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Went to the local petstore (independant) to get some mousecicles when what do I see, but a pretty young female Black King, just begging to go home with me! THe lady at the store named her FATTY. So, here she is!

Cheers!

JPD

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0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"

Sorry - used the wrong subspecies name...
Here's another pic to make up for it:

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0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"

Than a nigritus or even a niger!
Brian

>>Went to the local petstore (independant) to get some mousecicles when what do I see, but a pretty young female Black King, just begging to go home with me! THe lady at the store named her FATTY. So, here she is!
>>
>>Cheers!
>>
>>JPD
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
>>1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"
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RATS
1.0 Corn snake "Warpath"(KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Reaper and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Great plains rat snake "Reign Fire" (TX locale)
1.0 Grey rat snake "Punisher" (White oak phase)(Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Yellow rat snake "Wolverine" (Dwight Good stock)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

Drat!
Now youv'e made me have to think!
I'm gonna have to check Conont and Collins - meanwhile, here's another pic of her cute little almost all black head!

Thanks!

John D

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0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"

not a mexican black king or a black king. The "sock" head and pattern are dead giveaways.

Here are some pics of black kings and my splendida....

Black kings...

And my splendida (Desert king)...

She is a little brighter than yours, and that is just her coloration. Some of the splendida darken up, just as yours. This is common in some kings that come from locale animals that are not het for anything.

Here is an example, my pair of cal kings. The male is a plain old cal king het for nothing....

This is a pic from last year, and he has darkened up even since then.

Here is my female, and she is het albino....

Notice the color difference.

Hope this helps, and you cant always go by what a pet store tells you, as about 90% of the time they are way off mark!!!
Brian

>>Drat!
>>Now youv'e made me have to think!
>>I'm gonna have to check Conont and Collins - meanwhile, here's another pic of her cute little almost all black head!
>>
>>Thanks!
>>
>>John D
>>
>>
>>-----
>>0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
>>1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"

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RATS
1.0 Corn snake "Warpath"(KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Reaper and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Great plains rat snake "Reign Fire" (TX locale)
1.0 Grey rat snake "Punisher" (White oak phase)(Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Yellow rat snake "Wolverine" (Dwight Good stock)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

Snakes with this pattern are very common in south central Arizona.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

In light of your input I looked closer at FATTY.

She has a mostly black belly with yellow blotches on the sides, 23 dorsal scale rows, a row of dark spots along each side, and 46 or 47 well defined crossbars.

These characteristics are all consistent with Splendida. I believe my initial ID was a case of "Seeing what I wanted to see"! She superficially resembles the race of Niger from SE Tennessee that I am familliar with. These often have noticeable crossbars (supposedly due to genetic influence from Getulus).

As to the snake, she is a copious musker, and a bluff striker. She settles down quickly in my hand, but still musks when touched. I never thought I'd say this about a Splendida, but she is a real beauty!

Thanks Again!

John D

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0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"

Yep that overhead view cinches it for me, splendida for sure.IMHO!
Todd Hughes

I appreciate the confirmation!

I figured out part of the reason I jumped to the Niger ID: Peterson Field Guides Conant 1975: Check out Plate 29 - the snake used to illustrate the Black Kingsnake is a dead ringer for my little FATTY!
Now look at Conant and Collins 1989 Plate 29: The same snake - but its been retouched! Hand painted to look like one of your black Kings!

Odd - this would mean that Conant used the wrong snake for his original plate back in 1958. Seeing as I spent many an hour reading and rereading Conant, is it any wonder I immediately thought Black King? I would scan and post the plates but I don't want to infringe on any copyrights.
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0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"
0.1 Desert Kingsnake "FATTY"

I think I remember seeing pics of an Arizona locale king subspecies called a "yumensis" (the name is no longer in use I think) that looked like an integrade between a Cal King and a splendida. It looked just like the snake you have in the picture.

reako45

>>I think I remember seeing pics of an Arizona locale king subspecies called a "yumensis" (the name is no longer in use I think) that looked like an integrade between a Cal King and a splendida. It looked just like the snake you have in the picture.
>>
>>reako45

If you can find them post a link so I can have a look.

John D
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0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"
0.1 Desert Kingsnake "FATTY"

I had done an MSN search on Yumensis before, and this is what I got.

www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/l.g.californiae2.html
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Diego

Diego & Tiffany's Zoo:
SNAKES
3.4 Corn Snakes (Different morphs)
1.0.0 Boa Constrictor
0.1.0 Dumeril's Boa
0.1.0 Tangerine Honduran Milksnake
1.0.0 Honduran Milksnake
0.1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.1.0 Ball Pythons
0.0.1 Ribbon Snake
1.1.0 Rosy Boas (Mexican & Mid Baja)
0.1.0 Pueblan Milksnake
1.2.0 Kenyan Sand Boas
1.0.0 Western Hognose
1.0.0 Albino San Diego Gopher Snake
0.1.0 Indonesian Dwarf Pacific Boa
1.1.0 Gray Banded Kingsnakes (River Road)
0.1.0 Desert Kingsnake
LIZARDS
1.0.0 Frilled Dragon
3.1.0 Bearded Dragons (2 Normal, 1 RedXGold, 1 Citrus)
0.1.0 Eastern Collared Lizard
0.1.0 Merauke Blue Tongue Skink
1.0.0 Turquoise Sunburst Veiled Chameleon
1.0.3 Leopard Geckos
1.1.0 Yellow Niger Uromastyx
1.1.0 Green Anoles
1.1.0 Bahama Anoles
FROGS
2.2.0 Southern Bell Frogs
1.0.1 Green Tree Frogs
0.0.2 Striped Walking Frogs
0.0.3 White's Tree Frogs

.

hey Jetzen, where's your mbk's? I got a nice little chocolate splendy a month ago that could make the candy world. I'll get some pics up of Take 5!!!
Todd Hughes

I now have only 1 MBK and he was the only one of his clutch that that hatched out with very thin bands he is a 4 yr old and only has a few specks now, his parents were/are totaly typical "nigrita" with the white chin spots, i purchased him because he was different and no one else would.
I believe that "splendida" and "nigrita" are actually the same sub. but i believe a lot of strange stuff.

Hey JETZAN!

Got any pics of patterned MBKs you can share? If there's some you've already posted let me know where to look.

You come up with the coolest names for your snakes! Great pics, too. How in the world do you get full-grown kings to eat in your hands? Aren't you ever worried they might make an error?

Here's my smokin' FATTY

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I am so not lesdysxic!

0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"
0.1 Desert Kingsnake "FATTY"

Your kingsnake reminds me of what "BLACK JACK" used to look like cept yours has slightly more pattern he did and don't be surprised if you see some pattern loss as he grows. No i don't have any baby pics of "BLACK JACK" but i'll try to post a update of him so you can see his speckles, next wknd.

This is my WC male. came from Pinal county Arizona.
Look like high black king. but i'm not sure about it.

Sorry i'm trying again.

Cool!

I spent 10 weeks in the Pinals doing thesis work back in '81. Saw tons of cool stuff, including W.Diamonds, a Blacktail, Sonoran Whips, a Gila Monster, Sonoran Gopher, tons of lizards, spiders, scorpions, centepedes, etc. Never did see a splendida king - oh well, now I've got one of my very own!

Cheers,

JOhn D
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I am so not lesdysxic!

0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"
0.1 Desert Kingsnake "FATTY"