As my own adults skipped breeding this year, I recently acquired a pair of hatchling "rubidus", Mexican redtail cribo, hatchlings from Alan Brutosky. Alan's effort and considerable investment in time and resources over the past few years establishing a large breeding colony have led to a large number of beautiful and varied hatchlings this summer. As this cohort grows and makes its way into the captive Drymarchon population rubidus will become more available for those interested in working with some truly impressive Colubrid snakes.

The females are interesting, but few snakes are as impressive as the 7 - 8 foot rubidus males. Jeff Snodgres used to describe their temperament as "sheepish" and Alan regards them as generally trustworthy. From the few adults I've kept I regard most rubidus as easy to handle once they've been picked up. Getting to that point may be a little difficult.

For the past few years Alan has stressed the need for a varied Drymarchon diet, heavy on chicks and diet supplements. The quality of his hatchlings prove his point. I also attribute this year's breeding success to the involvement of multiple males. I've only observed the heavily patterned rubidus hatchlings quickly become black with a white or light yellow throat. Maybe other color phases will appear in the next few years.

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