Reptile & Amphibian Forums

.... Haven't been on in a long while....
So I thought I'd post something...Nothing fancy or official, but I do like to call this one a 50/50 eastern (50% banded, 50% unbanded), although I did have a male with cleaner bands that would have made a better candidate for that unofficial term. Unfortunately he mysteriously passed away this year even though he was eating like a pig and was very healthy....
I'm still in Afghanistan, so I am only allowed to breed a few of my snakes (since my wife does not want to tend to too many babies).
But my wife did breed THIS one to one of my nice females. She laid 12 good eggs (19 - 7 slugs), that should be hatching in about a month. I've always liked working with these, because the hatch-lings are always so diverse when it comes to width and amount of banding, or the amount of orange, yellow, cream or even white sometimes.....AND they get VERY BIG!!!!

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"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

I can barely get my wife to feed them when I am 5 hours away working......LOL

Great looking snake Zee.....
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...
www.coastalbendcaptivebreeding.com

Thanks, John.
Good to see you're still around (the forums).
My wife doesn't feed any of them, but does an excellent job of making sure my son does - EVERY WEEK! And she does a great job of keeping them happy by checking on them three times a day every day!
And just to think....20 years ago my wife would scream and run at just the sight of a PICTURE of a snake. Now she has no problems holding most of them (she still doesn't trust the rat snakes and bull snakes though, lol!)
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"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

Been looking for one for a LOOOONG time and this one should be arriving tomorrow!

Is that a female jeff?
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www.Bluerosy.com

Rainer, I'm figuring there has to be some kind of common gene flowing around alot of southern kings. Edisto Islands, S.GA, Goini, mosaic floridas......gotta be something going on commonly between them. And, as always happens, the males are more abbarrant.

You are right about that...In most cases it is the males that exhibit the widest bands and most bizarre looks. I've had very few females hatch that had very wide bands, but I do get a few of them every now and then... I have a female from a couple of years ago that has that bulls-eye look, but for some reason she has been a very picky eater and has only grown up to around two feet so far.
(I'll have to see if I can post a pic of her later maybe...)
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"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

Sorry for the bad pic, it's the only one I got for now. It's an older pic, but she's not much bigger than that now.... I wish she had a better appetite like all of her siblings do. This was the only female I got that year with bands that wide.

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"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

The Mosaic Florida kings are straight recessive unlike the other types you mentioned. It would not follow that they were the result of gene flow from GA or SC.

The "South GA" and Edisto Mosaic kings are the result of inbreeding and selective breeding to concentrate traits that are not typical for the populations they originate from. Sure, an occasional Mosaic turns up, but most Edisto kings are normal looking Easterns. Most S GA kings are ring patterned with 1-2 scale wide bands, and don't retain any reddish coloration into adulthood.

I tend to think similar results to these lines could be achieved by selective breeding kings from any population, particularly those with prominent bands. It seems like I get aberrant snakes in about half my clutches. What will happen when I breed these together? We'll see...

That isn't a Mosiac pictured in your post above?

Have you found any striped or partial striped mutations of Florida kings?
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www.Bluerosy.com

No, not a mosaic. It's from my line of Pinellas County locale FL/Eastern intergrades that Hubbs calls Osceola/Suwanee morphs. The father is pictured on the cover of the book.

I've seen a lot of kings with a light striped from the first to second band, like this one pictured below. I do not really consider this to be a significant trait. It is fairly common, and I don't think it has the potential to be bred into a full stripe.

The other sort of striping I've seen, with much less frequency, is where the lateral blotches become fused at the top, and the bands are broken or missing, creating a black back effect. I've never found one with a full black back, but have produced and found them with partial black backs.

This one I found back in 2005. I don't remember what I did with it:

This is a Dade County specimen I produced last year from wild-caught parents. This snake was doing fine, but died while I was out of town. I still have the parents, and a pair of siblings:

This one I produced from a wild-caught gravid Palm Beach County female last year. It actually has both light and dark striping. I tried listing on the classifieds last year, but had no takers. I had it at Daytona too, I think. I gave it to a friend to sell, and I think it ended up being wholesaled off.

This snake I produced last year has a long series of broken bands. She's from my Levy County - Gulf Hammock intergrade line, from adults I caught myself. I still have her, and she should be breeding size next year. I will either breed her to her father, or to her holdback male sibling, which also has an atypical pattern (but no missing bands).

You may remember this from the same clutch:

I've also seen straight easterns with similar thing going on:

That is the best expose i have seen on locality floridana.

I have a lot of questions on some of these localities. I hope you don't mind me picking your brain a bit.
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www.Bluerosy.com

some are all messed up...
:Mark

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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

Holy cow thats incredible Mark.

Did you find that one yourself? Where?
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www.Bluerosy.com

It's a canefield king
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

That's a good looking boy there! I'm glad you got that one.
I had ONE out of my 16 eggs hatch that looked like that one the last time I bred my female (two years ago). He was an awesome looking specimen but he was also the only one that died about a month later for unknown reasons... Maybe I'll get another one with this year's clutch (hopefully).
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"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

ManI'm gonnahaveto get a second job, lol.Mywish list just keeps getting longer and longer!
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Thanks. Another reason why I'm in Afghnaistan, lol.....So I can keep, breed, and feed those monsters!!!
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"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

Beautiful! Gotta love those S. GA kings! I have a female holdback from last year whose bands are almost that wide-I'll post a pic of it soon.
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

Breeder of:
Green Tree Pythons
Pastel, Pinstripe, FIRE, Piebald, Clown, Lavender Albino, Leucistic, and Spider Ball Pythons
Striped Colombian Boa Constrictors
Kenyan, Rufescens, and Conicus Sand Boas
Red Phase Western Hognose Snakes
Spider Western Hognose Snakes
Albino Western Hognose Snakes
Locality Trans-Pecos Mexican Hognose Snakes
Southern Hognose Snakes
Eastern Hognose Snakes
Tricolor Hognose Snakes
Hypo Checkered Garter Snakes
Eastern Blackneck Garter Snakes
Stillwater Hypo Bullsnakes
Patternless Bullsnakes
S. GA Eastern Kingsnakes
Locality Desert Kingsnakes
Albino Desert Kingsnakes
Hypo Desert Kingsnakes
Mexican Black Kingsnakes
Desert Phase and Striped Desert California Kingsnakes
Locality Mexican Milksnakes
Spotted Mexican Milksnakes
Tangerine Mexican Milksnakes
Locality Alterna
Abbott Okeetee Cornsnakes
Mexican Baird's Ratsnakes
Cape Housesnakes
Tangerine Albino African Fat -Tailed Geckos
Locality Spotted Turtles

Yeah, I'd love to see pics of her. I have a female (hold-back) from two years ago that has a similar look, but she's been a very picky eater so far and has only grown to around two feet. She only wants to eat maybe once every three to four weeks. I wouldn't be surprised if I lose her one day.... I'm hoping she'll come around one day. (I'll see if I can get a pic of her on here later)
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"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

Nice one Zee, Its good to see so many folks working with these highly variable kings. I'm sure that you, Brad and others will agree that each clutch is like Christmas morning, never knowing what is gonna come out of those S. GA eggs.

Will

Thanks Will!
And you are right.... As Forrest Gump said: It's like a box of chocolates....You never know what you're gonna get!

And thanks again for the e-mail!
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"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

That's for sure, Will! The male I picked up from you as a hatchling in '06 is just a hair under 6 ft. now, and is my best breeder-he's the sire of the 'wide-banded" female above.
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

Breeder of:
Green Tree Pythons
Pastel, Pinstripe, FIRE, Piebald, Clown, Lavender Albino, Leucistic, and Spider Ball Pythons
Striped Colombian Boa Constrictors
Kenyan, Rufescens, and Conicus Sand Boas
Red Phase Western Hognose Snakes
Spider Western Hognose Snakes
Albino Western Hognose Snakes
Locality Trans-Pecos Mexican Hognose Snakes
Southern Hognose Snakes
Eastern Hognose Snakes
Tricolor Hognose Snakes
Hypo Checkered Garter Snakes
Eastern Blackneck Garter Snakes
Stillwater Hypo Bullsnakes
Patternless Bullsnakes
S. GA Eastern Kingsnakes
Locality Desert Kingsnakes
Albino Desert Kingsnakes
Hypo Desert Kingsnakes
Mexican Black Kingsnakes
Desert Phase and Striped Desert California Kingsnakes
Locality Mexican Milksnakes
Spotted Mexican Milksnakes
Tangerine Mexican Milksnakes
Locality Alterna
Abbott Okeetee Cornsnakes
Mexican Baird's Ratsnakes
Cape Housesnakes
Tangerine Albino African Fat -Tailed Geckos
Locality Spotted Turtles