After many generations of selective breeding, domesticated corn snakes are found in a wide variety of different colours and patterns. These result from recombining the dominant and recessive genes that code for proteins involved in chromatophoredevelopment, maintenance, or function. New variations, or morphs, become available every year as breeders gain a better understanding of the genetics involved.

Contents 1 Colour morphs 2 Pattern morphs 3 Compound morphs 4 Intergrades 5 Hybrids 6 See Also

Colour morphs

• Normal or wildtype corn snakes are orange with black lines around red coloured saddle markings going down their back with black and white checkered bellies. Regional diversity is found in wild caught corn snakes, the most popular being the Miami and Okeetee phases. These are the most commonly seen corn snakes.
• Miami Phase (originates in the Florida wildtype) These are usually a smaller corn snake with some specimens having high contrasting light silver to gray ground colour with orange saddle markings surrounded in black. Selective breeding has lightened the ground colour and darkened the saddle marks. The “Miami” name, coined by Rich Zuchowski, now is considered an appearance trait. Many Miami corn snakes are difficult to start feeding as hatchlings, as they prefer lizards. Miami corn snakes, unlike other varieties, will often readily accept anoles as food for life. This can simplify feeding for residents of Florida, but care should be taken to avoid introducing parasites from wild caught food.
• Okeetee corn snakes (classic corn snakes, originate in the South Carolina wildtype). These snakes are characterized by deep red dorsal saddle marks surrounded by very black borders. The ground colour varies with bright orange being popular amongst breeders. As with the Miami phase, selective breeding has changed the term “Okeetee” to an appearance rather than a locality. Some on the market originate solely from selectively breeding corn snakes from the Okeetee Hunt Club.
• Candycane (selectively bred Amelanistic) These are amelanistic corn snakes bred toward the ideal of red saddle marks on a white background. Some were produced using light creamsicle (emory/albino corn hybrids x corn) bred with Miami phase corn snakes. Most candy canes develop orange colouration around the neck region as they mature and many labeled as candycanes later develop significant amounts of yellow or orange in the ground colour cock. The contrast they have as hatchlings often fades with maturity.
• Reverse Okeetee (selectively bred amelanistic) an amelanistic Okeetee corn snake which has the normal black rings around the saddle marks replaced with wide white rings. Ideal specimens are high contrast snakes with light orange to yellow background and dark orange/red saddles. Note: Albino Okeetees are not locale-specific okeetees—they are selectively bred amelanistics
• Fluorescent orange (selectively bred amelanistic) develop white borders around bright red saddle marks as adults on an orange background.
• Sunglow (selectively bred amelanistic) another designer amelanistic corn that lacks the usual white speckling that often appears in most albinos, and selected for exceptionally bright ground colour. The orange background surrounds dark orange saddle marks.
• Bloodred (selectively bred “Diffused”) corn snakes carry a recessive trait (known as diffused) that eliminates the ventral checkered patterns. These originated from a somewhat unicolour Jacksonville and Gainesville, Florida strain of corn snake. Through selective breeding, an almost solid ground colour has been produced. Hatchlings have a visible pattern that can fade as they mature into a solid orange red to ash red coloured snake. The earlier bloodreds tend to have large clutches of smaller than average eggs that produce hard to feed offspring, though out-crossing with amelanistic and anerythristic corn snakes hatchlings tend to be larger with fewer feeding problems.
• Crimson (hypomelanistic + Miami) are very light high contrast snakes with a light background and dark red/orange saddle marks.
• Anerythristic (anerythristic A, Sometimes called black albino) are the complement to amelanism. The inherited recessive mutation of lacking erythrin (red, yellow, and orange) pigments produces a snake that is mostly black, gray and brown. When mature, many type A anerythristic corn snakes develop yellow on their neck regions. In 1984 a Type B anerythristic corn snake was caught in the wild; it is the ancestor of anerythristics missing the yellow neck regions. Similar snakes include: stonewashed-copper or light brown saddle marks; charcoal (aka muted anerythristic, Pine Island anerythristic); type B anerythristic, very low contrast with shades of gray on white and black background.
• Charcoal These snakes (sometimes known as anerythristic type ‘B’) can lack the yellow colour pigment usually found in all corn snakes. They are a more muted contrast compared to Anerythristics.
• Caramel corn snakes are another Rich Zuchowski engineered corn snake. The background is varying shades of yellow to yellow-brown. Dorsal saddle marks vary from caramel yellow to brown, and chocolate brown.
• Lavender corn snakes contain a light pink background with darker purple gray markings and burgundy eyes or lavender gray saddle marks on an orangish background. Variation with this same genetic strain are arguably called mocha, cocoa, and chocolate.
• Cinder reduced red pigment which becomes more like an anerythristic as they become adults.
• Kastanie This gene was first discovered in Germany. Kastanies hatch out looking nearly anerythristic but gain some colour as they mature, to eventually take on a chestnut colouration.
• Hypomelanistic or rosy corn snakes carry a recessive trait that reduces the dark pigments causing the reds, whites, and oranges to become more vivid. Their eyes remain dark. These snakes range in appearance between amelanistic corn snakes snakes to normals with greatly reduced melanin.
• Ultra Ultra is a hypomelanistic-like gene that is an allele to the Amelanistic gene. Ultra corn snakes have light grey lines in place of black.
• Ultramel is an intermediate appearance between ultra and amel which is the result of being heterozygous for ultra and amel at the albino locus.
• Dilute is another melanin-reducing gene.
• Sunkissed is a hypo-like gene which was first found in Kathy Love’s colony.
• Lava is an extreme hypo-like gene which was discovered by Joe Pierce and named by Jeff Mohr.
• Stargazing is not a colour morph, but a chronic deficiency in balance. It is caused by a simple-recessive genetic defect and is considered deleterious.

Pattern morphs

• Motley a snake with a clear belly and an “inverted” spotting pattern. May also appear as stripes or dashes.
• Stripe this morph also has a clear belly and a striping pattern. Unlike the motley the stripes will not connect, but may sometimes break up and take on a “cubed” appearance. Cubes and spots on a striped corn are the same as the saddle colour on a similar normal corn, unlike motley snakes. Stripe is both allelic and recessive to motley, so breeding a striped corn and a (homozygous) motley corn will result in all motley corn snakes, and breeding these (heterozygous) motley corn offspring will result in ¾ motley and ¼ striped corn snakes.
• Diffusion diffuses the patterning on the sides and eliminates the belly pattern. It is one component of the bloodred morph.
• Sunkissed while considered a hypo-like gene, sunkissed also has other effects such as rounded saddles and unusual head patterns.

Compound morphs

There are tens of thousands of possible compound morphs. Some of the most popular are listed.

• Snow (Amelanistic + Anerythristic) As hatchlings this colour variation is composed of white and pink blotches. These predominantly white snakes tend to have yellow neck and throat regions when mature. Light blotches and background colours have subtle shades of beige, ivory, pink, green, or yellow.
• Blizzard (Amelanistic + Anerythristic B) corn snakes resulted from a type B anerythristic corn caught in 1984. Blizzards are a totally white snake with very little to no visible pattern.
• Ghost (Hypomelanistic + Anerythristic A) corn snakes are a hypomelanistic anerythristic (type A) snakes. They exhibit varying shades of grays, browns, and blacks on a lighter background. These often create pastel colours in lavenders, pinks, oranges, and browns.
• Phantom These are a combination of charcoal and Hypomelanistic.
• Pewter (Charcoal + Diffused) are silvery lavender with very slight blotches as adults.
• Butter (Amelanistic + Caramel) A two-tone yellow corn snake with bits of white between markings.
• Amber (Hypomelanistic + Caramel) corn snakes are a hypomelanistic caramel snake with amber markings on a brownish background.
• Gold Dust (Ultramel + Caramel) Gold dust corn snakes often have a more golden yellow than butters mixed with the grey lines rather than white.
• Plasma (Diffused + Lavander) Hatch out in varying shade of purple.
• Opal (Amelanistic + Lavender) look like blizzard corn snakes once mature with pink to purple highlights.

Intergrades

• Root Beer are intergrades between a normal corn snake and a Great Plains Rat Snake (Emory’s Rat Snake). This morph looks much like a sepia-toned corn snake.
• Creamsicle are intergrades between an albino corn snake and an Emory’s rat snake/common corn cross. These snakes bring out the yellow and downplay the reds of the corn snake. Most are varying shades of yellow with darker yellow to orangish blotches. Clutches are generally smaller in number but produce larger, more vigorous hatchlings. Creamsicle with less emory background and increased amelanistic corn generally have lighter backgrounds and red to orange saddles (red creamsicle).
• Cinnamon is the hypomelanistic phase of the corn snake x Great Plains Rat Snake

Hybrids

• Jungle corn snakes are hybrids using the corn snake and California Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula californiae). These show extreme pattern variations taking markings from both parents—sometimes looking very similar to one parent or the other. Although they are hybrids of different genera, they are not sterile.