Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was surveying on an airfield on Fort Sill, Oklahoma today when I came across this little guy. It was a pretty cold day with strong winds. We were in a very large grassy area that is kept mowed, but not as short as a lawn. I found him just sitting on top the grass.

Being an Albino, I figurd he must be an escapee. However the nearest military housing units are about 3/4 a mile away (where reptiles are not allowed, but possibly kept). he has a few battle scars on him too.

What do you think of the possibility of him being a a naturally ocurring albino? Any help in ID would be appreciated. He doesn't have the "look" of a Corn. I was thnking Great plains rat but the anal plate is not split. Prarie King?

Thanks for looking, Dave

I would agree with prarie king. Awesome find!

Looks to me like a Prairie King! Good find. I have a few friends that have found a few albino prairie kings similar to that one. I have a huge adult female as well. Its possible to find albinos in the wild. I have found a few myself. Mostly Cali kings in Cali of course, but anything is possible. Are you planning to keep it? You may have saved its life due to its lack of camo. Just last fall, I found a albino Speckled King under a piece of barn tin. Good Find.

Do you have any pics of the albino speckled king?

What state was it in?

Thanx

Matt

But having been in the Army myself and living in Gov't Quarters at numerous posts, I have never heard of them not allowing reptiles. I've lived at Ft. Riley KS, Ft. Benning GA, Ft. Jackson SC, Ft. Leavenworth KS, and Ft. Lee, VA and none of those posts prohibited having reptiles.

Kerby...

That's a juvenile albino Prairie King. Great find.

Even though there are captive populations of albinos, chances are it is a naturally occurring example.

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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Looks like a prairie king to me, and a nice one at that! Congrats and I wouldn't be surprised if it was a naturally occuring morph. Too cool! Wanna sell it? LOL!
Todd Hughes

Neat find.
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
Updated 3/2/06

prarie king def. a keeper id eventually breed it with the amel praries already established in the hobby and see if the allelles match up or if it is a new strain of albino great find with lots of potential good luck with and if you ever decide to part with it by all means let me know,,,,,,,,thomas davis
pic. is a full striped prarie cb F1 i produced in '04

Thanks all for the input and helping me confirm the Prarie King identification. Not sure what I will do with it. Normally just let it go, but I think the chances of survival are slim. My daughter has her eye on it so maybe I'll give it to her, she is pretty good with snakes.

It's a female and she ate a F/T large pink yesterday.