7 Okeetee Corn Snake Genetic Facts (How to breed them?)

With their eye-catching patterns and friendly natures, corn snakes make attractive pets and enjoy widespread popularity. A type of North American rat snake, the corn snake kills its prey using constriction and, unsurprisingly, feasts on small rodents as well as birds, lizards, and the occasional bat.

What is an Okeetee Corn Snake?

As a base morph, the Okeetee corn snake occurs naturally but vary according to locality and breeding. Easy to keep and breed in captivity, the Okeetee is an excellent contender for the best designer snake and, while most descend from snakes found in a specific locality, others have been bred from classic corn snakes, creating yet more variations in color and pattern. 

Okeetee Color Lines

The wide variety of Okeetee morphs means that collectors are always on the lookout for a new designer pattern, be it a paler reverse Okeetee with its yellow body and white-bordered red dorsal saddle marks, or the curiously scaleless Abbotts Okeetee with its cappuccino-colored body and chocolate hued markings. 

While biologically no different from a normal corn snake, the Okeetee’s vibrant colors and bold patterns make it easy to distinguish. Whether the morph has opted for a base coat of bright yellow or orange and black, red, or chocolate brown saddle marks, they are generally brighter than their corn snake cousins. 

As different morphs are bred, however, so the saddle marks have morphed with them, and some Okeetees, like the Okeetee Tessera, have stripes rather than blotches and diamond-shaped patterns along the sides. Most Okeetees, however, have the classic saddle marks with jet-black borders much wider than the black bands seen on normal variants.

How Long Can Okeetee Corn Snake Grow?

Like the classic corn snake, a mature Okeetee measure between 61 and 182cm and uses its whole body to constrict and suffocate its prey. Often mistaken in the wild for the venomous copperhead, the corn snake lacks any functional venom and is a farmer’s best friend, killing and eating wild rodents that cause havoc with crops and spread disease. Unlike the copperhead, the Okeetee lacks heat-sensing pits and can also be distinguished by its slim body, bright colors, and round pupils.

How Heavy Can They Become

A mature Okeetee measuring five feet (152cm) in length usually weighs around 500 to 750g, making them surprisingly light and therefore easier for smaller adults and children to handle. Compared to a five-foot ball python which weighs over 2kg, the Okeetee is a veritable featherweight!

Average Okeetee Corn Snake Lifespan

While wild Okeetee corn snakes usually only to live to around six or eight years old, in captivity these beautiful creatures usually live to 20 years old or even older, meaning owners have plenty of time to develop and maintain a happy human-snake relationship. In fact, the oldest corn snake recorded lived to just over 32 years old in captivity.

If you’re thinking of buying an Okeetee, you need to think long term and make sure you’ll be able to accommodate the snake and its needs for the next 20 years or more. Without predators threatening it and given the proper care, your relationship with an Okeetee corn snake could easily be one of the longest of your life.

Okeetee Corn Snake Origins

The corn snake is believed to have gained its name as a result of its preference for cornfields and the mice and other rodents found there. Others suggest that the name comes from the checkered pattern of the scales on its belly which resemble corn kernels. The Latin name, Pantherophis Guttatus, on the other hand, refers to both its behavior and its appearance.

Panther draws a correlation between this nocturnal, spotted snake and the notoriously effective felid hunter, the Panthera onca, or jaguar as it’s more commonly known. Guttatus also means spotted in Latin so, referring to the Okeetee’s bright red saddle marks.

Where Can They Be Found?

Corn snakes are found in southeastern regions of the US, from New Jersey through Florida and into Louisiana. The first Okeetee corn snakes were captured in Jasper County, South Carolina, and were named after the Okeetee Hunt Club, whose members first discovered them. This locality offers Okeetee corn snakes the ideal environment, with its proliferation of Flatwoods interspersed with grassland areas.

Their Habitat

Okeetee corn snakes are primarily nocturnal and are usually active around dusk and early evening. They hunt in forests, climbing trees with ease, and overgrown fields, but are also happy to enter abandoned buildings and make the most of the shelter it provides during cooler weather. In cooler areas, these snakes will hibernate during the chilly winter months but in warmer climes, they remain active all year round, although they tend to hunt and eat less regularly during cold periods.

Like most snakes, the Okeetee doesn’t eat daily and usually hunts only every three to four days. Although it will first bite its victim, its true power comes from its bodies, which is coiled around the prey, holding them in a deadly grip. It has been a long-held belief that constrictors suffocate their prey, but more recent research indicates that the victim suffers circulatory arrest, the death grip causing their blood pressure to plummet and potassium levels to soar. Once the victim is subdued, the Okeetee corn snake swallows it whole, headfirst, not necessarily waiting for it to die be. 

Although Okeetee corn snakes are useful in the wild, controlling rodent populations and the diseases they spread, they are listed as a Species of Special Concern in Florida, due to the destruction of their habitat in the lower Florida keys region and because they are often mistaken for the venomous copperhead and killed.

Types of Okeetee Corn Snake Morphs

The range and variation of Okeetees are almost endless, but that doesn’t prevent some morphs from enjoying greater popularity than others. Some of the most fashionable and potentially attractive morphs are:

Unsurprisingly, getting hold of some of these less common but highly sought-after morphs can be pretty challenging and those of you not prepared for a long search should probably settle for a regular albino corn snake, for example, which are readily available online and in pet shops.

The following morphs are only bred and sold by a few keen herpetologists so aren’t always available. A successful search, however, is extremely rewarding. Reputable breeders are also conscientious about their sales and often offer advice and support after the sale.

a) Kathy Love Okeetee

Kathy and Bill Love started breeding 40 years ago and have specialized in selective breeding to create distinctive color and pattern morphs. Among the first to capture and breed Okeetee corn snakes, they continue to produce attractive, vibrantly colored morphs that appeal to collectors and breeders all over the world. The Kathy Love Okeetee has the classic Okeetee coloring with bright red saddle marks and characteristically wide black banding.

b) Abbotts Okeetee

Originally bred from the Kathy Love Okeetee, the Abbotts Okeetee corn snakes have clear saddle shape and clean patterns. Named after their breeder, Dr. Lee Abbott, the Abbotts Okeetee these snakes come in a variety of color combinations, with the black borders complementing the spectrum of browns, yellows, reds, and oranges.

c) Caramel Okeetee

Late herpetologist Rich Zuchowski played a large part in developing this particular morph by focusing on hypomelanistic specimens. By breeding snakes that partially lacked melanin, Zuchowski was able to reduce the orange, red and black colorations to create a more subtly colored morph with a greater predominance of yellow.

d) Extreme Okeetee

Characterized by their wide black banding, some Extreme Okeetees have no saddles at all. The broad black bands have eclipsed the brightly colored saddles of the standard Okeetee, especially towards the tip of the tail, giving them a more variegated appearance.

• The Extreme Okeetee Tessera is a slightly different morph with distinctive dorsal stripes replacing the saddles. With colors ranging from black to blood red, bright orange to subtle yellows and creams, the Extreme Okeetee Tessera is undeniably eye-catching.
•  The Extreme Reverse Okeetee Tessera morph loses nothing in replacing black with white and usually sports a combination of pale pinks and oranges.

e) Hypo Okeetee

This morph is similar to the Extreme Reverse Okeetee Tessera insofar as it has virtually no black in its pattern at all. This is because the hypogene removes that pigment, giving it brighter and lighter colors instead. Again, this morph shows more pale shades of pink, yellow, orange interspersed with the occasional splash of blood red.

f) Okeetee Lava

As its name suggests, the Okeetee Lava morph has the red-hot colors of molten rock, with burnt reds and smoldering oranges melting together to create a distinctive pattern. Although the saddle marks are still present, few Okeetee Lava morphs have black borders around them, making them less distinctive and allowing them to merge into the orange background. 

g) Okeetee Motley

A motley crew is something you want to steer clear of, but a motley Okeetee is a beautiful morph. Inverted spotting means that the saddle marks of this morph are lighter than the background, therefore giving it a different, more disparate pattern.

h) Okeetee Tessera Corn Snake

Unlike other Okeetee corn snakes, the Tessera has a dorsal stripe as opposed to dorsal saddle marks and its saddles have shifted from the back to the sides where they’re broken up to create a pixelated pattern. Strikingly beautiful, these rare morphs have one of the hottest patterns around but they’re not easy to find. 

i) Reverse Okeetee Corn Snake

Like the Extreme Reverse Okeetee Tessera morph, the Reverse Okeetee replaces black banding with white. This morph is created by breeding an amelanistic corn snake with an Okeetee. As the amelanistic trait means a lack of pigmentation, the black completely disappears and the Reverse Okeetee instead displays an array of paler hues, predominantly pink, orange, and yellow. 

j) Buckskin Okeetee Corn Snake

With red saddles on a tan background, the Buckskin Okeetee is a much darker morph that more closely resembles the standard Okeetee. Some Buckskin morphs are so dark, their saddles appear black rather than brick red while others maintain a more orangey background coloration. 

k) Scaleless Okeetee

These morphs come in a variety of colors and aren’t strictly scaleless, as all retain their belly or ventral scales. Although popular as pets, scaleless snakes are a relatively new find, with the first wild scaleless snake discovered in 1942. These morphs have no dermal layer of scales and much thinner keratin layer, but this doesn’t appear to affect their lifespan nor their ability to hunt.

The first scaleless Okeetee was bred from another type of rat snake so, technically, any scaleless Okeetee is a hybrid.

• Scaleless Reverse Okeetee bears a strong resemblance to the reverse Okeetee, except for its lack of scales. Delicate shades of pinks and creams make this a pretty snake while its limited keratin makes it enticingly unusual.
• Scaleless Abbotts Okeetee morph is one of the most attractive and sought-after with its striking markings and unusual skin texture. They’re rare, though, which means they’re also one of the pricier morphs around. 

l) Ultramel Okeetee

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the custard yellows of this morph earnt it its name but, ultramel is a portmanteau made up of the words ultra and amel, with the latter being an abbreviation of amelanism.  Ultramel Okeetees are known for their purplish bands and yellow backgrounds. 

How to Get Okeetee Corn Snake Morphs Mentioned Above

You have two options when it comes to securing an unusually patterned Okeetee morph – breed one or buy one. Breeding can be challenging, however, and trying to predict the precise colors and patterns of the offspring is particularly difficult unless you have a basic understanding of genetics. There are also some excellent tools available online that will help you predict the appearance of your young snakes.

How to Breed Okeetee Corn Snakes

Dominant genes carried by either of the breeding pair will be passed onto the offspring even if only one parent carries the gene. With recessive genes, things are a little different, and both parts must carry those genes if they’re to be successfully transferred to the offspring. When breeding rare Okeetee morphs, the genes controlling chromatophore development are the most important as they influence both color and pattern.

To get a rare Okeetee morph, it’s easiest to breed two Okeetees, although some herpetologists have successfully breed Okeetees with other corn snakes, the results are not pure Okeetee, but rather a hybrid.

Breeding Combinations to get Okeetee Morphs

Okeetees are relatively easy to keep and to breed, making them ideal for beginners, although it’s important that you correctly sex your snakes beforehand to avoid years of frustration and disappointment! Okeetee corn snakes are not particularly sociable, however, so if you are planning on breeding, you’ll need to ensure you have two terrariums or cages. Of course, you can put your snakes together to breed, but for the most part, they prefer their own space.

Although a cooling, or brumation, period isn’t essential, it does offer the best circumstances for breeding and herpetologists have had the most successful hatching after a brumation period of between 60 and 75 days, where the temperature is kept at a consistent 45 to 65⁰F.

In the wild, Okeetees will, like other corn snakes, breed in spring and, during the first days of summer, lay their eggs in a warm place where the heat and humidity will ensure successful incubation. In captivity, of course, you can create your own spring simply by manipulating the photoperiod although it’s important to make sure all your Okeetees experience the same, so they are all ready to reproduce at the same time.

After the hibernation period, the Okeetees will usually shed which is indicative of them being ready to start breeding, although experts will also note a change in the female’s physiology, primarily an increase in the width of the bottom half of their bodies, that suggests ovulation is in process.

A pregnant or gravid female Okeetee has a serious appetite for the first three to five weeks after mating, after which the size of the eggs makes eating and defecating uncomfortable. As the prenatal shed gets underway, most females stop eating altogether, as most males do for the duration of the breeding season. Once that process is complete, its time to create a suitable nesting place using a box filled with a substrate like sphagnum moss or scrunched up paper towels.

Okeetee eggs are pretty hardy and will generally hatch, even if some of the eggs die and rot. A damp, humid environment is essential for incubation and the most robust youngsters seem to prefer temperatures of between 80 to 85⁰F.

Okeetee Corn Snake Price for Morphs mentioned Above

Although more expensive than a normal corn snake, the more common Okeetee morphs aren’t particularly pricy and you should be able to pick one up for around $50. Less common morphs, like the Extreme Reverse Okeetee Tessera, for example, could set you back nearly $300! They’re also not particularly easy to find.

Even large online snake stores like MorphMarket have only a handful of Okeetees so sourcing them is a challenge. Below is a table of what you can expect to pay for each of the morphs discussed here, although prices do vary from breeder to breeder. Buying from a reputable breeder is the best way of ensuring you get the morph you’re looking for. 

Conclusion

With their friendly natures, stunning patterns, and vibrant colors, it’s little wonder Okeetee Corn Snakes are popular pets. Relatively easy to keep on a diet of pre-killed or live rodents, the Okeetee is also pretty hardy and doesn’t require special lighting, provided there is sufficient natural light.

Although young Okeetees can be both defensive and nervous when first moved to a new environment, after a few weeks, they soon settle down and become accustomed to handling, although it’s important to ensure they’re eating properly before you start the taming process.

Breeding specific or unusual morphs can be a lengthy process of trial and error, the satisfaction in creating your own colors and patterns is undeniable and, with so many different potential morphs and tessellations, you can get really creative with your breeding.

A young Okeetee corn snake costs as little as $50 and a suitable terrarium a little less than that, so you can get started without breaking the bank. Those wanting to invest in something a little more unique, like a scaleless Abbotts Okeetee, for example, might need to dip into their savings, however, as prices can ascend to over $600 for a single specimen but it’s worth it if you want a designer snake.