Posted by:
Wyvern
at Thu Jun 5 19:59:58 2008 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Wyvern ]
This is a wild caught black rat snake. I'm trying to figure exactly what it might be so that I can properly label it for an educational display.
Considering the location it was found, the amount of old scarring/injuries on it (not counting the recent injuries), it is not suspected to be an escaped/released pet, but a true wild born. It is about 3 feet long and based on size approximately 3-4 years old and appears to be a male.
I've always heard that albinos have pink eyes and retain noticeable patterns and a leucistic has dark/blue eyes and no pattern. This snake looks like a faded out kind of albino (i know the reds/orange blotches can vary in intensity with individual snakes). However, this snake also has dark eyes. I'm hoping someone is more familiar with known wild morphs that help pinpoint what might be going on with this snake.
It's not a bright/clean white (or a solid white) one would see in a leucistic. It's a pearl-like color where you can't really pinpoint a specific color as it's a blend of pinks, whites, lavender/blue, etc. The blotches are a darker pinker pearl that also have scattered faint orange speckles in the outer edges of the blotches. The orange speckling is also very noticeable/brighter along the bottom edge of the sides where the belly scales begin as well as some faint speckling on the belly. The skin between the scales is lavender. The tongue is a lavender-like color with a lighter pale pink edging. The eyes have a very pale blue outer ring, then a darker slightly grayish color merges into a wide area of brownish-gold speckles. The black pupil has a gold ring around it. You can't see the outer pale blue ring in the closeup photo - you only see it when he moves his eyeball around as the scales kinda block it. And in the photo the brownish-gold tend to drown out the grayish color. As far as I can tell there is NO browns/blacks/grays on this snake other than the eye/pupil.
They are not the best pics (indoor lighting didn't help any) and I am still trying to get him cleaned up and the wounds treated so he's a little rough looking.
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 Wild Caught Black Rat ...albino ???? - Wyvern, Thu Jun 5 19:59:58 2008
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