Posted by:
rearfang
at Wed Dec 17 11:20:21 2003 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by rearfang ]
I am from South Florida and have collected (wild), bred and kept Hundreds of Florida and Brooks Kings. Personally, I would not call that a good Brooks as the pattern is way too distinct (especially the sides) at it's present size (around 3' ?). I have seen snakes from the canefields of South Florida and in Davie (Broward Co.) that have very similar patterns and color. The really good Brooks have a very high band count and because of this present a speckled (blended) appearance that makes them look patternless at first glance. There has been arguement that the first Brooks described might have been a "Hypo".The darker bars should be almost invisable in a good mature specimen. The classic HANDBOOK OF SNAKES Wright & Wright 1957 presents a key to Lampropeltis and also (on page 377) an excellent series of b/w photos of it. I recomend this as later volumes were written after the true Brooks became scarce in the wild and the validity of the subspecies was subsiquently overruled, resulting in a wider definition of what they are. Another great color photograph can be found in Pope's book.
I am certain some of the breeders here will argue the point and argue it is good for what is commercialy bred...but hey. I was here in the 70's thru today and when I speak of quality,I am speaking about snakes I picked up off the ground in the wild.
It is a handsome snake, but far from top Brooks or even (Hypo quality)that I am familiar with.
Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."
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RE: Pic of My Florida Brooksi Kingsnake (Classification help needed) - rearfang, Wed Dec 17 11:20:21 2003