#motley het palmetto corn snake

[omg-snakes]

[omg-snakes]

All of the littles from BDJB23 have finished up their recent sheds and the hom-poms are starting to look much more spotty. #1 is a Classic Motley Palmetto and #2 and #3 are both Ultramel Palmettos.

Here's an eye comparison for the leucistic kiddos. Their eyes are a little buggier than usual because they just ate, but F3 is also normally slightly buggy because Palmetto reasons.

[omg-snakes]

The Palmetto and heterozygous kids from BDJB23 all shed and were introduced to food today. I thought the hom-Palms were going to be very hard to tell apart until they started getting their spots, but #1 has dark pupils where #2 and #3 have ruby pupils so that helps. Plus #2 is behaviorally distinct because they're zoomy and high-drama.

Everybody else is alert and wants to interrogate hands, but once I've been subjected to a sniff-search they decide I'm okay to hang out with.

Also the hom-Palms have firmed up after a few days in the air, and they're thankfully much less see through. Apologies to those who were hoping to see some UV-glow snake brains.

[omg-snakes]

[omg-snakes]

[omg-snakes]

[omg-snakes]

The babes from BDJB23 are getting big and getting ready for their second shed. The Hom-Poms are all girls and the hets are both boys. I wasn't planning on holding any of these kids back but #1, a likely Charcoal or Ultramel Charcoal, is going to be hard to let go of.

[omg-snakes]

Sorry if you've talked about this before, but what are you breeding for this year? I just got my first corn snake and I'm curious about their genetics

Hey friend!

I've mentioned some of the clutches that were laid this year but I haven't actually announced the pairings yet, nor the anticipated outcomes.

First off, let me say that I done proper goofed this year. My plan was to have 3-4 pairings with 1-2 backups, in case a pairing didn't pan out. But then I didn't see signs of breeding activity from most of those pairs, so I added a few more backups to ensure I had 3-5 clutches. Every time a pairing didn't result in observed breeding behavior, I'd swap them out for a different pair. Then ALL of the snakes I paired ended up fertile and laying, whether or not I saw them mating or even courting. Soooo... whoops.

Here's the list of pairs for 2023 and anticipated offspring:

YR23: Yutu x Ringwood - Lavender, Hypo, and Peach combos

HC23: Hatshepsut x Carl - testing for red enhancing genes and any hets

KJA23: Kitty Junior x Aurelian - Lavender and Peach combos

LA23: Lumi x Apollo II - Ice, Hypo combos

MA23: Mayonnaise x Aurelian - Charcoal and Peach combos

BDJB23: Best Donut x James Baxter - Palmetto

BC23: Brian x Chammers - Amel, testing for hets

PE23: Pepper x Ermengarde - Red Factor, Motley/Stripe, and Anery combos

MV23: Moth x Valentine - Red Factor Strawberry Anery

PCR23: Partycake x Ringwood - Hypo Lavender and Peach combos

SG23: Sinestro x Griswold - Diffused, testing for hets

RF23: Rosepink x Frank - Red Factor, Peach, Amel, and Hypoberry combos

PSD23: Pumpkin Spice x Dextro - Diffused, testing for hets

SM23: Snikki x Meteorite - Tessera, Hypo combos

PR23: Peekaboo x Ringwood - Peach, testing for hets

Fortunately I have the space and financial resources for a big year so I'm not stretching myself too-too thin, but it's definitely not what I had intended and I'm a little worried about selling babies in a recession economy. My overall focus is towards Red Factor and Peach in combination with various melanin-reducing traits, and a better understanding of how the Peach gene works with other genes. This is a deciding year and I'll probably be rehoming a good number of my current breeders this fall or next spring depending on outcomes.

I'm not counting my snakes before they hatch, so I guess I'll channel Neil Gaiman and just tell myself to "wait and see!"