Anerythristic Melanistic Common Garter Snake
One animal carrying both genes. Each one is inherited separately, so this combination is made by bringing them together rather than being a gene of its own.
The two genes
- Melanistic
- recessive
- Heavily increased black, giving an animal that is nearly uniformly dark with the stripes lost.
How one is made
Both genes have to come together in the same animal. The pairing that does it most directly is Anerythristic × Melanistic, which works out every outcome and its odds.
Worth knowing
Melanistic. Melanistic garter snakes also occur naturally in some wild populations, particularly around the Great Lakes, where dark animals warm faster in a cool climate. The trait in the hobby comes from those populations rather than from a mutation that arose in captivity.