"What should they look like? How do I know if it is a true banded cal king?"

Well, there are well over 70 natural morphs/forms of California king ALONE, nevermind all of the countless combinations that have been captive-bred over the years. Many lines of different types, locales, and captive-bred bloodlines will "look" a certain way (phenotype), but when bred to other types, or even the very SAME exact type (even from the same clutch) they can often produce many different variations. This can be very typical for many natural locales too. Cal. kings are one of THE most polymorphic (many different looks) race of snake there is, and in different areas of their range they can tend to have more dominant phenotypes in those areas too. If you are concerned about getting a genuinely authentic "banded desert" phase Cal. king, those three breeders mentioned can easily offer you a real-deal Cal. king that is to your liking that has no hybrid or intergrade influence. Or at the very least, stear you to someone else they know well that does. See, without knowing what the parent lineage was of your particular snake, it is impossible to know what phenotype(s) produced it. I will say that is a very nice looking desert phase for sure, and it has no evident hybrid markers at all. However it could easily have some other polymorphic Cal. king genetics in it's genotype (entire genetic makeup). But that is quite normal with many and unless you are striving to produce ONLY banded desert types, that isn't a big deal at all in my opinion.

Ross' site has more awesome phenotypes and combinations of Cal. king on it than you could possibly imagine. Take your time and contact some of those guys mentioned and you will be way ahead of the game in what you are looking for.

cheers, ~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

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