Reptile & Amphibian Forums

You know that they are under-rated, and you don't care. Part of what you like is their simple hardiness and ease of handling.

Questions for those with experience:

1. See much behavior difference between male & female?
2. Are yours uniformly docile, or are some "wildcats"?
3. Any distinct food preferences?

Ameron in Portland, OR

Lampropeltis getula nitida 1.0
Lampropeltis getula splendida 1.0

Yep, don't care, they are the king of kings in my book! My males roam more and are above cover more, my females hide a lot. My males eat well, but my females would crush them in an eating contest! They are truly hogs! The males seem to handle handling better. My females don't like to leave the cage. They tend to spaz a little and to continue musking a bit longer. Most all are a bit meek, I have one male that will eat you but it is a feeding response. All in all, a very calm and beautiful snake.

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Todd Hughes

My experience coincides with Todd's!!!!! Once they get used to you they are one of the best Handling Getula you can have. I've kept them off and on for the past 30 years and they are one of my favorites!!! All that I have kept, both WC and CB, have been great mice eaters. Just my $.02!

Shalom,

Pat

I too love my splendidas. They are idiosyncratic-my wild caught (from the Trans-Pecos)tend to either prefer mice or rat pups-but for some reason not both. Females are, as Todd said, more secretive but also more aggressive feeders, at least during the breeding season. In general, the captive breds will eat everything and anything. Also, my wild caught animals have often need a couple of seasons of acclimation before they settle down and breed.
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....

I have 6 splendidas. 2 are dog tame, 1 is tame but antsy on picking up and handling, 1 is handleable but musks me every time, and 2 are strikey but ok once in your hands. 3(all my males) have quite the healthy feeding response(2 bordering on a great white shark feeding frenzy), 2 a fair feeding response, and one is a shy feeder.

When I lived in the heart of splendida range, we used to have a simple rule....

If you stopped to pick up a wild splendida and it just calmly kept crawling through your hands, it was a male. If it coiled up and bled/musked while hiding its head, it was a female. Juveniles were more likely to bite regardless of sex.

Males were generally better eaters in captivity. Females were just shy, but most would eventually take mice.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas