These two are unrelated F1s. The male's parents were collected and/or acquired by Alan Kardon in Chipinque (Parque Ecologico), Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and the female's parents were collected by Steve Hammack in Galeana, Nuevo Leon.
This area of Mexico yields these beautiful golden orange snakes with slate grey heads. Completely different from the Texas bairdi prevalent in the hobby.
I got three good eggs the Sunday before last.
Last year, I got eight good eggs, but only 1.2 hatched. I still have those. The little male is already maize yellow with a graphite grey head. Very cute. He ontogenetically changed from his neonate paint job of gray and black to yellow and grey at about 8-9 months of age. The females change a bit more slowly, and their coloring is not as dramatic. The males, especially, make great display animals -- especially in a large zoo-type enclosure. They get quite large, and the older they get, the more vibrant orange/red they become, particularly towards the tail.
They make great captives. Other than one accidental offensive bite (an overexcited snake mistook my finger for a mouse), I've never received a defensive bite from a bairdi. They buzz their tails and try to flee, but in my experience, do not bite or musk.
Cheers,
Dusty Rhoads
Suboc.com
