Hurricane Snow Motley

Most Commonly Used Name: Hurricane Snow Motley

Mode of Genetic Inheritance: Recessive Plus polygenetic pattern trait, Hurricane
Morph Type: Compound (Anery, Amel, & Motley plus Hurricane pattern variation)

Eye Color: Red pupil

 snow hurricane corn snake

 

This compound morph results from combining the color mutations Anery and Amel = Snow with the pattern mutation Motley but also with a twist.  Through selective-breeding, the hurricane pattern trait changes an otherwise ordinary Snow Motley into a Motley with noticeable and thick margins around the dorsal circles of the Motley pattern.  The nearly perfect Motley circles on the back can run down the back from the neck to the half-way point, but in rare specimens they run nearly to the tail.  The name "Hurricane" tags this Motley variant because the concentric borders of the dorsal circles of the pattern (where ground color intersects the high degree of darker pattern) resemble the meteorological map symbol for hurricane storms.  The hurricane markings are not the result of a gene mutation, but from selective breeding that promotes the concentric and thick borders of the dorsal circles between pattern zones.  Adults are generally more colorful than hatchlings, but relative to the transformation of most corns from hatchling to adult, any Snow Motley will change very little throughout maturity.  One of the genetic functions of Motley is to reduce or eliminate melanin pattern zones of black, making classic Snow Motleys show NO black circle boundaries, but Hurricane pattern variants seem to ignore this genetic trait of the classic Motley.

photo explaining the look of a hurricane corn snake

This image demonstrates the distinction between a classic Anery Motley and a Hurricane Anery Motley variant.  In some specimens, it appears as though all the pattern zones of an Anery Motley (darkest color) are reduced to a concentric black border of the circles of ground color on the dorsum.  

 
What to expect:
Snow Motleys (classic or Hurricane variants) are one of the rare exceptions among corns in so much as their appearance from neonate to adult changes very little. Snows of any pattern usually begin life pink, which does fade to white with maturity--except when a red-modifying gene is present. Expect mostly gray snakes with dark pattern margins that change very little in color intensity from hatchling to adult.  Some have only a few of the classic Motley dorsal circles (often resembling a chain configuration) while some sport a long and contiguous "chain" pattern nearly all the way to the tail. Never expect to see such dorsal circles ON the tail itself.  Patterns are often less distinct and colors are sometimes slighted softened in Motley mutants - compared to non-Motleys.
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