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What is a hybrid? Well, according to definition (courtesy of www.dictionary.com) a hybrid is "the offspring of two animals or plants of different breeds, varieties, species, or genera, esp. as
produced through human manipulation for specific genetic characteristics."
The most common examples of corn hybrids are Creamsicles which are produced by pairing an Emoryi
(rat snake) and Corn. A musing by many have felt that the great Mississippi River was the natural divider between the
Great Plains Ratsnake and their eastern relatives, our beloved Corns. Some were curious enough to begin breeding projects
which involved the pairing of rat to corn. The hatchlings resulting from this pairings resembled cornsnakes with just
a few slight differences. Because of the similarities in looks and also to avoid confusion as to genetic makeup,
these hybrids became known as Creamsicles.
Another hybrid that has become very popular is the Jungle corn. A Jungle corn originated by crossing kingsnakes
into corn lines.
As hybrids became more popular, breeders began to also have an interest in other possible combinations in which
to introduce the corn lines. I am sure as this part of the hobby advances we may see more and more hybrids emerge.
In Canada we have several hobbyists who are involved in hybrid genetics. I would like to acknowledge 2 of
them here on this webpage. Without their kind assistance to me personally, and their dedication to
corn hybrids here in Canada, I would never have ventured into this wonderful aspect of the hobby.
Mary Vanderkop, Regina SK is Canada's foremost hobbyist in Creamsicle genetics. She tempted me with many
pictures posted on forums we frequent together, and when she had hopelessly addicted me to her beautiful creams, she generously
donated hatchlings for my project work in the years to come. Thank you Mary.
Annette Thompson, Carstairs AB has given so much to the hybrid hobby here in Canada. Her work with Jungles
and SuperCorns is known throughout Canada. I had the pleasure of meeting Annette this summer in Red Deer and I am proud
and honoured to have some of her hatchling hybrids accompany me home. Thank you Annette.
Our interest in hybrids was a natural evolution. If corn genes are present, then there is a possibility to
create 'morphs' as such. Which 'colour' genes are compatible between the two species involved? Is a lavender creamsicle or
jungle corn a possibility? Are patterning genes compatible to produce stripes, mots, and diffused creams and jungles?
Only time and breeding trials will give us those answers.
I take pleasure in introducing our hybrid collection to you.
Creamsicles
Czar and Alexa came to us in the summer of '06. Two beautiful adult creamsicles which
captured my heart the minute I saw them. Although mature, they are unproven. Our hopes for 2007 is to pair these
two and produce our first creamsicles at HanneysCorns.
| Jake |
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| Rootbeer, het caramel male |
| Wendy |
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| Rootbeer, het caramel female |
The normal variation of the creamsicle lines have become known as Rootbeers. Our 2 beauties
come from Mary and with their caramel ancestry peeking thru, I think you see why Jake and Wendy just had to follow me home
from Red Deer. Our hope for the future is to produce both a line of caramel and amber creams, but we'll have to be patient;
Jake and Wendy are hatchlings and will need a few years to mature.
| Mason |
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| Anery Creamsicle male |
| Lulu |
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| Anery creamsicle female |
| Winter |
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| Snow creamsicle female |
In October I had the pleasure of meeting Mary again at the Winnipeg show. Aren't these little
ones just wonderful? Would you know they were creams and not corns? Mason and Lulu are anery creamsicles, and
Winter is their clutchmate but is a snow creamsicle morph. We are hoping for some interesting projects to unfold when
these 3 little ones mature.
Jungle Corns
Rio holds the distinction of being the first hybrid in our collection. A few years ago, Jeff
was visiting a pet store and found a 'very strange' looking corn hatchling. After speaking with an employee, he was
told the 'difference' he saw was actually because this particular hatchling was a Jungle corn...a result of breeding a kingsnake
with a cornsnake. In the summer of 2006, we decided to try and find a compatible aged Jungle female and try our hand
at breeding Jungle corns. As luck would have it, Mary had the perfect match for our Rio in Bangles, a female she had
decided to sell. Jeff fell in love with Bangles immediately and with a little help from Mary encouraging him, Bangles
is now a permanent resident here.
We are hoping 2007 will see positive results from pairing these two. We're keeping our fingers
crossed for some success with this venture.
Alberta is a normal Jungle corn. She was produced by Annette and is a stunning example of
the quality that Annette strives for in her hybrid lines. Hopefully, when mature, Alberta will be mated not only with
Rio but also some of our Corn males. We are hoping the introduction of some corn genes into the mix might enable some
new morphs to be developed in Jungles. Another interesting project for us in the years to come.
Super Corns
When I first saw Super Corns pictured on Annette's website, I knew I had to have one or two.
Super Corns are produced by breeding jungles back to corn lines resulting in a 75% corn/25% jungle genetic hybrid.
Their look is so unique. Can you imagine lavenders and butters with this type of patterning? Well, it's a project
worth trying but it will be a few years before we can see if it can be successfully done. Razor and Jewel, two beautiful
examples of what we hope to acheive in the years ahead.
Gopher Corns
Bentley...a gift I will treasure always.
This summer in Red Deer, my heart was deeply touched. Walter and Bonnie Pacholko of
Bentley AB, who are the organizers of the largest reptile expo in Western Canada, gifted me with Ben. Ben is the result
of crossing a San Diego gopher snake with a cornsnake. To my knowledge, Walter is the only breeder who has ever
had success with this crossing here in Canada. Ben had been donated to a private reptile zoo in Saskatchewan for display,
and when that zoo closed, Ben eventually found his way back to Walter.
Ben resembles his corn ancestery in many ways, but his most unique features come
from his gopher heritage. Ben has inherited the keeled scales and throaty trill of the gopher. When I held Ben
in my hands for the first time, he totally intrigued me. I couldn't put him down. Temperment wise he
is very much corn.
While searching this past fall for a female for Ben, I began to discover just how rare
this particular hybrid is. I was able to make contact with only one other breeder in the States who had a gopher corn;
unluckily for both of us, her gopher corn is also male. What I did learn is, her search had also been fruitless for
a female and she had been looking for 2 years.
Ben is a true 'project corn'. We are hoping to introduce Ben to 2 of our corn females
this year. Our purpose in this project is determine if reducing the percentage of gopher genetics in the mix, also
causes the loss of both the keeled scales and the gopher trill or will they still remain. Any resultant offspring
would be 75% corn and 25% gopher.
If the hatchlings produced do not show these characteristics, then it's back to the drawing
boards, and a second project will be undertaken. We are maturing Kaysa, a gopher snake produced by Casey Trizpit of
Winnipeg Reptiles. She hopefully can be bred back to Ben when mature, thus increasing the percentage of gopher genes.
We can then work with those F1's in our project.
Since the rarity of female gopher corns seems apparent, I am also wondering if genetically,
females in such a crossing are perhaps not viable. Since the whole purpose of the project is to produce gopher corns
which can then be morphed into the many different colours found in pure corns, having viable females is of utmost importance.
This will be an ongoing project which may take many years of breeding trials to complete.
Will the time expended be worth the results. I believe it will. Folks who have seen Ben at the shows really appreciate
his difference. He is truly unique!
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