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I just got a nelson's milk snake for my 4yr old nephew. It's his first snake and I keep it at my house. He's always been interested with the snakes I keep so I figured I would get him one. Ever since he could speak he would say "nake, nake, nake". It's a great excuse to get him over and spend time with him. He asks about it all the time when he's at his house. Anyways I got one nice head shot and a full body shot.

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Is it wrong to pull on the food chain a little?

looks like a sinaloan to me. still beautifull. your nephew must love it. nice beginer specs.

Although it might have "some" nelsoni in it's lineage, it has a far greater percentage of Sinaloan(sinaloae) in it's lineage, and actually "keys-out" as such meristically.

Your snake has 12 RBR(red body rings) to the cloaca(vent opening). Nelson's have 13-18 RBR, and are thicker at the base, tapering much more abruptly at the dorsum(top of back) than Sinaloans do. Sinaloans have much wider RBR's, and they number 10-16, are thinner at the base, and taper towards the dorsum much less than nelsoni, making the spacing in the RBR's much wider in comparison to the triads(rings of three).

Don't get me wrong, that's a great looking animal, but most subspecies of either nelsoni or sinaloae in the hobby today tend to have some of either lineage in one another, that is fact.

Here are two examples of true nelsoni to help you get a "visual" of the difference in the two. Examples of nelsoni such as the ones pictured are very uncommon in the hobby.

best regards, ~Doug

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

leave it to the pros!

>>> Your snake has 12 RBR(red body rings) to the cloaca(vent opening). Nelson's have 13-18 RBR, and are thicker at the base, tapering much more abruptly at the dorsum(top of back) than Sinaloans do. Sinaloans have much wider RBR's, and they number 10-16, are thinner at the base, and taper towards the dorsum much less than nelsoni, making the spacing in the RBR's much wider in comparison to the triads(rings of three).

Sorry, I meant to say the "BLACK" rings when I referred to the thickness at the base, and the tapering in either snake, it's very late..LOL!

Again, that's a sweet looking snake, I just thought you might want to know the difference in the two.

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

Hey if you couldn't tell I'm new to the milk snake thing. I've been keeping boa constrictors for the past 6-7 years so I'm more versed in the boid's hence the name! Thanks for the clarification. It's good to know what snake I really do have. I got it from a local pet shop guy that breeds his own milks. Thanks again for your help.
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Is it wrong to pull on the food chain a little?

n/p
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"