Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just picked this guy up. I was wanting to know what locale he is and if he is a hybrid.

He looks like a pure alterna to me. There is no guessing the local, so its a generic.

If you really would like that sort of information you should ask the person you bought it from.

Thanks. The guy didn't know anything about him. He bought out a LPS and they used him for school talks. He is very tame.

He looks real deal to me.

It would be nice to get some better head shots, but to be safe, I'd consider him a hybrid. Above all else, the fellow you purchased the animal from did not have any clue as to this snakes origin or lineage. That alone is enough. Although his pattern and color is not out of the realm of possibility for alterna, that funky nuchal band raises some suspicion. There are also other little things about the banding that seem off to me, but I couldn't be certain. If you should decide to breed him, I personally would not pass off the offspring as 100% alterna.

It's better to be safe than to mutt up the gene pool. If you want to get into alterna, I would suggest purchasing from a reputable source so that you can be confident the blood is true. There are lots of good breeders out there, both locality specific and generics.
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Brad Alexander

FullSpectrumHerps.com

I concur with Brad A.

I had a Juno Road male awhile back that was a monster. He was thick and every bit four plus foot!! Man he was a smoker blairs phase too!! I also had a pretty big butt-ugly Hwy 277 male that was well over three and a half foot, and as thick as a corn of similar length. If not mistaken, the eastern localities tend to get larger, maybe much larger, then the western localities. I am not an alterna expert, but I have kept my share of greybands and gotten all of my animals from reputable breeders. The nuchal blotch on the posted animal doesnt even look out of the ordinary to me IMO.

Alterna from the eastern part of their range do tend to be larger. I've had many over 40 inches too. I'm not saying "just" because it looks large it must be a hybrid. I'm saying "all" things considered (including not knowing it's lineage) you can't be too sure. I've seen some multi cross hybrids that could pass for specific species. When it comes to alterna I'm very selective about sources. Maybe when DNA testing becomes more available it will put a lot of questioning localities to rest.

I'll get some head shots tonight. I'm not going to breed him, I was just wondering if he was a hybrid. I had been wanting one, and saw him at a show. I was looking at the alterna page, and he really looks like a few of the "black gap" specimens.
He is about 3 ft.
Thanks for the info.

I also think he is too fat. He was feeding him 2 adult mice a week. Thanks again for all of your help.
Steph