Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I have two cal kings. One female, one male. The female is about 2 foot long and almost as thick as a fat marker, she is about 10 months old, she is a banded (coastal) phase, more brown and yellowish cream color. My male is three foot long and is big enough to breed. He is more of a desert phase with black and white banded. My question is what kind of baby results will i get if i breed them, will it look messed up or some decent markings? Also do you think i can start packing the pounds on my female to get her big enough to breed in 2004, or should i wait till 2005. One last thing, can you not hibernate both the snakes this coming winter then hiberbate them the next winter and breed or should you still hibernate them this winter even though i am not going to breed this spring. sorry about all the confusing questions, any help would be excellent, thanks in advance, chris

Nobody else has responded, so here's my opinion. It's based on my experience with other species of snakes and on what I've read. I've never bred Cal kings.

You might get breeding next spring, but at best it's a tossup. I'd feed well but not to excess and see how big the female is in late fall.

Those snakes should produce banded babies. Can't say whether they will be black & white, brown & yellow, or somewhere in between.

IMHO, even if you don't brumate the female, you should brumate the male this coming winter as well as the 04-05 winter. This is based on my experience in breeding bullsnakes.

Paul Hollander