Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I may be a little biased.. but, does anything really come close to a nice looking Alterna??

~ Mike Russo

Those are sexy as hell. I'm not a locality nut so I'm more or less put off alterna...but damn.

If we ever get the money to do a Texas natives exhibit at the zoo I'm so going to ask them to use alternas in it (I volunteer at the local zoo. We're tiny).

>>I may be a little biased.. but, does anything really come close to a nice looking Alterna??

Yep...You're a little biased but I have to agree with you....
Nothing is as stunning as that West Texas Gray Banded King Snake.....I would love to see one in the wild....

Those brightly colored things have kept tiny little towns that have almost blown away after the Oil Boom Crash stay alive for many years......
And now our silly law makers have gone and ruined a yearly ritual / trek many used to make from across the nation and other countries...

Many of those Boom towns will perish.....Livelihoods will be ruined and No one can have the fun they used to have.....

Sorry to get off topic......That is a great Blairs Mike....Keep those pics coming.
I think I like them so much cause they are VERY similar to Thayeri with variability and past taxonomy issues and such...
(Milk Snake Phase-MSP Thayeri = Blairs Alterna / Alterna Phase Alterna = Leonis Phase Thayeri)......
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John Lassiter

"Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part....."

I don't think alterna hunters kept those towns alive That part of Texas will keep on going--most of my family is originally from there! I grew up visiting Ft. Davis and Marfa for family functions about once a summer.

>>I don't think alterna hunters kept those towns alive That part of Texas will keep on going--most of my family is originally from there! I grew up visiting Ft. Davis and Marfa for family functions about once a summer.
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John Lassiter

"Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part....."

Ft Davis to Martha to Marathon, and a great (maybe great great?) aunt out in Dryden So Comstock and Pumpville are a bit farther east but not out of sight. I didn't like that line of the family, but we did visit pretty regularly until they died out a few years back. 'Course maybe things got worse since 2004? They were dry, decrepit towns but they'd been that way my whole life, and most of my dad's life, and weren't going away at any appreciable rate.

I was born in Houston, lived there till 5th grade, moved back to Amarillo to go to school and been here since. So yes I do live in the state and I am sort of familiar with that part of it. And I don't like the ban on road hunting, but I don't see it as a major economic problem. Now, if they banned commerce in native species like AZ, that might be different.

And really, tone down that post a bit...to steal a phrase from Pantera, "F***** Hostile!" I didn't think I was being nasty with mine!

>>And really, tone down that post a bit...to steal a phrase from Pantera, "F***** Hostile!" I didn't think I was being nasty with mine!

Well you made it up all at once there.....LOL
I don't know about you, but I think the laws passed by our legislature has ruined a lot of things already in our hobby.

Including the money spent by lots of snake hunters in West Texas.

BTW...Fellow Texan....I was born and raised on the Gulf Coast....Rockport / Corpus Christi area.....Worked on and off in West Texas for many years....In the Oil Industry....I've seen that area booming at one time....
We can certainly blame most of those dried up towns on the Oil Industry downfall, but those ones you saw up until 2004 had a little help making it THAT far by the Herpers that went there every year looking for those kingsnakes.......

Regards Varanid....I hate typing....it never comes across right when read......LOL
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John Lassiter

"Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part....."

ah, you never listend to Pantera? It's a classic song of theirs. Of course, I'm not sure how well the concepts of heavy metal and classic mesh.

I don't think I can even link to it under kingsnake's TOS...it's a pretty vulgar song. As you can tell from the title.

I do not know about it all. All I know is that even Texas is too damn crowded for me these days. I need someplace more rural. Maybe I'll head back up to the rockies one of these days I'd like to give Montana a whirl. Or maybe some part of NM? Live up in the Sangre de Cristos.

far as regulation goes...I don't know. I don't want a return to pell-mell importation of critters. I don't want alligators to be sold at flea markets again at 20 bucks a pop. But I want someone that knows what they're doing to be able to keep them. I don't want someone hassling me about my pets or guns or music. Give me my space and let me have my hobbies.

What I want most of all is a bottle of rum, but it's a work night

>>ah, you never listend to Pantera? It's a classic song of theirs. Of course, I'm not sure how well the concepts of heavy metal and classic mesh.
>>
>>I don't think I can even link to it under kingsnake's TOS...it's a pretty vulgar song. As you can tell from the title.
>>
>>I do not know about it all. All I know is that even Texas is too damn crowded for me these days. I need someplace more rural. Maybe I'll head back up to the rockies one of these days I'd like to give Montana a whirl. Or maybe some part of NM? Live up in the Sangre de Cristos.
>>
>>far as regulation goes...I don't know. I don't want a return to pell-mell importation of critters. I don't want alligators to be sold at flea markets again at 20 bucks a pop. But I want someone that knows what they're doing to be able to keep them. I don't want someone hassling me about my pets or guns or music. Give me my space and let me have my hobbies.
>>
>>What I want most of all is a bottle of rum, but it's a work night

I know Pantera......Went to college in Arlington and met Dime Bag once.....
And I couldn't agree with you more on the last statement....
3 months in St. Croix turned me into a Rum Dummy many times....
Single Barrel Estate Cruzan Rum...Try it.....
Regards,
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John Lassiter

"Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part....."

Many shop owners there feel differently, and have stated such. Really, a small town that has no real industry needs all the passerbys they can get, I know I've dumped my share of vacation money all around the area from Del Rio to Alpine. The Marfa lights just ain't cutting it, and the artist colonies depend on tourism as well, guess who a lot of the art appreciators are???

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Todd Hughes

>>I don't think alterna hunters kept those towns alive That part of Texas will keep on going--most of my family is originally from there! I grew up visiting Ft. Davis and Marfa for family functions about once a summer.

Do you live in Texas?
How long has it been since you've been to West Texas?
Have you driven through Comstock, Langtry or Pumpville lately?

Alterna hunters have contributed WAY more than most people think.....have you ever seen the signs in restaurants or hotels reading "Welcome Snake Hunters!"?

I guess you don't know the impact the law makers have made on our way of herping......
If the law doesn't change...We'll see how it goes....It has already gotten less populated for sure......
I hope they never perish.....And...I hope the laws will change....

Sorry...Mike....That is a great snake....
I didn't mean to make this a pissing contest.....LOL
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John Lassiter

"Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part....."

Get involved, the law ain't gonna change itself! Talk to your LOCAL reps, make sure they are aware of how important a time honored tradition is, this has benn going on since before the oil boom! Mike, of course there's nothing that can hold a candle to an alterna, because we can still get them here, from you or go out and find some property to look, with proper licenses of course! I loves my thayeri, but it's nice to know there can be some new blood injected into bloodlines for the locality crowd, and a sharp, clean generic is a sight to behold, something for everyone!
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Todd Hughes

Mike, that snake can look better if you just do one thing. Send it to me!!!! LOL. WOW. Stunning.

Thanks Joe... Ill need your address!!

~ Mike Russo

Dang! THE ORIGINAL orange snake, with such an earth-tone background too ^-^. Not going to lie, THAT is hard to beat mister!

I think it looks sort of drab in that photo. The background isn't quite right,....it would look much prettier on MY substrate..LOL!

No doubt bro, a VERY beautiful example indeed!

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

Hilarious Doug... I will try to take better pic's for you next time..

~ Mike Russo

I'd say theirs no question that your biased but that is a definate screamer Mike.
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Randy Whittington

so very orange...
I likey! I've stayed out of alterna because the whole super-intense locality stuff isn't my bag, and it seems like that's the focus of the alterna world (witness the alterna forum!)...but some of them are totally amazing animals. I'd love a snake that was just orange and grey, no black...they're so pretty.

You're right, not much

Incredible. Is it just one spectacular greyband or it's some trait you have/work on?
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Radim Soukup
www.kingsnake.cz
Czech Republic, EU

I produced that snake a couple of years ago from a nice looking pair of blairs adults... It was and still is the smallest alterna hatching I have ever seen.. And, I was 100% sure it was not going to make it and I assist fed it hopper tails for several months before it was able to take a day old pinky on its own..

I think it was well worth the extra effort!

~ Mike Russo

Well for sheer color, as a snake its hard to beat and thats why I have a pair however compaired to the other things I grow- my plants could potentially wipe the gray banded away.

The first pic is of my Paphiopedilum (Paph) praestans- a hard to find multi flowering slipper orchid from Papua New Guinea- in my opinion, sheer art.

the second pic is one of the most reliable Corsage hybrid orchids in my collection that blooms its 5 " sweetly scented flowers in early February- Cattleya Drumbeat "Triumph" HCC/AOS- these plants originate from species that live high in the trees in S. America

The third is a terrific species from the Philippines - Phalaenopsis (Phal) stuartiana "Sogo" HCC/AOS that can have as many as 30 or more 2" flowers darting in all directions at once, that in the jungle would hang down and resemble a flight of moths- hence the name moth orchid in the latin name.

Hope you all don't mind me going GROSSLY off topic here but I also raise about 140 orchids in my snake room -hence the Orchid in my screen name and since I have 7 tarantulas and 4 widows, the spider part fits in...... cheers!

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1.0 Boa- Hogg Island
0.1 Bull- Northern
1.0 Bull- TX Red
0.1 Bull- KS Yellow
1.1 Bulls- Red X Yellow
1.0 Bull- Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
1.1 Fox Snakes- Western
1.1 Kings- Black Easterns (L.g.nigra) Todd Co. KY
1.2 Kings- Coastal CA
1.1 Kings- NC Eastern Chains (M from Union Co. & F from Mecklenburg Co.)
1.1 Kings- Gray Banded 'Blair's'
1.1 Kings- Speckled, Harris Co. TX
1.1 Pines- Carolina Northerns (M from NC, F from SC)
1.1 Pines- Louisiana (pure descendants of Terry Vandeventer stock)
1.2 Pythons- Ball
1.1 Ratsnakes- Black, Henderson Co. NC

My favorite flowers are Orchids. I own several, mostly phalaenopsis, though I have a few other species I just can't think of the names offhand. Beautiful pictures.
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Holly

1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Belle Gunness)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Fire Skink (Peter Dinsdale)
1.0 Vietnamese Golden Gecko (George Chapman)
0.0.1 Blue Day Gecko (Joe Ball)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

Maybe just a lil biased but that is a beauty you have there. Here is a 2 year old female Alterna i got for next to nothing, locale unknown of course.