Cornsnake Morphs - The Definitive Online Guide

Wild type corn snakes

To produce wild type corns of a certain locality (e.g. miami), you would have to breed a miami with another miami. This type of selective breeding is neccessary because all the wild types carry the same genotype (-⁺-⁺), therefore it is impossible to be het for any of the wild types.

Normal or Carolina

This is where it all started - the classic corn snake.
An orange body with red blotches, outlined with black.

Miami

A normal phase corn, originating in southern Florida.
A grey/tan body with red/orange blotches, outlined with black.

Okeetee

Another normal phase, from South Carolina.
An a brightly coloured orange body with orange/red blotches, outlined with a wide black band.

Keys Corn or Rosy Rat Snake

A normal phase from the Florida Keys. Once thought to be a seperate species, but now re-classified as a true corn snake. Smaller in size to other corns, it has a golden background colour with blotches ranging from dark crimson to bright orange.

Kisatchie

Found in Eastern Texas and adjoining states. There is quite a lot of debate as to whether Kisatchies are a sub-species of corn snake, or totally seperate.

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Single trait corn snakes

Amelanistic or Red Albino (a^aa^a)

Amelanistics lack the black pigment melanin. Also called an Amel for short.
An orange body with red or dark orange blotches outlined with white.

Anerythristic Type A or Black Albino (an^aan^a)

Anerythristics lack the red pigment erythrin. Also called an Anery for short.
A grey body with darker grey blotches outlined with a black band. Once mature Anery A's usually develop yellow on their chin and neck.

Anerythristic Type B or Charcoal (ch^cch^c)

Similar in looks to the Anery 'A' but incompatable, sometimes lacking the yellow colouring.

Caramel (ca^cca^c)

The Caramel corn carries a recessive gene, leaving very little or no red at all.
Light yellow to light brown body with caramel brown blotches, outlined with black.

Cinder or 'Z' or Ashy (ci^cci^c)

A fairly new recessive trait having dark burgundy tones. Also known as 'Z' or Ashy

Diffused (D^DD^D)

The Diffused morph affects the cornsnakes pattern, diffusing the lower lateral pattern increasing as the snake gets older. It also removes the chequers from the snakes belly.

Dilute (dt^ddt^d)

The dilute allele is responsible for a unique appearance. Extreme fading of colours, almost as if the snake is in shed all the time, more evident as the snake ages.

Hypomelanistic or Hypo Type A (h^hh^h)

Similar to Amelanistics, but with a greatly reduced melanin black pigment as opposed to a total lack. The black is usually restricted to the belly and the eyes, sometimes causing the eyes to appear purple. Hypomelanism also has the effect of brightening existing colours. Often called a hypo for short.

Kastanie or Chestnut (k^kk^k)

An extremely new gene, first discovered by a biology teacher in Germany in 2002. Through test breeding it has now been proven as simple recessive.
The name 'Kastanie' comes from the German word for 'Chestnut'.

Lava or Hypo Type C (v^vv^v)

A newer genetically independent form of hypomelanism.

Lavender (l^ll^l)

Similar looking to an Anerythristic but a much paler grey, sometimes almost pink, with pale purple blotches and ruby coloured eyes.

Motley (m^mm^m)

The oldest pattern morph, discovered in 1977. Motleys have no ventral pattern, while the rest of the pattern can be highly variable, but all have merging blotches.

Strawberry (h^sh^s)

Strawberry is a hypomelanistic gene and is allelic to hypo type 'a'

Stripe (m^sm^s)

Instead of blotches, these animals have two dorsal and two finer lateral stripes

Sunkissed or Hypo Type B (s^ss^s)

A genetically independent form of hypomelanism producing very brightly coloured snakes, again with highly reduced black pigment.

Terrazzo

Terrazzo is a morph that affects the pattern of the snake, looking a little like a striped corn for the first part with granite like speckles further down the body. This trait has been proven as recessive, and is almost positively not allelic with stripe and motley.

Tessera

Tessera is a new discovery, affecting the cornsnakes pattern. It is the first dominant morph in cornsnakes and test breedings are ongoing to establish if there is a difference in heterozygous and homozygous phenotypes.

Ultra or Hypo Type D (a^ua^u)

A genetically independant form of hypomelanism, producing a much paler hypomelanistic animal

Ultramel (a^aa^u)

Ultrahypo (hypo type D) and amelanistic alleles share the same locus and are incompletely codominant to each other, so if a corn is het for both Ultra and Amel, it creates a snake with an appearance intermediate between the two.

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Double trait corn snakes

Albino Terrazzo (a^aa^a?^??^?)

A combination of Amelanistic and Terrazzo

Amber (h^hh^hca^cca^c)

A combination of Hypomelanistic and Caramel.
Similar in appearance to a Caramel, with paler more 'yellowy' colours and reduced black.

Amel Cinder (a^aa^aci^cci^c)

A combination of Amelanistic and Cinder, resulting in a white bodied snake with freckled red saddles.

Anery Caramel (an^aan^aca^cca^c)

A combination of Anerythristic and Caramel

Anery Lavender (an^aan^al^ll^l)

A combination of Anerythristic and Lavender, giving a very clean looking pale grey snake.

Blizzard (a^aa^ach^cch^c)

A combination of Amelanistic and Charcoal
Similar in appearance to the Snow, but without the yellow. Usually the pattern in Blizzards is extremely light, resulting in an almost completely white snake.

Butter (a^aa^aca^cca^c)

A combination of Amelanistic and Caramel. Butter corns lack both red and black pigments.
A yellow body with yellow blotches, outlined with white bands

Diffused Caramel (ca^cca^cD^DD^D)

A combination of Diffused and Caramel. These animals start out looking like normal caramels but as they grow the pattern becomes lighter with each shed. Also lacking in belly pattern which is a result of the Diffused influence.

Charcoal Terrazzo

A combination of Charcoal and the Terrazzo pattern morph.

Coral Ghost (h^sh^san^aan^a)

A combination of Strawberry and Anery

Diamond (ch^cch^cv^vv^v)

A combination of Charcoal and Lava

Diffused Lava (D^DD^Dv^vv^v)

A combination of Diffused and Lava

Diffused Ultramel (a^aa^uD^DD^D)

A combination of Diffused and Ultramel.

Dilute Anerythristic or Blue (dt^ddt^dan^aan^a)

A very new mutation, the dilute allele is responsible for a unique appearance. Extreme fading of colours, almost as if the snake is in shed all the time. Others have described it as the colours are buried under some layer. But along with this, lighter pigments such as pinks and yellows are enhanced.

Fire (a^aa^aD^DD^D)

A combination of Diffused and Amelanistic. Similar to the Diffused Hypomelanistic, but with vivid orange colouring.

Ghost (h^hh^han^aan^a)

The Ghost corn is a combination of Hypomelanistic and Anerythristic 'A'.
Looks like a very pale version of an Anery.

Gold Dust (a^aa^uca^cca^c)

A combination of Ultramel and Caramel

Granite or Pepper (an^aan^aD^DD^D)

A combination of Diffused and Anerythristic 'A'. Granites can also develop shades of pink and red.

Honey (s^ss^sca^cca^c)

A combination of Sunkissed and Caramel. This combination produces a snake with a bright yellow ground colour with honey coloured saddles.

Hypo Amel (h^hh^ha^aa^a)

A bright orange snake with very little white produced by combining Hypomelanistic with Amelanistic. Some Sunglows are actually Hypo Amels without the owner knowing as it is extremely hard to tell by eye because amel masks hypo. Often the only way to know is by breeding trials.

Hypo Cinder (h^hh^hci^cci^c)

A combination of Cinder and Hypomelanistic.

Hypo Diffused (h^hh^hD^DD^D)

A combination of Diffused and Hypomelanistic producing a bright vivid red snake, with a plain belly as a result of the Diffused influence.

Hypo Kastanie (h^hh^hk^kk^k)

A combination of Hypomelanistic and Kastanie

Hypo Lavender or Cotton Candy (h^hh^hl^ll^l)

A combination of Hypomelanistic and Lavender. A more pronounced lilac colouring is brought out by the hypomelanism.

Hypo Sunkissed (h^hh^hs^ss^s)

A combination of Hypomelanistic and Sunkissed

Ice Ghost (an^aan^av^vv^v)

A combination of Lava and Anerythristic 'A'. These animals are extremely light compared to normal ghosts, and can seem to have a pale blue tone. Often refered to as just 'Ice'

Lavamel (a^aa^av^vv^v)

A combination of Lava (hypo type C) and Amelanistic.

Mandarin (k^kk^ka^aa^a)

A combination of Kastanie and Amelanistic. Mandarins hatch out white and pink, much like a snow hatchling does. As it ages orange coloring develops giving an orange snake with slightly darker orange saddles.

Opal (a^aa^al^ll^l)

A combination of Amelanistic and Lavender. Starting out as washed out looking amels, they quickly fade into what appears to be a purplish snow corn. As they mature, varying amounts of pale orange fills in the areas between the blotches.

Pewter (ch^cch^cD^DD^D)

A combination of Diffused and Charcoal.
A light silvery body with slightly darker blotches.

Phantom (h^hh^hch^cch^c)

A combination of Hypomelanistic and Charcoal, and looks similar to a Ghost but with paler grey, and sometimes lacking the yellow neck colouring.

Pied Sided Bloodred (p^pp^pD^DD^D)

Pied sided shows random patches of white along the sides of the snake. It is thought to be somehow linked to the diffused gene.

Plasma or Diffused Lavender(l^ll^lD^DD^D)

A combination of Lavender and Diffused.

Snow (a^aa^aan^aan^a)

The Snow corn is a combination of Amelanistic and Anerythristic 'A'.
A mostly white body with pale blotches and a yellow chin and neck.

Sunkissed Amel (s^ss^sa^aa^a)

A combination of Sunkissed with Amelanistic that produces a bright orange snake.

Sunkissed Anery (s^ss^san^aan^a)

A combination of Sunkissed and Anerythristic.

Sunkissed Cinder (s^ss^sci^cci^c)

A combination of Sunkissed and Cinder

Sunkissed Diffused (s^ss^sD^DD^D)

A combination of Sunkissed and Diffused

Sunkissed Lava (s^ss^sv^vv^v)

Combining Sunkissed with Lava (both independant forms of hypomelanism) produces a doubly bright snake.

Sunkissed Lavender or Orchid (s^ss^sl^ll^l)

A combination of Sunkissed and Lavender.

Topaz (ca^cca^cv^vv^v)

A combination of Caramel and Lava

Ultra Caramel (a^ua^uca^cca^c)

A combination of Ultra and Caramel, giving a snake that looks much like an Amber, but using Ultrahypo instead of type 'A' Hypo.

Ultramel Anerythristic (a^aa^uan^aan^a)

Breeding Ultramel into Anerythristic produces a quite pale, but very clean looking grey and white snake with a deep ruby eye pupil.

Ultramel Lavender (a^aa^ul^ll^l)

A combination of Ultramel and Lavender.

Ultra Sunkissed (a^ua^us^ss^s)

A combination of Ultra and Sunkissed

Ultramel Sunkissed (a^aa^us^ss^s)

A combination of Ultramel and Sunkissed

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Triple trait corn snakes

Anery Pewter (an^aan^ach^cch^cD^DD^D)

A combination of Anery, Charcoal and Diffused.
A light silvery body with slightly darker blotches.

Avalanche (a^aa^aan^aan^aD^DD^D)

A combination of Snow and Diffused, giving a much paler version of the snow corn, with less pattern and a plain belly.

Coral or Hypo Snow (a^aa^aan^aan^ah^hh^h)

A combination of Hypomelanistic and a Snow. Many of these snakes show enhanced red, due to the hypomelanism, and vary widely from pale pink to darker coral pink.

Diffused Amber (ca^cca^ch^hh^hD^DD^D)

A combination of Caramel, Hypo and Diffused, giving a much paler version of the caramel corn, with less pattern and a plain belly

Diffused Gold Dust or Bloodred Golddust (D^DD^Da^aa^uca^cca^c)

A combination of Diffused, Ultramel and Caramel.

Diffused Ice or Ice Blood (an^aan^av^vv^vD^DD^D)

A combination of Lava, Anerythristic and Diffused.

Diffused Opal or Bloodred Opal or Blopal (D^DD^Da^aa^al^ll^l)

A combination of Diffused, Amelanistic and Lavender.

Hypo Butter (a^aa^aca^cca^ch^hh^h)

A combination of Hypomelanistic and Butter creating a snake very similar to a regular Butter, but with muted colors.

Hypo Granite or Ghost Bloodred (h^hh^han^aan^aD^DD^D)

A combination of Hypomelanism, Anery and Diffused.

Hypo Opal (h^hh^ha^aa^al^ll^l)

A combination of Hypomelanism, Amelanistic and Lavender.

Hypo Pewter (h^hh^hch^cch^cD^DD^D)

A combination of Hypomelanism, Charcoal and Diffused.

Hypo Pied Bloodred (h^hh^hp^pp^pD^DD^D)

A combination of hypo, pied sided and diffused.

Hypo Plasma (h^hh^hl^ll^lD^DD^D)

A combination of Hypomelanistic, Lavender and Diffused. Adults lose their pattern as they age due to the diffuse influence and can become a solid bright purple.

Lavamel Terrazzo (v^vv^va^aa^a?^??^?)

A combination of Lava, Amelanistic and Terrazzo.

Lavender Ghost (l^ll^lh^hh^han^aan^a)

A combination of Lavender, Hypomelanistic and Anerythristic.

Pied Sided Granite (p^pp^pD^DD^Dan^aan^a)

A combination of Pied sided, Anerythristic and Diffused.

Platinum or Anery Phantom or Charcoal Ghost (h^hh^hch^cch^can^aan^a)

A combination of Hypomelanistic, Charcoal and Anerythristic.

Snopal or Glacier (a^aa^aan^aan^al^ll^l)

The Snopal is a combination of Lavender and Snow.

Sulfur or Diffused Butter (a^aa^aca^cca^cD^DD^D)

A combination of Diffused, Caramel and Amelanistic.

Sunkissed Snow (a^aa^aan^aan^as^ss^s)

A combination of Amelanistic, Anerythristic and Sunkissed. The easiest way to tell apart from a regular snow is the Sunkissed pattern on the head, and a more colourful wash.

Whiteout (a^aa^ach^cch^cD^DD^D)

A combination of Blizzard and Diffused. The same brilliant white as a Blizzard, but with the Diffused genetics there is even less pattern present and no belly pattern, producing a near perfect white corn snake.

Xanthic Snow (a^aa^aan^aan^aca^cca^c)

Xanthic Snow is the name being given to Snows that are also showing the Caramel gene. The result is very similar to a regular snow, but with a slight yellowy tint.

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Quad trait corn snakes

Citrine (a^aa^aan^aan^aca^cca^ch^hh^h)

Citrine is a combination of Amelanistic, Anerythristic, Caramel and Hypo

Coral Avalanche (a^aa^aan^aan^ah^hh^hD^DD^D)

A combination of Amel, Anery, Hypo, and Diffused

Hypo Sulfur (h^hh^ha^aa^aca^cca^cD^DD^D)

A combination of Hypo, Diffused, Caramel and Amelanistic.

Plasma Ghost (D^DD^Dan^aan^ah^hh^hl^ll^l)

Plasma Ghost is a combination of Diffused, Anerythristic, Hypomelanistic, and Lavender.

Powder (a^aa^aan^aan^ach^cch^ch^hh^h)

Powder is a combination of Amelanistic, Anerythristic, Charcoal and Hypo

Quartz (a^aa^aan^aan^ach^cch^cD^DD^D)

Quartz is a combination of Amelanistic, Anerythristic, Charcoal and Diffused

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Selectively bred corn snakes

Abbotts Okeetee (-⁺-⁺)

A selectively bred Okeetee, the aim with the Abbotts is to enhance the wide black borders.

Anerythristic Upper Keys (an^aan^a)

Anerythristic bred into Upper Keys locality lines.

Banded (m^mm^m)

A selectively bred Motley. The dorsal blotches extend down and blend into the lateral blotches giving a banded look.

Bloodred (D^DD^D)

By selectively breeding the Diffused trait, an almost solid color has been produced. Hatchlings have a slight pattern that fades as they mature into a solid dark red snake. Snakes showing the Diffused trait also lack belly pattern.

Butter Okeetee (a^aa^aca^cca^c)

When Butter is bred into Okeetee lines a butter corns white banding is greatly enhanced.

Candycane (a^aa^a)

A selectively bred Amelanistic, producing a white body with bright red or orange blotches, resembling as the name suggests christmas tree candycanes.
Candycanes also develop yellow markings on the neck as they mature.

Dilute Pastel (dt^ddt^dh^hh^han^aan^a)

A combination of Dilute, Hypo and Anerythristic. Selected for high pink and other pastel colours

Crimson or Hypo Miami (h^hh^h)

Hypomelanism crossed into a Miami, resulting in a snake similar to a normal miami phase but with greatly reduced black.

Cube (m^sm^s)

A selectively bred Stripe with the stripe broken up, appearing as rectangles.

Fluorescent Orange (a^aa^a)

Selectively bred amelanistic, to produce vivid bright orange colouring.

Green Spot Snow (a^aa^aan^aan^a)

A selectively bred snow with fluorescent yellow/green blotches.

Hurricane (m^mm^m)

Hurricanes are a selectivly bred type of Motley. The blotches on the back are reduced to thick borders that form circles, while the rest of the snake is background colour. The name is said to have come from the hurricane symbols on weather maps.

Hypo Okeetee (h^hh^h)

The hypo gene bred into Okeetee lines.

Milksnake Phase (-⁺-⁺)

These are selectively bred Miamis that have larger and more intense saddles, and are similar in appearance to Milksnakes hence the name..

Okeetee Lava (-⁺-⁺)

Lava bred into okeetee lines

Original Granite

Original Granite is the name given to Terrazzo cornsnakes of pure Keys lines. This morph was called 'Granite' in the 90's long before the name was used for Anerythristic Bloodreds.

Paradox Snow (a^aa^aan^aan^a)

Genetically a snow corn but displaying patches of black or red, which should be impossible because snows lack the genes that create the melanin and erythrin. It is described in this section, as even with selective breeding it can be almost impossible to create another Paradox Snow.

Pastel (h^hh^han^aan^a)

Selectively bred Ghosts, bred to show lots of pastel colours such as orange, pink and yellow.

Pastel Bloodred (h^hh^han^aan^aD^DD^D)

Selectively bred Ghost Bloodreds (Hypo Granite), bred to show lots of pastel colours such as orange, pink and yellow.

Pink Green Spot Snow or Bubblegum Snow (a^aa^aan^aan^a)

A selectively bred Snow, similar to the Green Spot Snow, but with a pink ground colour with the same green colouring.

Reverse Okeetee (a^aa^a)

An amelanistic bred to resemble the okeetee (not all of these snakes have okeetee blood). The same bright colourings as an okeetee, but with wide white bands instead of black.

Silver Queen (h^hh^han^aan^a)

Silver Queens are genetically Ghosts, but are a much paler silvery grey with slightly darker blotches. Some Silver Queens also lack the yellow colouring as found in a standard Ghost. They originate from a line bred by Rich Zuchowski of Serpenco.

Strawberry Snow (a^aa^aan^aan^a)

A snow, with bright pink blotches on a cream/white background.

Sunglow (a^aa^a)

A brightly coloured contrasting selectively bred Amelanistic with little or no white banding.

Vanishing Stripe or Patternless (m^sm^s)

Vanishing Stripe is a striped cornsnake selectively bred for a vanishing pattern. It is also sometimes known as Patternless.

Zigzag or Aztec (-⁺-⁺)

This pattern is caused by the left and right halves of the dorsal pattern becoming misaligned, and appearing as a wide zigzag line down the snake. When the pattern is completely misaligned with both halves completely seperated these snakes are sometimes refered to as Aztecs.

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Hybrids

The following are hybrids between cornsnakes and other species.

Albino Jungle

Cornsnake (Elaphe gutatta) X California Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula californiae) + amelanistic

Albino Tri Colour Jungle

Cornsnake (Elaphe gutatta) X Ruthvens Kingsnake (Lampropeltis ruthveni) + amelanistic

Cinnamon

Cornsnake (Elaphe gutatta) X Great Plains Ratsnake (Elaphe emoryi) + hypomelanistic

Creamsicle

Cornsnake (Elaphe gutatta) X Great Plains Ratsnake (Elaphe emoryi) + amelanistic

Jungle

Cornsnake (Elaphe gutatta) X California Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula californiae)

Rootbeer

Cornsnake (Elaphe gutatta) X Great Plains Ratsnake (Elaphe emoryi). Also known as Copper.

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Ians Vivarium

The definitive online guide to cornsnake morphs

Guide to Cornsnake Morphs

Wild Types and Localities

Single Trait

Double Trait

Triple Trait

Quad Trait

Selectively Bred

Hybrids and Intergrades

The Guide To Cornsnake Morphs

Latest Stats: 1197 Photos of 131 Morphs

Contents

Key to genotype notes

Wild type corn snakes

Single trait corn snakes

Double trait corn snakes

Triple trait corn snakes

Quad trait corn snakes

Selectively bred corn snakes

Hybrids

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-⁺	= wild type	a^a	= amelanistic	a^u	= ultra
an^a	= anerythristic	ca^c	= caramel	ch^c	= charcoal
ci^c	= cinder	D^D	= diffused	dt^d	= dilute
h^h	= hypo	h^s	= strawberry	k^k	= kastanie
l^l	= lavender	m^m	= motley	m^s	= stripe
s^s	= sunkissed	v^v	= lava