First corn snake, identification

[ZSThomp]

Hello all!

Well I finally got my first corn snake over a month ago from LLLReptile's retail store in San Diego. I got into snakes after I started watching SnakeBytes about a year ago. I got the snake June 2nd and while it wasn't the exact morph I was looking for (off season I know), she/he is beautiful. When I got her she was labeled as a Plasma Corn Snake. I have just very basic knowledge of morphs and I don't think that's right. She's got red eyes and know she's got Amel in her. Could it be that she's what they call an "Opal" corn? Or maybe she has no other recessive in her and she's just a simple Amel? I'd like to know. Please see pictures of her in my gallery. Her name is Chismosa (nosy) as she stays her in hide yet keeps her head out in the light so she can see what's going on in the room.
She has shed once (complete with eyecaps) since I've had her and is finally doing well eating the smallest pinkies available every five to six days. She is slightly over a foot long. Very curious, docile, and never had struck at me. I may up her size of the pinkies soon as she seems to want more right after I feed her.
Also, is it normal for these albino types to have less vibrant colors the further you go down on the snakes body? Also the neck area of the snake is always smaller than the body?
Thanks for reading and and I hope to get at least one more corn snake when the baby's start hatching this season (I want a Blizzard or Whiteout and/or Bloodred and/or Anery Motley)

Z

[EL-Ziggy]

Congrats on the new addiction Z. I don't keep corns and unfortunately can't tell you what morph yours is but it looks nice. I have seen other albinos with lighter & darker coloring down their bodies. I try to get my baby snakes off pinkys fairly quickly. After 3-5 single pinky feedings every 5 days I'll offer 2 pinkys for 2-3 feedings every 6-7 days then it's on to fuzzys.

[ZSThomp]

OK so after looking at different photos for a while I'm 90% sure it just a "regular" amelanistic corn. Mine doesn't have enough pink to be an opal. I'm actually glad because as an adult she/he will still have great patterning as opposed to an opal which diffuses with age. I'm just surprised that LLLReptile, a leader in the industry, would label is so wrong, not even close.

I would still like to know what you guys think.

Z

[Spiritserpents]

Wow, yeah... no way in hell does your little one even remotely look like a plasma. LLL is terrible regarding living creatures. They do not take good care of their snakes, they do not breed their own babies, and everything is mislabeled.

Your baby is indeed an amel. Some people might call it a reverse okeetee because the banding around the saddles is thicker than usual, but most people would want even thicker before they'd call it that. It is also completely normal for the colors to be more vibrant towards the front of the snake.

Regarding feeding, go by the snake's size. Don't push it because regurges are a pain in the ass to deal with. The food item should be no larger than 1 1/2 times the size of the widest part of the snake. I tend to follow the munson plan but slightly modified as I usually feed every 7 days no matter the age. My work schedule/load makes it hard to be bouncing around the week. Much easier to just feed every Tuesday which I have off.

[ZSThomp]

Can you explain which are the saddles? I don't which part of the pattern the saddles refer to. In any case, he/she's beautiful and if I was brave enough I would try to sex it with popping but I in no way want to hurt the animal so I'd rather not do it. Does the picture look like a three month old corn snake or does it look younger?

Z

[Giga]

The saddles refer to the patches of red that go along the snake's back, and the banding is the white between them. I would agree that it looks like an amel with particularly wide banding, probably produced by line breeding.

While I wouldn't consider myself an expert at aging corn snakes, I could easily believe this one is three months old.

As for its neck; looks perfectly normal to me. Corns have quite a pronounced break between head and neck that makes their neck look skinny, and its particularly obvious in young ones as the head is 'oversized' compared to the body. As it grows it'll grow into its head and its neck will start looking more proportional

[Spiritserpents]

[ZSThomp]

Thanks guys for the tips and yeah duh I should have known what saddles were It seems like then mine might be almost what you would call a "reverse oketee"? In any case, I love it and can't wait to get him/her a brother or sister. (LOL in different enclosures of course HA)

Z