Posted by:
FoxTurtle
at Tue Dec 4 19:34:07 2007 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by FoxTurtle ]
This is partially in response to Zfelicien's request for information on Sulfur kings.
Mine sulfurs are from Len Krysko's line, which originated from the coastal lowland region of Southern Hillsborough County. Similar to kingsnakes in Dade County, the kingsnakes in Hillsborough ranged from ugly/below average looking Florida kings to amazing, spectacular specimens. According to some collectors, this used to be the best area from light colored/yellow kingsnakes. Unfortunately, its slim pickings these days. I've found 2 kings in the area over the past 4 years, and neither were high yellow.
Here are two Hillsborough kings, both owned by Lindsay Pike. The light colored king in the picture was captive bred by Len Krysko. The darker king was caught in the same spot as one of Len Krysko's founder animals.
Andy Barr had a similar line of kings from this area that he called dream kings. While it seems he has always stated these were pure Florida kings, quite a few people seem to think he crossed his line into goini, albino cal kings or whatever. Most herpers familiar Andy's stuff seem to doubt its purity.
There were also some sulfur looking kings found in Central Dade County, though I don't know that many of them made it to captivity. A friend of mine just found a king in the same spot that these were found... he gave it to me... here it is:
Absolutely hideous...
The sulfur lavenders being bred these days probably trace back to Hillsborough County kings, though the lavender gene was probably introduced from some other locality, and there certainly has been doubt cast on the history of the lavender gene in Florida kings (there are some that were definitely speckled crosses, some definitely cal crosses).
I think my point in all this, somehow, is that beautiful and ugly kingsnakes come from the same spots, breed to together in the wild, and find their way into my collection... and Len Krysko bred some kickass kingsnakes. Here are a few more pics...
My F1 male Hillsborough king from Krysko's line:
A female Hillsborough king that I caught:
An adult Dade County male from Krysko's line:
and a yellow, but not extremely bright colored wild caught Hillsborough king I photographed at Crimsonking's... I always thought this snake was awesome.
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 Yellow FL Kings& their wild counterparts - FoxTurtle, Tue Dec 4 19:34:07 2007
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