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located at the motley locus. This gene is an allele of the
stripe gene which is also located at the motley locus. In its
homozygous recessive form, the motley gene generally
causes the saddle pattern to lengthen and join, creating
circles along the back of the snake. Only a few saddles up
to the entire length of the snake may be affected, The belly
is generally plain, but an occasional checker or peppering
may be present. The side pattern is reduced to strips of
color. This gene is also known to cause an over-all
lightening of the color, similar to the effect of the
hypomelanistic genes. Several variations of motley are
seen, including "Q-tipped", "pin-striped" and "hurricane"
motleys.
