Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone notice a difference in color based on locality in Yellowtails? Mine is a dark gray color dorsally with an off-white color underneath. His chin is also off-white but I did notice some yellow where his jaw and neck meet. Of course he has a beautiful golden-yellow tail. Does this description seem more common in a certain locality? Oh, and on a side note, does anyone try to breed there Yellowtails based on locality, or is color more of a factor in selective breeding? Thank you very much.
-Roy

Unfortunately, there is no "reliable" locality data petaining to captive D. corais, or most any species of wild collected Dry for that matter, though I am certain locality is an issue regarding the coloration and pattern from one specimen to another. While most WC specimens are imported from a specific country, such does not mean that's where the specimens being shipped were collected, as exporters deal with numerous filed collectors from a variety of areas. Also, many of the field collectors are so inclined to please they will often tell you what they believe you want to hear, should you lead on that you wish for specimens from a specific locale.
As for captive breeding, I can only speak for myself, but I try to pair only unrelated specimens of "like" appearance...

Best regards,

Jeff

-----
Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947

Thanks so much for the response, Jeff. I thought that would be the case in this instance. Also, I totally agree with breeding similarly colored, unrelated specimens of Drymarchon; I just feel that when dealing with such snakes as Drymarchon it is important to keep the genus as pure as possible.

Of all the w.c. YT that I have had in my possession I have noticed color trends regarding where the animals supposedly came from.
The YT's colored the way you described your snake always came from shipments originating from Guyana as told to me by the dealers. Now the more richly colored yellow headed and darker bodied snakes are from Suriname, again going by what was told to me by the dealers.
I have to agree with Jeff though, you just never know where they may come from.

Very nice! Is that a Bordner YT?

Yes, that's a photo of teh '03 female I acquired from Don. She's pushing 9' this year, while the male I acquired from Don will probably top 10' by summer's end.

Best regards,

Jeff

-----
Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947

Beautiful!!!
That snake is about 3 feet longer than mine!