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Is this a ghost?

Sweetseraph

Sweetseraph

New member
I've got an emergency snake-sitting gig and this is my charge. I didn't speak to the owner, just to his mother, so I don't know what morph it's supposed to be, but I'm thinking ghost. What do you think? (The mother thought there was something about silver in the name, silver back or something, but I've never heard of such a thing...)


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Silver queen? According to Ian's Vivarium, Silver Queen is a selectively bred ghost, but this snake looks too red to be a ghost...

Kind of reminds me of a Miami, but not bright enough. I dunno. ^-^
 
Actually, when I first saw it, Miami popped into my head, but it doesn't seem red enough...but almost too red for a ghost...I dunno either!
 
I do believe it's one amazing looking Ghost. The checkers definitely indicate hypo in the mix. You see a lot of Ghost animals with lots of pink. Pink is a red based color so yes, Ghost animals can have red in them.
 
No way this is a Ghost. Unless my computer monitor has gone bad. I am saying this is either a Caramel or a Alabama Corn. It looks alot like the ones Walter Smith had for sale a while back.
 
why not? This animal is a homo hypo, there is no question. A Caramel does not have this much grey, black and orange. Alabama Corns are a lot brighter in color.
As I've said I've seem Ghosts similar to these.
 
It's a ghost. That peachy saddle color is what is known as "pastel" and is very common in ghosts. Anery-based corns often have a brown color to their saddles, and lightening it up with hypo turns it that peachy color. That high peach color tends to change and darken as the snake ages and more melanin is laid down, but you can often still see small patches of the high peach color if you look close. The last 2 photos in my example are of the same snake as a 3 year old and as a 9 year old.

And Josh, "Alabama" corns (and "Carolina" corns) are just normals that may be locality (but not guaranteed), nothing special about them except a fancy name to try to add a few dollars to their sale price.

Here are some example of "pastel" anery-based morphs (granite, anery, ghost, another ghost):
 
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I have a question, if ghosts darken as you say then what is my darkling? She has the light colored eyes of a ghost but is fading with each shed. her saddle borders are a rich chocolate brown but her checks appear a light brownish black, darker than the borders. I can get a new pic, but am trying to learn about ghosts. The background color on her neck (on the top part) is slowly turning a slightly pinkish tan instead of gray. This pic doesn't do her justice as blue washes out her color. She looks best on a brown or orange background (lol my snake is an autumn)
 

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Wow, thanks for the photos Susan. Before seeing those I would have thought that despite the light saddles it had way to much melanin to be a hypo. :shrugs: I can't see it as a Ghost.
 
Looks normal to me (or a miami). Belly checks seem to dark to by hypo and the orange/red in the saddles doesn't seem right for it to be a pastel ghost or anery. Even Susan's examples have that "pastel" look to the saddles, whereas the OPs just seem too orange and red.

Just my 2¢.
 
carnivorouszoo said:
I have a question, if ghosts darken as you say then what is my darkling? She has the light colored eyes of a ghost but is fading with each shed. her saddle borders are a rich chocolate brown but her checks appear a light brownish black, darker than the borders. I can get a new pic, but am trying to learn about ghosts. The background color on her neck (on the top part) is slowly turning a slightly pinkish tan instead of gray. This pic doesn't do her justice as blue washes out her color. She looks best on a brown or orange background (lol my snake is an autumn)
Click to expand...

The anerys and ghosts I have produced change during their first couple of years...the anerys tend to get lighter and the ghosts peachier (if they are males - females are a bit different, often not getting peachy), then both get more melanin gradually as they age (5 years and up). Your snake is acting like an anery by getting lighter, resembling a ghost. Which is why it can be very difficult determining the exact morph by phenotype alone.
 
I tweaked the OP's photos, increasing the lightness and color to better represent true life. Yes, it is a bit dark for a ghost, but then, I've seen some corns labeled as ghosts that are blacker than the darkest anery I've owned. The saddle color is just not red/orange enough to be a normal, even a really light Miami, IMO. Now it may be a really light and pastel anery, but again, sometimes it can be difficult telling some anerys from some ghosts.

Another example...anery striped motley as a 2 yr old and as a 7 yr old. His brother, who I still have, went through the same color changes. They both looked like typical black anery motleys at hatching.
 
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Well I'm glad it's not just me! LOL If it makes any difference, the snake is supposed to be a female. It will be interesting to see what the owner was told the snake is. I don't think he bought it; I think someone gave it to him, so he doesn't likely know what the parents were, etc. He has expressed some interest in breeding it. What could he breed it to to help prove what it might be?
 
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