Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have recently discovered that the Kingsnake that was sold to me under the tag "Mega banded Mexicana kingsnake" is in-favt a ThayeriXArizona mt. Kingsnake cross.

First off- is this considered an Integrate or hybrid?

Second, I originally wanted to breed her with a Durango mt. kingsnake. My question is, isn't this taking things a tad far. In general I oppose Hybrids, I am not of the opinion that they should be banned or anything. But from a personal point of view it seems like playing God, and up to this point humanity as a whole brought about a lot of harm without knowing the full effect of its actions. Another thing of course is the tendency of people to buy a hybrid and then sell it out as a pure-breed. It's easy to shrug and say that it's -their- fault, but honestly, will I not be partially to blame here?

On the other hand, it's definitely not the snake's fault that she is a hybrid, and reproducing covers just about 50% of a wild animal's goals... is it fair to deny her of that?

Last question, has anyone ever successfully mated an Arizona mt X Thayeri before? or are they all sterile?

Thanks in advance

I have recently discovered that the Kingsnake that was sold to me under the tag "Mega banded Mexicana kingsnake" is in-favt a ThayeriXArizona mt. Kingsnake cross.

First off- is this considered an Integrate or hybrid?

>>>It would be a hybrid because they are different species.

Second, I originally wanted to breed her with a Durango mt. kingsnake. My question is, isn't this taking things a tad far. In general I oppose Hybrids, I am not of the opinion that they should be banned or anything. But from a personal point of view it seems like playing God, and up to this point humanity as a whole brought about a lot of harm without knowing the full effect of its actions. Another thing of course is the tendency of people to buy a hybrid and then sell it out as a pure-breed. It's easy to shrug and say that it's -their- fault, but honestly, will I not be partially to blame here?

>>>The main thing I would consider here is, 1) is your Greer's actually pure? And 2)Pure greeri are not exported from Mexico anymore so this subspecies is at risk for being lost from the captive genepool. They are still common and probably in little danger of extinction in the wild so it's not as serious a consideration as it would be in some species but it is something to think about.

On the other hand, it's definitely not the snake's fault that she is a hybrid, and reproducing covers just about 50% of a wild animal's goals... is it fair to deny her of that?

>>>I think this is a valid point. If you bought a pair of pure greeri you could do both. Some people are automatically skeptical of people that do both crosses and pures but in my opinion this is not logical.

Last question, has anyone ever successfully mated an Arizona mt X Thayeri before? or are they all sterile?

>>>Crosses among all the Lampropeltis are fairly common and fertility is generally as good as in pure lines, sometimes better from what I hear.

Thanks in advance

Thanks alot!

I believe that my Greeri is pure. He is a second or third generation Greeri here in Israel. They were imported a good while back.

I also saw both father and mother, look like Durango kings to me.

And I am considering to just get another such hybrid and breed them together to form a distinct line of such "Megabanded". All in all, these are beautiful animals.