Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone

yeah... its me again. I know I know. All i do is take take take.

anyway I got this guy at the MD show. He is a 2-3 year old male that was sold to me as "Albino kingsnake" for 35$. I figured it was a deal either way but I wasnt sure what kind he was. It has been strongly suggested to me that it is a prairie king with maroon eyes. Agree?

Jeff

He is a 2-3 year old male that was sold to me as "Albino kingsnake" for 35$...
>wow that dealer must of really needed a sale, killer price for an adult!!! and yes it is indeed a prarie l.c.c. very underated kings imho,,,,,,,,,thomas davis
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Morphs... just like baseball cards BUT ALIVE, how cool is that???

my website www.barmollysplace.com

Yep that is a nice prairie king. I have a female myself. Not bad for $35 i got mine for $30 as a hatchling.

That is an Albino Prairie King..

They were popular years ago and then seemed to fade away in the shadows of other (more brightly clolored) albinos.. Cals, hondos, milks, etc..

It's too bad because they are nice snakes that are easy to keep and breed, but there is really not a big demand for them and they are not seen around too much these days.

Again, Good luck with him!

~ Mike Russo

Speaking of which, i had a question about breeding.

I have been researching the different viewpoints of hybridizing snakes, so when I ask this question know that it comes from some sort of an educated position.

I was thinking about breeding this new king of mine to a cali king. Am I going to have to do anything beyond normal breeding procedures for a kingsnake in order to get the two snakes to breed? My female is the same length but a little lighter than the male I just got.

Thanks for the help everyone,
Jeff

My 2 cents...

I truly do not mean to sound rude here but I know it will sound bad. I apologize before hand.

You bought the snake without really knowing what you were buying. You didn't exam it until you got home and noticed the fatty deposits. Then you post the questions on KS you should of asked the vendor had it not been an impulse buy.

Now your considering crossing it with a cal king. How long have you been working with snakes?

You bought the snake for $35.00. That's a HUGE bargain. The fatty deposits and the price is a red flag this snake might be older than you were told and I hope you have quarantined it from your other snakes.

It's a beautiful Prairie and as other have said the albino's have declined in the hobby greatly and now just resurfacing. You can cross it if you like, it's your snake, but to do so would mean less albino prairie's. There are a lot of adult wild caught prairie's in the classifieds for cheap!

You have time to think about it before next breeding season.
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B

What would you do with the offspring?
I seriously doubt that anyone would want them.

Tim

Thank you both for your concern. I have been working with snakes for 2 years.

I do feel bad that i did not notice the deposits until i got home. It is the first time I had done something like that after years of buying animals at shows. I did feel better that i might have gotten a snake off of someone who may not have been taking care of it correctly. I have him quarantined in a completely separate house from my other snakes and he will remain there for at least 3 months.

I understand that these snakes are not in high demand right now, but I wanted to try anyway. If it doesn't work out, then it was only one clutch and I have a very pretty non-breeding pet.

I know the pro's and con's of both sides of the issue, but I would never buy a wild caught animal.

Thanks
Jeff

I really don't mean to sound rude about this, but I think if you really DID know about the "so-called pro's and con's regarding this as you mentioned,.....then why on earth would you even entertain the thought of crossing those two species?............wait!,......don't tell me,.......because it probably hasn't been done before,..RIGHT?..LOL!

My head has never had a bullet in it before either, but I don't think I will go out and do that anytime soon just because it hasn't been done before. Another example of something similar would be to rip a bunch of parts off of your Porche sports car, and replace them with parts off of a Chevy.

A much BETTER idea would be to say,..........produce some more calligaster's(Prairie Kings) maybe??.......what's so horrible about producing quality offspring that are identifiable?

Again, please keep in mind I am not trying to sound nasty here, but just give the idea of producing some nice calligaster's some serious thought, instead of the monkey see, monkey do thing with the ridiculous junk crosses that so many feel compelled to produce. There are PLENTY of genuine types of snakes you could get into without doing all that other nonsense.

I originally meant for the post to be short and sweet, but many times they just seem to grow a little more..LOL!

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

I dont mean to sound rude, but just because I don't agree with your arguments doesn't mean I havn't heard or researched them before.

Thank you for your opinion, but it is just that; an opinion. In a case like this however educated or experienced your opinion might be it will never be law.

Not even if you REALLY REALLY want it to be.

That is the exact type of answer I was expecting...LOL!

Like I said earlier, if you would think that combination would be such a "hit" in the first place,....you don't get it anyway.

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

Sooooo thank you for answering my question in the first place and trying to help out a fellow herp collector.

According to you, noone in the hobbie should be trying to get ablinos, breed out any traits, or be looking for new genetics. All of these things are messing with the original of the species, right?

I am glad I could provide an outlet for your already overinflated ego. In the future, please do not bother responding to any questions I might have. You have shown yourself to not be helpful in any way.

An educated opinion should also come with an educated attitude. In the future, do try to be more helpful.

>> "According to you, noone in the hobbie should be trying to get ablinos, breed out any traits, or be looking for new genetics. All of these things are messing with the original of the species, right?"

Wrong!,......not the case at all. As a matter of fact, I WAS trying to be helpful, to you AND the rest of the folks in the hobby that want to receive just what they thought they bought. I don't have a problem with genetic mutations at all,...I own, and have been breeding many types of genetic mutations over the years. But what I DO think is extremely important, is to keep the snakes as close to what species/subspecies they are as humanly possible without introducing other genus, species, or subspecies into the picture.

It's so there is NO possibility they are mistaken by people for other types of snake in the hobby that don't have the experience of knowing for certain,...then unknowingly go off to breed it to whatever else to make yet even MORE unidentifiable offspring. When YOU go to buy something, don't you want it to be exactly the type you thought it was?, and not just a silly combination of "whatever" that "looks" sort of similar?

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

To borrow a quote: "That is the exact type of answer I was expecting...LOL!"

"But what I DO think is extremely important, is to keep the snakes as close to what species/subspecies they are as humanly possible without introducing other genus, species, or subspecies into the picture."

I can't believe I am involved in this argument again with another arrogant and prideful person with a god complex who is not going to listen to me anyway, but here we go again; selective breeding and genetic breeding fundamentally alter the genus, species, or subspecies.

Actually... I will spare you. I am sure you have heard this before. Or even better, I will use your method; do some more research. Since you don't agree with me you obviously havn't done your homework.

Wow, now I feel dirty all over.

I knew I shouldn't have wasted my time with it..LOL!

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

If you knew just a fraction of what you "think" you know about snakes and their genetics,....then why did you have to ask about what kind of snake you had?......it is quite obvious what it was.

From your snide comments, I don't think you have the slightest understanding about any of the points I was trying to make either, you just took everything as an insult for some silly-ass reason.

When you have a few more decades of experience under your belt, then you might get what I was trying to say hopefully.
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

ok keyboard warrior. I was going to let you have the last word but hypocritical snobbery needs to be destroyed everywhere.

In other words... I should just assume, like you, I know everything or I should assume I know nothing? So anyone who asks a question on the forum knows less than you about anything and has never done any research?

I want to add that prairie kings are some of the best pet snakes out there. They really are like having a cornsnake personality in a Cal king.

There was a strain that Lemke had that kept more red color as adults.
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Mark