Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is what the ad said and I bought it anyway! Someone had to!

"Long term captive MALE Mole Kingsnake, Lampropeltis calligaster rhombomaculata. I have no knowledge of the origins of this snake except that he has been in captivity for quite some time. I called him a long term captive in order that no one is misled, but for all I know he may have been captive hatched. His name is Enigma if that matters to you"

Looks like a Mole to me, just need a locale or maybe an idea if it is a morph? But, then again it could be just be a calligaster X rhombomaculata natural intergrade. Maybe not! It looks like a true mole king to me. I'm hoping I get a shed of him for scale count prior to hibo.

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B

His belly has very faint markings, just barely visible to the eye.
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B

Maybe Mark, "master of the rhombos" Crimsonking K. may jump on with his .02. I have only kept calligaster. All I can say is it does have some kind of calligaster in it. I saw that ad as well, I passed. I need a lot more info when buying something, but if it is a pet, it is fine. For what it is worth I don't see any other species jumping out of it.
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Todd Hughes

This picture shows his true color. He isn't as dark, as he looks in the other pix.

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B

From the pic it looks like a mole king and a hypo-ish one at that. Only way to be sure if its a mole or not is to key it out. Only way to see if its a morph or not is to do some breeding trials.

As to needing a locality, even the best guess would remain a guess. If you need locality "data" you'll need to do some detective work starting with its last owner.

I aquired this pair from a friend. I know where they came from within a 50 mile radius anyway. The almost patternless one is the male, the female was caught in the same 50 mile radius. This pair have been in captivity for at least 12 years. The male was caught at about 18 inches and looked the same back then. I got all infertile eggs this year but then I didn't hibo them as low as the previous owner did for 5 years. I hope he isn't bred out. Guess I will find out this coming year.

I like them!!!
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B

rhombomaculata are fairly variable and can look very different from one another. That definitely looks ALL "rhombo" to me, and I would consider it basically one of the many variations, rather than a specifically named morph.......very nice one too!

best regards, ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"