Ultramel

What Ultramel looks like

Compound heterozygous at the Amel locus. One Amelanistic allele and one Ultra allele. Produces an intermediate reduced-melanin phenotype: not as bright as visual Amel, not as subtle as Ultra. Washed-out pastel coloration with partial melanin. Proven by complementation (Amel x Ultra = visual Ultramel offspring).

Multi-allele locus controlling melanin production. Two confirmed alleles: Amelanistic (Amel/Albino): Removes all melanin. Background color becomes bright orange/red with white or cream saddle marks and red/orange eyes (no dark pigment). The classic "albino" corn snake. First produced in captivity in 1961 by Dr. Bernard Bechtel. One of the foundational mutations in the hobby. Ultra: A distinct allele at the same locus. Produces a reduced-melanin phenotype: animals have muted, pastel coloration (less intense than normal but not fully amelanistic). Eyes appear lighter than wild-type. Subtle reduction of dark pigment. Homozygous Ultra looks similar to but is distinguishable from Amel. Ultramel: Compound heterozygous (one Amel allele + one Ultra allele). Produces a phenotype intermediate between Amel and normal: reduced melanin, pastel/washed-out coloration, lighter eyes. Visually distinct from both homozygous forms. Ultramel is proven by complementation: Amel x Ultra produces visual Ultramel offspring, not wild-type, confirming allelism.

How to identify it: Amel: bright orange/red base, white/cream saddles, no dark pigment anywhere, pink/red eyes. Ultra: muted pastel coloration, lighter eyes, subtle overall lightening. Ultramel: washed-out pastel with partial melanin reduction, intermediate eye color. Check under bright light. Amel has zero dark scales; Ultramel has slight dark remnants.

How Ultramel is inherited

Ultramel follows a recessive inheritance pattern, carried on the Amelanistic (Albino) / Ultra allele (locus Amel).

Combo morphs with Ultramel

• Snow Motley

  Snow (Amelanistic + Anerythristic A) + Motley triple recessive combination.

• Butter

  Amelanistic + Caramel combination. Produces a warm butter-yellow to cream-yellow animal with no dark pigment.

• Creamsicle

  Amelanistic + Hypomelanistic combination. Produces a bright cream-orange to light orange animal.

• Opal

  Amelanistic + Lavender combination. One of the most visually striking corn snake combos.

• Snow Stripe

  Snow (Amelanistic + Anerythristic A) + Stripe (homozygous Stripe allele at Mot locus). White body with a visible dorsal stripe in soft pink or lavender tones.

• Blizzard

  Charcoal + Diffused + Amelanistic triple recessive combination. Near-white to ghostly-white appearance. Note: Some sources define Blizzard as only Charcoal + Diffused (2 genes) rather than this 3-gene combination.

• Snow

  Amelanistic + Anerythristic Type A combination. One of the oldest and most recognized corn snake combo morphs.