I know of 2 lavenders hatching from different wild-caught females. I know all parties involved in collecting/breeding these animals.

1) An old canefield collector named Bill used to collect a lot of gravid kings every spring. He retained them until they laid eggs, then sold off the adults. One year, when it came hatching time, there was a single "white" kingsnake in a large group of normally colored hatchlings. At the time he said it was the first known true lavender Florida king. No longer having the mother, or able to identify any of the offspring as siblings, Bill kept that snake into its adulthood. It never bred for him, and eventually died at an old age.

2) David Justice collected a pair of kingsnakes near Ruskin in Hillsborough County. This is the same area the sulfur kings originated. The male was a large, aberrant patterned snake, and the female was typical looking for the area. Kevin Enge acquired these snakes from David Justice, and the female subsequently laid a small clutch (like 3 eggs). I'm unclear as to whether the female was already gravid, but it doesn't really matter. One of the hatchlings was a lavender. Kevin sold off all the offspring, and his adult pair never bred again. I don't know what became of the resulting offspring, but do remember one breeder, Kjun, offering lavender FL kings from the "Ruskin Line".

I've heard a few other stories of lavender FL kings being collected, or hatched, but without knowing the individuals involved, I have no way of verifying these stories.

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• Anyone know origin of the Lavenders? - a153fish, Fri Apr 23 20:33:54 2010
• RE: Anyone know origin of the Lavenders? - Bluerosy, Fri Apr 23 21:00:13 2010
• RE: Anyone know origin of the Lavenders? - a153fish, Fri Apr 23 21:32:20 2010
• RE: Anyone know origin of the Lavenders? - foxturtle, Fri Apr 23 21:40:54 2010
• Thanks! - a153fish, Fri Apr 23 21:59:33 2010
• It used to be good... - foxturtle, Fri Apr 23 23:13:37 2010
• RE: It used to be good... - KcTrader, Sat Apr 24 15:05:17 2010