Posted by:
ratsnakehaven
at Sat Dec 31 18:16:44 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by ratsnakehaven ]
>>The adult breeders are pretty huskey. I believe Split Rock has some more left.
>>That's pretty interesting with Emoryi being just 30 miles to the west. The adult breeders of my hatchlings are from the Bryan/College Station area of Brazos co. I believe that locality is the extreme western range of the cornsnake.
>>Anyway, I like keeping emoryi rats so much, I figured these slowinskii would be a nice addition to the collection.
>>
>>Steve
I'm home from AZ and I got the new field guide out, "Texas Snakes", by Dixon and Werler, 2005, U of Texas Press. They call it "Slowinski's Corn", Elaphe guttata slowinskii. It says that Vaughan, Dixon, and Thomas, 1996, confirmed it as being a corn snake, and Burbrink, 2002, recognized it as a distinct taxon.
In the habitats section it is said to be found as far as 40 miles west of Brazos Co. and for 135 miles south near Port Lavaca. I've seen photos of a dozen, or more, specimens from East TX, and also specimens from along the Gulf Coast as far south as Corpus Christi that look a lot like "slowinskii". It's my belief that this snake is more closely related to the corn snake than the Great Plains ratsnake, but that it may intergrade with the G.P. rat along the coast.
Great little snakes. I'm anxious to find out what size clutches and eggs they produce. Thanks...TC
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