Colorations - if the baby is . . .

[Tbackus]

I've been tempted to buy my first snake (ever) at the local Petco. Baby corn snakes, and one in particular has caught my eye. He/she is pink with almost dark red markings on its back. His/her roommates are pink as well but the markings are much lighter in color. Is the color of the baby any indication of what it will look like when it's a juvenile or an adult?

tim:shrugs:

 

[Shiari]

The baby sounds like an amel, and might be more brightly colored than its siblings... or it might not.

 

[ShenziSixaxis]

Sounds like an amel. A picture would help.

 

[bitsy]

If it *is* an Amel, then the hatchling colours won't really reflect what it's likely to look like in a year or two. Yellow pigments develop more after hatching and you'll find that it ends up more shades of orange/red than that pale pink/red. The colours tend to deepen with each shed for the first 18 months.

I'd advise having a look round the internet for some adult Corn photos to see if there's an adult that has the look you like. Then go looking for one of those hatchlings.

This site has a particularly comprehensive gallery of Corn morph pics:
http://iansvivarium.com/cornsnakemorphs.php

Just don't go falling in love with a $1000 animal!

 

[Susan]

The difference in coloration between the one and the other paler ones might be that the others haven't shed yet. Here are pre- (right out of the egg) and post-shed photos of the same amel for comparison:

 

[Tbackus]

Thanks for the replies - I think Susan may be right about the shedding - the snake I'm considering matches her photos almost exactly. I should be making my purchase within the next 2 weeks - paycheck to paycheck living. . .