New snake owner here. I picked up a pueblan milk snake recently at an expo, but not directly from a breeder, so I didn’t really get much info on it, and I didn’t realize until I got home that it wasn’t a “normal”. Most of the black bands seem to drown out the red on this one, so I guess it’s a morph.
Is this considered an “Oreo” pueblan milk snake? Or “Halloween”? (Or is it not a pueblan at all?)
Also, does anyone know of a place where I can research pueblan milk snake morphs specifically? To my newbie eyes, the “halloween” morph looks like a mix of this one with the dark/wide black bands and an apricot. But I’m not well-read on morphs yet, and the pueblan milk snake is not as popular as ball pythons or corn snakes, or even Honduran milk snakes, so resources seem more obscure. Any links to more info would be appreciated!
Lastly, and this is a long-shot, but with that little bit of tail showing in the photo can anyone hazard a guess whether it’s male or female? It’s settling into its new home, so I don’t want to handle it just yet to get a better photo or look at its tail. I totally understand if nobody can tell–after all, I can’t tell either, and it’s not the best photo.
Unfortunately I’ve never been a big fan of pueblans so im not very knowledgeable on the morphs, but it doesn’t look like the Halloween Pueblans I’ve seen, and it’s definitely not an apricot.
The thing that seems a bit off is that somehow the bands are both red and black almost like a paradox BP (I know this isnt a paradox, just a example) so I am thinking it may just be a cool variation of one of the morphs suggested? Just like how some morphs that are the same may look a bit different.
Your snake is an Oreo. Oreo Pueblans are missing all or most of their red bands, just like your snake. This is not single gene trait like albinism, it is more of a line-bred thing, but unlike other line-bred traits, it does not breed true (breeding two high quality Oreos produces most, but not all Oreos.) The Halloween trait is similar in that the red bands are lacking or reduced, but instead of white bands, the Halloween has orange. Essentially, Halloweens are the Apricot version of Oreos.
Does line-breeding in snakes lead to health problems? That’s basically breeding siblings together, or parents to offspring, right? I’m just wondering if I should keep my eyes open for anything.
Yeah, in my limited newbie knowledge the difference between oreo and halloween is whether it’s an apricot or not, and mine definitely doesn’t have that orange tinge.
Others have mentioned the oreo trait is more complex, so perhaps this is just what a “pet quality” (vs. "show quality) Oreo snake looks like…reduced but not absent red bands.
I suspect the bands are red and black because the black is basically encroaching on what would normally be red on both sides, but not completely eliminating it.
Line breeding is not going to cause any health defects. But it will amplify them if you breed siblings or back to parents any defect that is present will probably be present in both snakes. So if you breed any two snakes with them same defects chances are the offspring will have the same defect only worse.
