Do Cornsnakes Maintain Their Adult Coloration?

I'm well aware than many milksnakes develop black tipping on their scales, while others, especially albinos retain their brilliant, crisp colors even when they are adults and mature adults.

How do Corn Snakes in general fare in this regard. If I were to purchase an extreme quality Okeetee, could I expect the animal to retain its bright colors when he's 5, 10, or 15 years old? Would a Hypo Okeetee be more apt to retain his crisp and bright colors?

I've seen some individuals in the photo forum that look great as adults. One forumite posted photos of her Blizzard, which were spectacular! I invite any one to post photos of their adults or sub adults, especially shots of them on your arm; eye candy is always welcome! :laugh:

Thanks!

Dan

I work with a line of locality Okeetees, and for the most part, they fade some with advanced age. My best w/c male ever kept his colors until his death at nearly 20 years of age!


This old w/c female is more typical of a senior citizen Okeetee:

What a great question.

Even with these Okeetee's though the color doesn't fade too much... Not like in dogs where they get all grey (or in humans!).

Thanks for your answers!

The Okeetee in the upper photo is spectacular; wow.

I assume there's no way to predict the snake's chronological color changes other than looking at photos of its' parents. Would a Hypo Okeetee tend to
maintain its' vivid coloration, more so than a "normal"?

Eriathiel... I agree -- even the faded Okeetee in the lower photo still looks good!

Thanks!

Dan

Sweet Okees Chip!

Thanks! I produced *one* female last year that I think is gonna be even nicer than him. One out of over 300 is not good odds. When dealing with a line direct from the wild, it's just such a mixed gene pool. Maybe I don't have the best eye, though. People have sent photos of snakes from me that looked better than my hold backs more than once.