Corn Snake ownership in Georgia?

As you may know, it is illegal to own reptiles that are native to Georgia if you are a resident of Georgia. :colbert:

If you own a cornsnake in Georgia, here is a verifiable taxonomy you can use to legally reference your corn as a non-native Great Plains Red Rat.

Understand, this is not, nor is it intended to be a circumvention of law. It is a legal taxonomical differentiation between a native corn and a related, albeit non-native species.

The corn snake sometimes referred to as the red rat snake.
The corn snake Taxonomy.
Class: reptilian
Order: squamata
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Pantherophis
Species: Gutatus
Pantherophis Guttatus for practical terminology or corn snake


The Great Plains Rat Snake Taxonomy
Class: reptilian
Order: squamata
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Pantherophis
Species: emoryi
Pantherophis emoryi for practical terminology or emoryi rat snake


The corn snake used to be classified as elaphe guttata guttata

The great plains rat snake used to be classified as Elaphe guttata emoryi

They were basically considered the eastern corn (guttata) and the western corn (emoryi)

Later taxonomic changes separated the great plains rat snake and the corn snake into separate species.

The corn snake became simply Elaphe guttata and the great plains rat snake became Elaphe emoryi

So here we have the separation of species.

The great plains rat snake ranges across the southern Great Plains states from southern Nebraska and southwestern Illinois, southward through most of Texas and Mexico, and into northern Mexico.

When originally separated from guttata there were actually three sub species of Elaphe emoryi. There was the Elaphe emoryi emoryi the elaphe emoryi intermontana and the elaphe emoryi meahllmorum.

Now taxonomists stepped in once again and changed the genus and species classifications.

The genus elaphe was also used in old world rat snake classifications.

Taxonomists felt the new world and old world rat snakes should be separated into separate genus classifications.

The corn snake has since been classified as pantherophis guttatus and the great plains rat snake (all three sub species) have been re-classified as Pantherophis emoryi.

A creamsicle is an emoryi/corn cross expressing amelanism.

Amelanism is a simple recessive gene that removes melanin (black) resulting in brighter remaining colors (reds and yellows) and red eyes.

An amelanistic corn snake is simply a different color or morph of corn snake. There are approximately seventy plus corn snake color and or pattern morphs or combinations.

Corn snake/emoryi rat snake crosses due to different species classifications are hybrids by definition, not morphs.

In reasonable conclusion and by logical extension, as they are a hybrid, consisting of a species not indigenous to Georgia they are legal to own in Georgia.

There ya go, beautifully articulated by Jimmy Johnson (aka Draybar’s reptiles)

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