Okatee???

When i first got my corn, i remember posting that I wasn't sure what it was... but i found my receipt and it says "Okatee corn snake" And i bought it for $35.
And their "normal corns" were only $20. Does anyone have any pics of Jeuvinile Okatees that i can compare with?

Ive attached two images, one of his checkered belly, and one of the top colors. I will try to get some better pictures but all i have is my cam phone and its not the greatest. Is it safe to assume that Salazar is an Okatee? Or was the store wrong and its just a normal? I hate to think that i payed $15 overpriced for a mislabled normal... i mean, i love the little guy no matter what!

I JUST took these pictures outside... and he just sheds so his colors are sooo bright

That is a normal, not an okeetee.

If the store was selling 'okatees', well then, it doesn't surprise me that you got a normal.

Joejr14 said:

That is a normal, not an okeetee.

If the store was selling 'okatees', well then, it doesn't surprise me that you got a normal.

Click to expand...

well i may have the spelling wrong, but why do you say it is a normal? None of the normals i see have colors that bright.

might have som okeetee blood in it but i doubt it

First, before anyone jumps on you, it is spelled Okeetee. I saw some at a show this weekend labeled Oaketee and I wanted to....well never mind. Second, Okeetees are Normals, it REALLY is a locality thing, although there are lots of corns that have "the look" that are not from the hunt club area. And not all the snakes from that area have "the look". Confusing, I know. From what I can tell from the pics, your snake may have "the look". There really is no comparison, IMO, between a "lookatee" and one that is truly Jasper Co. stock. Do a search for Rhett Butler and you'll see what I mean. This topic has been beaten to death and will probably never be carved in stone. Regardless, it is a beautiful snake, and if you are content with it, there lies the true beauty. :cheers:

I have to agree with Joe and say normal. The color variations are very wide in normals and can be very bright (like yours) or darker. An Okeetee or Okeetee Phase has thick black borders, with bright orange and red coloring. I have a normal that was very bright (still is) but he's a normal - not an Okeetee. I've posted three pics below - two are my personal snakes and the other is an Okeetee from Rich/Serpenco that I got from his website. Hope this helps!

~Katie

Ok...beaten to it, but here are pics to help I hope!

Shadow - normal


Spitfire - Okeetee (not the best example or the best pic but it's the only one that I own)

Thanks for all the replies... and i am the one who spelled it wrong, I know its Okeetee not Okatee, that was MY mispelling.
Thank you for the pictures PdDNSr... your the only one who actually showed me picturs.
Salazar is getting brighter with each shed.. He looks exactly like your snake "spitfire"
Thanks everyone

Sal's a beautiful snake, but I wouldn't call him an Okeetee Phase-- at least not yet. My early '05 normal looks closer to the Okeetee Phase "standard", but I still hesitate to label her that way. If I was selling her, I definitely wouldn't list her that way. I just ordered a pair of Abbott's Okeetees so I wouldn't have to question whether I had one or not anymore. :santa:

Normal Female:

I just bought an Abbott's Okeetee a month ago. He's awesome, He's an 04' and has very nice borders. I attached a photo, enjoy and i hope it helps, personally i would say yours is a very nice normal. John

ok, everyone is identifying my salazar as a normal,and not Okeetee,but i am wondering why? I really need to get a better picture, my camera phone just doesn't do justice to his colors, and they get brighter with each shed.
Someone said that Okeetee is the same as a Normal... what exactly distinguishes an Okeetee from a normal??? Because honestly Salazar looks like all the Okeetee pictures you posted, just smaller, and im sure as he grows his colors will get even brighter.
Im not trying to argue with you guys, i know you are much more experienced than myself, but i thirst for knowledge and i want to know WHY? I guess like a little kid always asking why..lol. If anyone can let me know the exact differences I would appreciate.

Thanks
Ashley

This seems to be a pretty common theme when people buy a snake as an okeetee and then are told that it's 'just a normal', or anything for that matter. People get pissy when they're told they have a 'normal'.

To most, okeetee is defined by a look. That look is prominent saddle outlines in black and a rich red/orange ground color.

Your snake from those pictures, has almost no saddle borders and seems to be a bit dull towards the back.

I got this snake back in 2004/5 and consider her a 'normal', but I'd say she's a lot more 'okeetee' looking than what a lot of people want to call okeetees.

I am by no means an expert or anywhere close. But if you look at the replies in this thread or any thread dealing with the Okeetee type the biggest factor always seems to be the thick borders. Not just having bright color or black borders, but a rich color with thick borders.
Please correct me if I am wrong, because I am learning here also.

http://www.cornsnakes.net/gallery.php3?id=27 SMR's pic of common cornsnake(normal)
http://www.cornsnakes.net/gallery.php3?id=69 SMR's pic of Abbott's Okeetee
http://www.cornsnakes.net/gallery.php3?id=26 SMR's pic of Okeetee

All are nice looking snakes, but you can see a def difference in borders, and brightness.

ok, i love my snake, no matter what he is, but the only reason I am upset if it IS a normal is that i overpaid... lol. I mean $15 may not seem like much to some of you, but i am only 21 years old and I am a full time student and i only work 2 days a week.... so you can see why i am a bit frustrated about it. THATS why i wanted to know for sure.

Thanks again for all the replies and picturs.

I don't think $35 is a bad price for such a nice snake at all. If Sal was an Okeetee, it would have been a damn good price! But then it all depends on from whom you're buying

Thanks Joejr & ultimuttone - it's the thick, prominent black borders around the saddles that most of us tend to look for when trying to identify an okeetee or 'lookatee'.

Joejr - I can't see that picture unfortunately.. (sorry if it's just my computer!)

Yes, it is confusing. Some of my baby okeetees don't come out looking like "real" okeetees, although most look like great okeetees (that's why there is a price range, lol!) But I know their genetics, so they are still okeetees, and many of their babies will look like great okeetees, even if they don't themselves. But if I found one at a show and didn't know the genetics, then it would only be an okeetee if it really looked like one (and I still wouldn't add it to my colony no matter how it looked, if I wasn't convinced that it was a descendant of animals from Jaspar Co, SC). But as mentioned, you can read old threads about THAT for hours, if you like.

MY solution is that I have named any really pretty normal corns (that are not specifically okeetee or Miami phase) as CLASSICS. They could have bloodred, or okeetee, or any number of bloodlines in them. But if they are just "unusually pretty (by my own definition of pretty) normal corns", then to me, they are classics. If they have what I consider "flaws" (longitudinal stripes, really dirty colors, or other traits I don't like), then they are just normals. Of course, not everyone else will label them the same way, but I think many others do the same.

So, I think you have a very pretty classic corn.

Thanks Kathy

ashleynicole said:

ok, i love my snake, no matter what he is, but the only reason I am upset if it IS a normal is that i overpaid... lol. I mean $15 may not seem like much to some of you, but i am only 21 years old and I am a full time student and i only work 2 days a week.... so you can see why i am a bit frustrated about it. THATS why i wanted to know for sure.

Thanks again for all the replies and picturs.

Click to expand...

:Shrugs

I paid $10 for my normals--they both look similar.

AN, your snake looks like a very pretty normal to me, as well. I do not see any clearly defined saddle borders, and the whole snake has somewhat of a faded out appearance. Which may or may not be due to the bad quality of the pictures. Having a run-of-the-mill Normal is nothing to be upset over, really. Normals are right up there on my Favorite List.

But as was said before, 'all okeetees are normals, but not all normals are okeetees'. Okeetees are classified by having that look..thick black saddle borders, bright red and orange background colors. Then you can get into that whole locality debate "its not a true Okeetee unless it comes from the hunt club" yadda yadda. THAT is a different argument for a different time.

Joe's example of what he thinks is more Okeetee than yours is a very poor example, imho. I've got normal hatchlings from this year that look tons more Okeetee than that. =P

As Kathy said, if you're not concerned about the locality debate, Okeetee's can come in varying grades. Which I do see, and recognize. To me, the quintessential Okeetee is rather busy, and the thick black borders are visually distracting from the beautiful colors as a whole.

This is my 2002 Okeetee that I got from Kathy. He was sold to me as a "lower grade" and thus was cheaper. Despite his snotty attitude, with every shed he is getting prettier. Most times I just consider him a very pretty Normal, since he doesn't really fit the textbook definition of an Okeetee.



As long as you're happy with him, that's truly all that matters. And $15 isn't a bad price for any corn. =)