Help with age and id of baby recue corn snake

Hi everybody,
In October, I found this little corn snake in a basemet. I’m in Italy, and this species isn’t native, so she was probably abandoned. I say she but I’m not so sure about sex, a girl in a reptile shop told me that she is a girl looking at the tail, but a breeder told me that usually with corn snake you should check the sex of the animal in a similar way of how you check for ball pythons (that I have), so I still have to check for that, but I’ll let the vet do that in safety.
When I found her, she weighed 17 grams, and she was very thin and frozen. I put her in a heated tank and started feeding her with pinkys, and her currently weigh is 52 grams, so she’s definitely grown! She’s also more confident, easy to handle, curious, and eager to explore. When I found her, she had two wounds, one on its back and one on her tail, which was probably crushed. The wound on its back healed with cream and two molts, and the tail has improved a lot, but she still has some signs of that trauma. I’m asking for your help in trying to identify the morph. I think she’s albino, but I’ll leave that to the experts. I’m also asking for your opinion on her age, because I have no idea how old she is or how fast corn snakes can grow, or how small they are when they born
I have some ball pythons but I have never had corn snake, I have made some research, but any suggestions or advise about how to give her the best care is welcome
Thanks to all of you that will answer :heart_eyes:


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Well God bless you for taking in this little sweetheart! She would likely have died from exposure and now she’s thriving with you! I believe it’s difficult to determine the sex of a corn by the tail as the tail lengths of both sexes are usually about the same. I am positive someone will correct me on this soon if I am wrong.

I am guessing maybe albino, or snow, or even a lavender mix morph but I am a keeper only so again these are only guesses. Most assuredly I will be corrected very quickly by experienced breeders on this forum. But it’s kinda fun anyway. I’m ready to admit how wrong I am up front! :blush:

Even though we don’t know the sex, have you given her/him a name yet? She’s such a pretty little thing and a heartwarming rescue story and I’m glad you shared it with us! :heart::pray:

Edit to Add: I would do love to visit Italy btw! My husband is making Italian Spaghetti for dinner tonight! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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She is definitely amelanistic (albino) but if she was JUST amelanistic she would be a more red/orange color, so I’m guessing she’s anerythristic as well, which will make for the muted pink and silver colors. Aside from that, I’m not sure on any more genetics. I don’t work with corns so if I’m incorrect someone who does is welcome to correct me.

Thank you for taking her in! The biggest thing I’d say for care advice is a nice big enclosure she can cruise around in and I always recommend providing things she can climb on as climbing really helps with muscle tone. As long as she’s eating, her heating and humidity are probably close to where they need to be!

Most corn snakes are probably between 3-7g when they hatch out, but that is just a guess as I’ve never hatched them myself.

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So awesome you are there to take such great care of her! I’m glad she found you.

She looks like a snow to me which is the combo of both amelanistic (albino, removes blacks) + anerythristic (removes all the oranges and reds). She might even be low expression motley if she doesn’t have any belly checkers. She should develop some yellows near her neck and the first 3rd of her body as she grows. If she does have belly checkers, and develops some greens/yellows on them, and then that spreads to her saddle borders over the next year, then she also carries halo (fairly common in snows). Her pinks may fade a little or a lot as she grows into an adult depending on her particular family lines.

And yes, I say “she,” too, even though I don’t know. You can’t tell on corns just from the tail. Some people think you can tell if the tail tapers slowly from the vent (male) or quickly (female), or based on the number of scales after the vent (more scales = male, less scales = female), but I don’t feel like that is very reliable in corns. It’s very hard to tell without popping or probing. The best way to know for 100% sure is a shed test through Rare Genetics Inc (RGI).

There’s no way to be certain on age, either, especially since we don’t know how long she was abandoned or how much she had to eat. Corns’ growth largely depends on a combo of genetics and availability of food. Given her slow start, and current weight, she’s probably around 1.5 years old this January.

Hope that helps. Good luck! She’s so pretty!

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Awwww. Pretty Snow (Amel + Anery). :slight_smile:

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Thank you, yes my husband named her Kaa, from the Junglebook, the name is a hope for her to became big and strong, cause we weren’t sure she would have made it, but she proved us wrong and she’s growing so much, and she’s such a sweet heart​:heart:
If you will ever come to Italy please make sure you will have enough time to try the most food that you can​:heart_eyes: and feel free to contact me for any advise :smiling_face:

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Thanl you, I have tried to guess albino from the red eyes, but I was curious to guess if there was the chance of any other gene
About the enclosure she is actually in a temporary enclosure because she is in quarantine, like all the new animals that come into my house, I have a lot of reptiles, and my priority is to keep everybody safe, she comes from the street, so I want to make sure she doesn’t have anything before moving her to the reptile room in her final place
But of course se has enough space now
She gained 45 grams in three months, that’s why I’m concerned with the age, but she has also been quite a few time without food being stuck in that basement, so i really have no idea about her age

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This is a picture of her belly, maybe from here it can help you to identify the low expression motley
She actually doesn’t hava any yellow or green, she’s just pink and white, but we’ll see when she’ll grow!
I’ll make her popping from the vet, just to make sure!

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Definitely has belly checkers, so no motley. I don’t see any greens or yellows developing, either. It’ll be fun to watch her change as she grows!

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Awwwww! Thank you Silvia! :heart::pray: And her name suits her/him! Bless you sweetie! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Gorgeous baby, I’m gonna assume approx 3 months old. I bred corns for a little while- wonderful snakes. They can get around 4 feet long. I used to take mine outside to lay in the grass and enjoy the sun (they don’t move too fast, but make sure there are NO HOLES nearby) enjoy your new baby!!

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