Microscale Corn Snakes
The Microscale gene makes a corn snake's scales smaller and more rounded, causing skin to show between them. The head often has patches with no scales while the pattern looks unusually clean. Because it shares a locus with Scaleless, pairing the two produces young with a visual Microscaleless look.
About the Microscale gene
The corn snake gene Microscale affects the scales of the snake. Because they are rounded and small with bare skin visible between them, the snake feels velvety and soft in the hand. The pattern looks unusually crisp. It shares its locus with Scaleless.
Appearance
This snake feels smoother than a common corn because of its small, rounded dorsal scales and the gaps of bare skin between them. The pattern looks clean and high definition because the scales are so fine. The scale reduction is most obvious on the head, where it often lacks large patches of scales and the colour and pattern continue across the bare skin. The head pattern can be the usual one or reduced, as on a Masque. Reds, browns and oranges make up the colour, which stays within the normal corn range. Since the gene came out of Miami-phase lines, many animals show orange or red saddles on a grey ground. Circles or blobs often make up the lateral pattern. The black pupil is set in eyes that usually match the saddle colour. The belly is normal with white and black checkers and full-sized belly scales, while the tail follows the body. To identify a Microscale, look for the rounded, fine scales, which are easiest to see on the head.
Genetics
Microscale, also known as Micropave, is a recessive gene. Animals that are Het Microscale, 50% Het Microscale, 66% Het Microscale and Pos Het Microscale appear as normal corn snakes. This gene is part of the scaleless complex and is allelic to Scaleless. When you pair these two, the young look like they carry both mutations and are sold as Microscaleless. In 2010, Barbara Velthuysen first produced it in her Miami-phase corn snakes.