Reptile & Amphibian Forums

While visiting my parents in Smith Mountain Lake, outside Roanoke, Virginia about 10 years ago, I went to a reptile expo in Roanoke. They had a few wild caight yellow and black eastern kingsnakes, and the yellow was BRIGHT, not just an off white that might be interpreted as yellowish. They were sub adults...

Are these morphs popular in the hobby? I've never seen one since I saw them in Roanoke. They were very arractive snakes, as you might expect!

>>While visiting my parents in Smith Mountain Lake, outside Roanoke, Virginia about 10 years ago, I went to a reptile expo in Roanoke. They had a few wild caight yellow and black eastern kingsnakes, and the yellow was BRIGHT, not just an off white that might be interpreted as yellowish. They were sub adults...
>>
>>Are these morphs popular in the hobby? I've never seen one since I saw them in Roanoke. They were very arractive snakes, as you might expect!

Since they were sub adults and not full grown/developed yet my opinion is this....Many common king snakes hatch with bright yellow but as they age they fade to a straw or cream color.....

These you mention may be the exception but I have yet to see an adult Eastern king snake with bright yellow......

Some Calkings, Holbrooki and Splendida hold onto the yellow into adulthood.....Maybe an eastern can too?.....
If that were the case then I may want some of those since the drab black and white easterns are unattractive in my opinion...
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

Hmm, those really DO sound like some awesome looking snakes!, and Virginia Beach And Roanoke are pretty renowned for having Easterns with nice wide, contrasting colors/patterns. But for them to hold a very high-yellow coloration into their adulthood is very unlikely though as John also mentioned. Actually for them to be that brightly yellow colored even as hatchlings is not very typical at all of most either, but Carston "Zee" Zoldy has some from that particular local, and the hatchlings display a very striking orange coloration. Howie Sherman also has some bloodlines from that same locale. This too will no doubt fade as they mature, but they will still be exceptional looking as adults regardless if they hold on to the same intense yellow they might have started out life with. Almost anything is possible it seems when it comes to certain things in the animal world, but in my experience, I have yet to see a genuine Eastern that displays a strong bright yellow to it's coloration.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Thanks for the input...

Besides the really nice coloration, the chain pattern was wide and really symmetrical and perfect; striking animals. They were so nice that I wanted to purchase them, but they were promised to a high school for biology class (to be kept as captives, not dissected) Lol.

Black and yellow Eastern King from Virgina. Though not bright yellow, shows that it is very likely they do and are out there.

Scott

I have two from Southern Maryland that are pretty yellow too but photos just do not capture it that well. Nice snake Scott. They will always be one of my favorite snakes and have held a special place for me since I was a kid. The county I used to live and catch them in is by far one of the hardest counties to find one now. Funny thing is, I moved back and live there now after almost thirty years away. All developed now of course.

Thanks Joe, but that Eastern is not mine, got the pic from the Eastern Kingsnake Resouse site. what part of Maryland did you hunt in? I have some cousins that live there in Anne Arundel, every time I went down there I'd go hunting for Easterns, always got skunked.

Scott

I hunt kingsnakes with the guy who owns that site. Funny. We hunt Southern Maryland mostly. I used to hunt Montgomery County but like I said, they are hard to find now. I had not hunted for them in years and went out with Patton and the owner of that site this past year. We found our fair share and I am very greatful to them. Gotta love the easterns!! To me they are THE KINGSNAKE.

That's so cool Joe, to be hunting with the owner of that site. I've always wanted to catch a Eastern or two, three. Would make my year if I could find a mosaic Easterm. Love the patterns on those Kings

Scott

Yeah Scott, Peter is a cool guy and the other guys I herp with are awesome as well. I only herp with people I like. Its fun that way, and I am just as happy for them to catch a great snake as I would be to catch it myself. Last time I went to S. Maryland with Patton we had a great outing and then hit the steakhouse for food and beer to celebrate. Doesn't get better then that.

That he is. There is another guy running the site now. I emailed him about yellow and black eastern kings, he told me that they are rare in the wild, but common where specs and easterns cross.

Yeah herping with good friends and people that have a good personality and a sence of humor can make a herp trip all that better.

Scott

Joe, I'll bet I've possibly seen pics of you before over there with Zee and the fellas snake hunting. I have several cool snake photos over there as well in the Florida section, including a freaky bizarre aberrant hypermelanistic locality Miami corn..LOL!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Doug, I will have to go on there and look. I don't have any photos with those guys on the site as I just met up with them last year. I think there is a photo of my Charles Co. snake in the blog section that I caught while hunting with Peter and another friend. He makes note of the fact that it was the first eastern I had caught in ten years. (I had not been to Southern Maryland in ten years and used to catch them all the time). I caught several last year and the one I caught that day came home with me. She is smoking! She regurgitated a ringneck on the way home though. Stinky!!

Very cool Joe!, I would LOVE to get my hands on some sweet Easterns, but I am far too south for those..LOL! And to catch one like your high-white Virginia Beach animal would have me jumping for joy man, that thing is killer!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Your hands and arms look pretty darn yellow in the pic too!..HAHAHAAA!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Hahahahaa! that
s not me, I got the pic from the Eastern Kingsnake Resource Site. Maybe the guy has yellow jauntis? LOL! I emailed them to see if yellow/black Easterns are common or not, should be interesting to hear back from them.

Scott

"Maybe the guy has yellow jauntis?"

HAHAHAAA! Man, that is TOO funny bro!, because I was thinking about saying that same thing in my earlier post!..LOL!

that awesome yellow should have been edited a bit on a photo program first to look a bit more natural by about 10 shades..LOL!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

I just hope that is all it was and not his normal skin coloration. Man if I had skin color like that, I'd be wearing long sleeve shirts and gloves for the rest of my life. LOL!

Scott

LOL!,..yeah, I hear that!. But I'm sure it is just a crappy colored picture the guy submitted there. I just happened to see it over there too as I was looking at some other getula pics..LOL!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

LOL! Sure hope so bro for his sake...hahahahahaa!

Scott

You're welcome Dan,......yeah, glad those awesome kings were kept as LIVE subjects for the school!..LOL!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

My guess, inside expo, bad lighting. While I have seen yellow, blue, white, cream, orange and pinkish on the white bright yellow may have been artificially enhanced. I will try to get pics of this pink one I have.....

That would be cool to see. The Easterns that I find awesome looking are the mosaic, the patterns are just too cool.

Scott