Mograph clones size dependant on parent polygon size

I am trying to create something resembling snakeskin, that is to say, an object covered with scales as it were. I've set up the Cloner object in "object" mode, made the scales out of a filleted cube which is then made the child of the Cloner object. The object to be covered in scales is a simple cylinder for now, with a number of height subdivisions. When I deform the cylinder via Spline Wrap, Bulge, Taper or similar, the scales follow the deformed polygons in the cylinder, but maintain their size. Is there any way to make them stretch along with the deformed polygons? I have tried using the Displace Deformer instead, but because the scales sit at a 45 deg. angle to the cylinder object, even with a very high number of subdivisions I get jagged edges.