newspaper are much better substrate choices for corns.

BloodyBaroness said:

Let me be a realist here.

I do not see any reason why you should breed her. If you like the looks of your males, or those projects, then you should seek out females of known similar genetics. If your female has no hets that line up with any of the males, you will get all normals that only have possible hets.

I highly recommend that you read this: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126082

I know people are excited about breeding, but I think you would do much better in the long run to find a female that matches up to your males better.

Also, I really hope sand is not their full time substrate. Aspen (shredded or chips) paper towel, or newspaper are much better substrate choices for corns.

Click to expand...

I have to be a meanie and agree here. Why breed a PetCo snake? To me, that is the same as breeding an animal from the shelter. You don't know her background, and shouldn't breeders strive to only breed the best?
Plus, if she lays 16 eggs and they all hatch, are you willing to take care of all the babies until you find them homes? Most likely you will have all normals and these days some people use normal cornsnake babies as kingsnake food. Few people want normals. Please take responsibility for the lives that depend on you.

And, as for the sand....please switch her to something else. Corns are not desert animals and sand irritates them when it gets into their scales.

Ahem. It is an old picture; the snake is currently on aspen. Thank you all for the comments.