Hi, as the title says, I need help identifying the morphs of this clutch of eggs who hatched back in early July (2026).
So for context the parents are Brandy (F), (who turned out to be Super Masque), a Super Masque, Caramel, het bloodred x Helios (M) (apparently just a Masque, not Super) Masque, Lava, Red Coat, Het Diffused, Amel. I’m trying to figure out if Brandy is het Diffused and/or Red Coat. I got a mixed bag of Super Masque and Masque babies, so I know that much.
Photos will be in the order of 2nd shed, then hatch photos of said baby. 002 is super light red in person, I’m not sure if the photos picked that up or not. Also, my Masque babies have super thick saddle borders, especially for 004, not sure if that is a Masque thing or not since the Masque babies from Koi’s clutch didn’t have that, so any thoughts on that are welcomed!
Now, 011 is either a high expression Masque, or a Super Masque, no clue which. And 012 is my super sweet runt of the clutch, he had unabsorbed yolk he hatched with that had to be removed.
So Far what I have is -
001 - Super Masque
002 - Super Masque
003 - Super Masque
004 - Masque
005 - Super Masque
006 - Super Masque
007 - Super Masque
008 - Masque
009 - Super Masque
010 - Masque
011 - (Super) Masque High expression (she’s either a Super, or a high expression single gene Masque)
012 - Super Masque
But long story short, I have absolutely no clue if I have any Red Coat, or Diffused in this clutch.
One thing I can say for certain though is that there are no Amels XD!
And Helios (M) who is the (Not Super) Masque, Lava, Red Coat, Het Diffused, Amel. He unfortunately is infected with a terminal case of Orange (100% a joke, he’s just pretty stupid)
Cute babies and cute parents, too. Before I get into the weeds on trying to ID babies, could you please clarify a few things about parentage?
First, “bloodred” is simply older terminology for Diffused/Diffusion. When Diffusion was first isolated from Upper Keys lines, the animals were all old-fashioned Bloodreds visually. When Diffusion was first bred into other colors, the Diffused trait was usually just called Bloodred and that was tracked onto the other color morph. Snakes were called things like Hypo Bloodred, Amel Bloodred (at least they were red) Ghost Bloodred, Caramel Bloodred (not even close to red). The “-red” got dropped, and some combos picked up their own names. Amel Bloodred became Fire, Lavender Blood became Plasma. Still had names like Ghost Blood and Caramel Blood floating around. As people became more familiar with the genetics many breeders stopped referring to the Diffused trait as Bloodred or Blood, simply calling the trait what it is: Diffused. So my Diffused Caramels are called Diffused Caramels, not Caramel Bloods. The Bloodred morph name is still used for snakes who are similar to the original Bloodreds: Diffused with some form of red-enhancing gene such as Red Factor or Red Coat. So all Bloodreds are Diffused, but not so Diffused are Bloodreds, if that makes sense.
Having said all that: If Brandy is “het bloodred” as you say, then you don’t need to figure out if she is het Diffused. You have already answered your own question.
If I may ask, what do you mean when you say that Brandy “turned out to be Super Masque?” It is hard to tell in the images here but what I see is color suffusion and flecks of ground color scattered at random on her belly. This is typical for homozygous Diffused animals.
I’ll look over the babies and share my thoughts. Meanwhile tagging some other experienced corn folks to have a look. Apologies to anyone I miss. I’m headachey. @deanaii , @noodlehaus , @snakesofshadowlake,
So I just double checked photos of when I got her, and Brandy was sold to me as a 2020 Caramel Bloodred, and I have no idea why I listed her as het. Go figure, I can’t read half the time.
I said she turned out to be Super Masque because I got mostly Supers, with a super to masque ratio of 8:4 or 9:3, and Helios looks to be just Masque, not Super like he was sold to me as. However, I’m not sure so any advice on both Brandy and Helios’ morph IDs are welcome. Either way she is at least Masque since I wouldn’t have gotten any Super Masques if she wasn’t. I’ll be pairing her next year with either a non-masque or super masque male to see if I get all Masques or all Supers.
I also just checked and I had posted her morph ID help on reddit and Dean had responded that she was probably Super Masque and went with it especially with her clutch outcomes.
Here’s are my headachey tentative IDs. The lighting is less than great, and there are some individuals who could belly pics for more compete info.
001 Diffused Masque
002 Diffused Masque
003 Masque from the top. Can’t see its belly so can’t tell if it’s Diffused.
004 Classic
005 Diffused Masque
006 looks almost like 2 diffetent animals. The neonate pics look Caramel Masque. It’s lightened a lot in the other pics but lighting is making it tough. Maybe Amber or Topaz since you mention Lava? Could just be Caramel. Need pics in natural light. Can’t see belly for ID.
007 Classic
008 Masque
009 Masque. Can’t see belly.
010 Masque
011 and 012 likely Diffused Masque. Need a pic of the full belly to rule out very HE Super Masque. Those flecks may be checker remnants or just random flecks. Need to look at the whole belly to see if these are regularly spaced like belly checkers.
Her breeder might’ve told me in person she was het for diffused when I had asked what they meant by bloodred when I got her, promptly forgot if they said diffused or red-coat, and that is why I listed her as het bloodred. But I have absolutely no idea.
What should I photograph them on for better ID-ing? I’m sure it’d also help their, and any other babies I end up selling, MorphMarket profiles when I post them.
I hope your headache gets better! I’m currently running on a migraine so I feel you there, the ouch is real
Just looked at 001 again. That one certainly looks Diffused to me.
As far as light, near a window but not in direct light is great. Think of a cloudy day. Babies are tricky and wiggly, but if you can someone to help take pics while you hold them or vice versa, full belly pics would be great. You can also put them in a nice clear bowl or deli and take the image from below.
Pics of Brandy from below would also be good. Might be able to verify if she’s Super Masque or Diffused. It can be a real challenge, especially as they get older and develop color on their non-checkered bellies.
Dunno if this is helpful, but here’s one of mine who is Diffused with a very colorful belly. When she hatched her belly was all white. You can see a lot of suffusion in one of the progression pics. Some of the flecks look like random checkers, but they aren’t. (Checkers don’t appear as the animal grows). Her belly now is almost entirely red. https://www.morphmarket.com/us/c/reptiles/colubrids/corn-snakes/2374979?prev=/inventory/edit/2374979
Gonna say goodnight. Hope we both feel better tomorrow.
I’ll see if I can get any good natural light photos of them tomorrow, but I did get belly pictures of the ones you said didn’t have any so I’ll post those after I label them here in a minute.
Sounds good though, goodnight, I hope your headache doesn’t follow you into tomorrow and thank you!
003 Super Masque, very HE. Those dark flecks where sides and ventrum meet do appear to be following a pattern of where checkers would be.
006 Diffused Masque, I see beginnings of suffusion but no checker remnants.
009 HE Super Masque. Looks like its pattern extends onto its belly with edges of what would otherwise be checkers.
011 Diffused Masque
012 most likely Diffused Masque. I don’t think the few flecks are regular enough to be belly checker remnants but it’s possible that this one is an extremely high expression Super Masque.
Note that the Diffused Masque animals may be Diffused Super Masque.
I trust you on these IDs more than I trust myself. I’m not seeing any homozygous Diffusion on anyone in this group. Lots of strong Super-Masque expression.
This is a tough bunch. Totally illustrative of the way very HE Super Masque and homozygous Diffused can look too close to call. It gets harder as they age and add more suffusion. RF really adds to belly color. Peach, I’ve discovered really REALLY adds to belly color.
Here’s some photos of Brandy in indirect sun/natural light. I also took photos of the babies in indirect sun/natural light and will be posting those soon.
What makes 1, 2, 5, and 7 not look Super Masque while 3, 6, 9, 11, and 12 do? 1, 2, and 7 look very similar in belly patterning as 3 so I’m curious what the difference is between them and the Super Masque babies.
