New snake! (Can someone explain?)

[clairlevee]

Hi all!

At the San Antonio expo this weekend I picked up this pretty girl.



She was marked as a "Striped Poltergeist + Super Light Ghost Motley"

I just recently got into corn snakes and I really have no intention to breed or anything. I just like their personality and wide range of colors.

So what is she? Is she just a ghost motley, basically? What does the other stuff mean? Genetically, why does she have stripes AND spots? (I think that's so cool) Do you think she'll stay pink? The breeder said so, but I thought corns changed a bit over their life.

Thanks in advance!

[Blue Apple Herps]

I've never heard of a poltergeist corn before. A quick google search makes it seem as though its a corn/grey rat hybrid of some sort; perhaps a ghost (hypo anery).

I'm guessing that the label was what the pairing was, not what the snake actually is. It looks like a snow motley to me. Not a ghost. Though it could be a hypo snow motley if the "poltergeist" also has hypo in it.

In corn snakes, motley and stripe are allelic with motley being "dominant." I use the term dominant loosely as often you'll see "striped motleys" which are motleys that have some striping pattern and are often het strip (eg they have once copy motley and one copy stripe). Though this isn't always the case.

As for her color, she'll most likely not keep the pink. There are some lines of snow corns that are pretty pink, but most hatch really pink like yours that fades to more white over time. Just google snow motleys and you can find a zillion pics of adults.

[clairlevee]

That shows how much I know about corn snake morphs! Snow motley makes a whole lot more sense to me. I think I'll give the breeders an email and see what their "poltergeist" is exactly, aha.

[honey.bee]

Yup, looks like a snow motley to me. As far as I know, motley just means the type of pattern. Definitely not a ghost though or you would see lots of browns. I would agree with a slight mislabeling or that's just what the parents were.