Reptile & Amphibian Forums

this snake was sold to me as a cal king. i was wondering if anyone has seen a morph like this or offspring cross breeds that may be appparent in its markings. thanks for any help. jason

I wanna say it looks like a prairie king.
-----
Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
www.freewebs.com/badyear2005

thank you that is what my first thought was. the pics that i have researched show a line through the eye down to the cheek.i have been talking w/ john about this snake and we are just lost.i would love to call it a cal king. it is a female and i could put it with a male, breed them to see the range in the pattern that are produced. maybe californiae X brooksi?

Gonna stick with calXprairie...
Todd Hughes

I am no expert, but from the looks of it, it might have some cornsnake in it. This is just my opinion. Derek

i see that in the "Y" on the top of the head too. i am going to research some more on cross species. i have not yet formed an opinion or ethics for myself yet on the subject of cross breeding snakes. thanks for the reply, jason

.

if your mystery snake is a "jungle corn"(cali-X-corn) consider yourself lucky, they make great captives.

That looks like a possible match.
Todd Hughes

If i did'nt sell that big boy, i'd be tryin to buy that girl from Jason W., i hate sellin snakes.

o' yeah it is a fantastic snake

this may help thanks for any reply

time to break out the 'key to the genera'....yeah it looks very much cal king x ?...head pattern sure does suggest calligaster,but i've never heard of such a hybrid,and man that would be an odd coupling....but these days all bets are off,you know?someonesaid 'corn',which i can see sort of a trace of 'jungle corn'(californiae x guttata,i think) in that second pic...still an outside chance it's pure californiae,so here's their meristics-single anal plate,scales totally smooth (check at midbody),in 19 to 25 rows,(also check at midbody)...corns have 25-31 rows,and prairie kings have 23-27(usually 25-27) scale rows.so those influences,if present,should show themselevs in the dorsal scale count..check it out.

i'll check it out thanks for the input.i'll post back my findings

Looks like a Jungle King/Corn. Ive seen some that look a perfect mix of both then some that lean one way or the other. That one looks like it leans more towards Cal King looks. So I would say you have a Hybrid there. Dont worry though all these yahoo's who keep and breed hybrids keep great records so I cant imagine how you came to buy that as a Cal King lol. Sorry Im not taking a shot at you but the Hybridizers Its crap like this that pisses me off. Breeding and making Hybrids affects those that dont want them plain and simple it cant be argued they dont. Ive never heard a guy who breeds hybrids come on here and complain that a locale or non hybrid got into his hybrid project and ruined it. Anyway Im ranting and its late I'll quit there.

Keith
-----

i did know it was a strange one.i do agree with you about the hybridizers.thanks for the reply

That snake does not represent any normal colored or patterned cal king that I have ever been exposed to. It very much looks like a cross of some sort.

Without the actual snake in hand, I cannot offer more. Also even with the snake, it would be best to know the history of the snake. I would imagine any number of crosses could very well produce a pattern like that. It kind of reminds me of a wild caught Assumed kingsnake/gophersnake cross I handled many years ago.

Again all that is apparent is, it ain't normal. Cheers

i did see a pic of a king x gopher. i thought it too looked close. well i got a mixed up snake. it is cool to have around will prob never know what mix. but it will always be a good talking point with visitors. thanks for the help jason w

I heard that two cal/gophers, were brought into San Diego zoo, over the years.

Now-a-days with all the crosses, you pretty much have to know what a certain type of snake is suppose to look like. That includes morphs(captive) and true wild caughts. If a snake doesn't appear to be one, then it cannot be considered one. Heck even if it is. Cheers

Where did the assumed gopherking you handled come from? I saw pics of one from Yolo county that was found one or two years ago.

It's a jungle corn (Cal king X corn). If it was sold to you as a pure Cal king, I'd take it back to the dealer you got it from. If there's one thing I hate more than hybrids, it's the sellers that are misrepresenting the animals they sell.

Tim