Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Tom Crutchfield and other SE residents...Where do red throats come from in the wild? Are they mixed in generally with the population of Indigos or are they a regional phenomenon? Will you find red throats and black phases in the same populations? Any trend from South to North? I have some nice red throats and another with a white throat and red chin, I often wonder about these phases and where/why they occur. Do clutches of eggs produce both red throats and black and intermediates from the same parents? (i.e. cal kings may produce striped, banded, aberrants in the same clutch) Those of you have seen some wild ones, please comment? Thanks, Vic

Generally speaking they just pop up in general populations. I have seen a higher percentage of red ones from Lake Okeechobee south more frequently. The handful I've seen from the panhandle of Florida[mostly Washington Co.] have had NO red at all. Since they are exceedingly RARE there and I've seen less than 12 in my life I don't know if the entire population is dark or not. The prettiest one I've seen was one I caught in the late 60's in Lee Co.,Fl. I caught her near Ft Myers in the eastern part of the county. Her entire head, top and bottom, was red with the red extending on the belly to half the length of the snake. She was a female about 5' long. Harry Miller, then president of the Chicago Herp Society got her in a trade from me. It is unknown what finally happened to her. Some of you old-timers may remember Harry Miller. Later he moved to Ocala, Fl and over the years I have lost track of him. Hope this helps....
-----
Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

I did most of my herpin in Hillsbourgh county and saw about 200 indigos (over 33 years) and they were generally mixed in colors. I would say most were red throats, but white chins, with only a speck of mahogany occured about one in every five. I had seen several from Polk county and they were very similar to the Hillsborough county animals. I also saw one in Mantatee county that had a lot of red on it, but don't know if that is a trend going farther southward.

Dan

I've had red-throat male bred to no-red female produce both morphs. Red-throat male to red-throat female produce both morphs. Red-throat male to a different red-throat female produce only red-throats.

I would really like to have a totally black hatchling appear; no red or white anywhere. Anyone ever seen such?