Lava
Gene
Lava is a recessive hypo-type corn snake gene, separate from classic hypo, that lowers dark pigment while leaving a vivid warm color palette. Visual lava Pantherophis guttatus often show orange, red, or yellow tones with saddle borders that look gray, purple-brown, or almost translucent instead of black. The effect can be brighter and cleaner than a normal corn but is not the same as amelanism, because lava snakes still have dark eye and body pigment.
For keepers, lava does not change the enclosure or feeding plan; it is managed like any other healthy captive-bred corn snake. The value of the label is mainly genetic. A lava bred to a normal corn will not produce visual lava babies unless the normal also carries lava, and other reduced-melanin genes may look similar in photos. Breeders use lava in combinations to make pale or high-color projects, so accurate records and honest naming are important when animals are sold as het, visual, or possible lava.
