Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Interesting that your females have the belly stripe, but not males.

My male juvenile has the faint beginnings of the belly stripe, but only in the front 1/3rd, mostly on left side.

At first I thought it was similar to white speckling in nigritas on the lower front sides that usually fades to pure black.

I tend to agree with Ace's comments below that perfect stripes, bands & such are uncommon in wild populations. They may be traits desired by us, and some snakes may be specifically bred for that trait - at the expense of others.

(I knew a Labrynth Cal King once bred for its color & pattern that was such a poor hunter, and so poor at striking prey, that I had to exchange him.)

The identifying feature of a "pure" nitida may not be how continuous the stripe is; nor whether any pattern exists. The DNA is the ultimate indicator.

I bet that many in the wild have broken stripes & other aberrant patterns, most of which fade with age - just as we see in Cal King populations.

You're right in the fact that the solidity or perfection of the stripe has nothing to do with purity in nitida... In the lines that I believe to be pure the stripe is not always perfect or unbroken BUT the stripe is the only marking on the animal. I've never seen or heard of aberrant patterns or jagged (zig-zag)stripes on nitida, but I have seen photos of what are supposed to be integrates (conjuncta x nitida) with weird zig-zags...
It's also be possible that pure nitida don't throw aberrancies.... Maybe someone with more knowledge on them can chime in - and bail me out...

DNA would without a doubt prove or disprove the purity of an animal, but I dont see anyone dropping that kind of coin to prove that a snake is what they think or say it is. Not a kingsnake at least..

The best we have to go on is someones word and documentation if it exists, because as it's been proven here many times, a snake isn't always what it appears to be.

now i need a drink - hope that helps some...

byron.d

>>You're right in the fact that the solidity or perfection of the stripe has nothing to do with purity in nitida

In the description of the holotype it's noted that it had 6 blotches on the tail. So, not even a perfect stripe there.
However, it's also noted that it had a cinnamon colored band across the nape of neck followed by the stripe. Otherwise it's described as being brown/black, save for a few scales dotted with cinnamon or yellowish white on the first dorsal scale rows and on the labials.

This little girl shows one part of the original description in having the band followed by the stripe. However, her stripe/band SHOULD be cinnamon in color, and she should have very little if any visible pattern on her sides (except maybe the first dorsal scale row). She also has white/cream colored ventral scales, where nitidas are noted as having solid brown/black bellies.

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Ace

Except that some nitidas exhibit that "troublesome" white belly stripe, or a small faded portion of it.

Maybe like with nigritas, white speckles & other aberrant patterns normally fade to black with age??