Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Don't see many of the Baja beauties, would love to see more. Particularly interested in how they are similar, or differ, from the Mex Blacks on the mainland.

Any herpers experienced with juveniles & adults both?

(Any thoughts on the conjuncta, nitida, conjunctida debate?)

I'm seriously thinking about picking up a pair of both "Nitida" and "Conjuncta", as soon as I can find a nice pair of each. I think we're seeing the beginning of a grouth of interest in local Cal Kings and Baja Kings, I hope it's contageous!
-Phil

I don't know anything of them in the wild but at a show once I saw a guy selling some and they were some of the cleanest jet black and bone white banded cal kings I've ever seen. The white bands were kinda thin but there was no hypermelanism in them whatsoever. I heard him telling another person that in the wild you find the normal black and whites side by side with the dark hypermelanistic ones.
If that's true it would mean the hypermelanism in nitida/conjuncta is not derived from nigrita but rather is a recessive trait as it is in the hypermelanistic Davis/Mendota kings.

that i've posted a few times..

seems that pure bloodlines are very hard to come by in both conjuncta and nitida.
as aaron pointed out pure conjuncta almost glow white and the black is like coal. i think these stand out very easily when side by side with desert or other black and white cal kings.

i think with quality nitida, the dirty stripe down the back should be the only marking on the snake..
that being said, the line that mine are from - lemke/mintz is supposed to one of the purest and oldest out there and my females have thin striping separating the belly from the sides (see photo)... strange thing is that this is only on the females. males are clean with only the dorsal stripe.

hope that helps.

byron.d