Caramel Corn Snakes
Caramel takes the red and orange out of a corn snake and leaves browns, tans and warm gold that fill in over the first sheds. Hatchlings look dark enough to pass for anery, so judge a young caramel on its records rather than its colour.
About the Caramel gene
The Caramel gene is recessive and replaces red and orange tones in a corn snake with gold, tan and warm brown. It is a foundation morph, the gene behind well known combinations like Butter and Amber, which is much of why keepers buy into a caramel line.
Appearance
The adult caramel features a background of golden or lighter tan with saddles in dark yellow to brown. A faint greenish cast and reduced borders can be seen on some. Red is essentially absent. In yellow to golden brown, the head shows the usual corn snake pattern with a band across the nose and a V behind the eyes. The eyes are golden or brown to match the saddles. The tail matches the body, and the belly has the usual black and white checkers which are sometimes mixed with saddle colour.
At the hatchling stage, they look nothing like the adult. They come out very dark brown on a light grey background. Only a hint of yellow is at the head and neck, so they are easily mistaken for an anerythristic at that stage. As yellow spreads through the blotches and background, the colour fills in within a shed or two.
Genetics
The Caramel gene is recessive. Because a corn snake needs two copies to show it, a Het Caramel, 50% Het Caramel, 66% Het Caramel or Pos Het Caramel looks like a normal corn snake. It sits outside any known allelic complex. When paired with amelanistic it makes Butter, with hypomelanistic Amber, with lavender Almond, with sunkissed Honey and with lava Topaz. Rich Zuchowski produced the gene in 1991.