Can fluctuation of incubation temperatures have effect on pattern?

[SquamishSerpents]

This baby I hatched has an aberrant pattern. No connection to Motley OR Stripe and her parents have been test-bred to both.

In your opinion, can incubation temperatures cause aberrant patterns to form?

(Asking because somebody on Facebook is adamant that no outside factors can cause variation in color or pattern, as "pattern is decided at conception")

I know for a fact this particular snake has no Motley OR Stripe in it, as both parents have been bred to test that out. The mom (Anery het. Amel) was bred to the Normal Stripe het. Snow and we got no Motleys or Stripes, and the dad (a Snow) was bred to the Snow Stripe and got no Motleys or Stripes.

 

[Zombiegirl]

I thought I heard/read somewhere yes? But I am by no means an expert...that snake is a looker though!

 

[Bowlshot]

I don't know about the fluctuating temps if it would have a change on the pattern... On the other hand I read in the "cornsnake guide 2011" page 104 that if you incubate one egg at a cooler temp and the other eggs at reg temps that this snake at the cooler temp will be different from its siblings of course it will also take twice as long for it to hatch.. And to be honest with you after I see. The pics that they have there from that snake that was at the cooler temp that snake is way different than its siblings I mean like one looks normal and the other looks pink and washed out I would post pic but there not mines and I wouldn't even know who to ask.. Hope this helped

 

[Rich Z]

Never tried it with corns, but I suspect it could.

Personally I found that with California king snakes that incubating the eggs in an incubator at constant temperatures produced a large proportion of aberrant patterns if banded and stripe were both present in the ancestry. However incubating the eggs at room temperature with day/night fluctuations would produce a pretty even split of perfect bandeds and stripes in the babies.

Also, heard that high incubating temps will produce aberrantly patterned Sinaloan milk snakes, and by inference possibly other milks as well.

Of course, the aberrant traits aren't then able to be transmitted to offspring genetically. Which is why I was never really interested in trying that with the corns.

 

[NiklasTyreso]

I think most pattern anomalies in cornsnakes are because of polygenetic traits. That said, some patterns could be because of temps or because of interactions of temp and genetics too. But I think most strange patterns are polygenetic.

I post pics of a father, son and daughter.
The mother to the young snake was a snow with just a slight twist in the pattern, but several of the mothers siblings had strange patterns.

Pics of son, daughter and the orange father (2009):

 

[snakepunk]

Yes, Chuck Pritzel conducted an experiment that proved incubation stress will alter a cornsnake's pattern development.

 

[SquamishSerpents]

Thanks, snakepunk! Do you have a link to the experiment?

 

[HerpsOfNM]

This doesn't apply to corns, but Brian E. Viets, Ph.D. did a study on leopard geckos titled The Effects of Incubation Temperature on Hatchling Sex and Pigmentation. The article can be read in the 1998 edition of The Leopard Gecko Manual, page 73.

The basics of it, and how I'm linking it here, is that in the case of leopard geckos the higher the incubation temp the lower the amount of melanin pigment present. The inverse is also true, the lower the incubation temp, the more melanin pigment present. Environmental influences (lack of food intake [i.e., stress], caging temps, breeding, etc), as well as genetics also dictate melanin deposition.

I'd like to draw the conclusion that similar influences could trigger other possible anomalies in various snake species. If anything we know as a community that high temps can potentially cause deformities (spine kinking).

Again, going back to leopard gecko, to partly prove that color/pattern isn't set at conception...

Ron Tremper is known for the "Tremper incubation method" where he locks in the sex of geckos at the first 2 weeks of incubation, then elevates temps. This is one means used to avoid the browning out of his line of albino leopard gecko. The higher, male incubation temps aid in avoiding melanin formation in a Tyrosine-positive albino (interestingly all 3 leopard gecko strains are unrelated, incompatible with one another, and are all T+ albinos). This method also helps in other morphs. But basically, incubation stresses (good or bad) are well known to influence various things in reptiles.

 

[NiklasTyreso]

But basically, incubation stresses (good or bad) are well known to influence various things in reptiles.

Fluctuation of incubation temperatures probably can have effect on pattern, but polygenetic traits probably also have effects on pattern formation.

One answer is too simple to explain reality.

 

[Kokopelli]

Yes, it can effect pattern... actually, it can effect EVERYTHING. Protein, Amino acids, hormones... the entire metabolic rate, is dependent on temperature... diverging from the optimal temperature can cause a slowing down, partial non-activation, or utter ruin of biological processes.

 

[Guruofchem]

Gender is often determined by temperature in reptile species (many geckos (not cresteds) and sea turtles are two examples), and there is good evidence that lower incubation temps in cresteds produces better overall structure. I'd be intrigued to see the data from Pritzel's experiment myself. I suspect like most phenotypes, the end result is a combination of both DNA (nature) and environment (nurture).