Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Whoo hoo! 4 out 7 more to go. I'll post pics soon. So far I have 4 axanthic and I think the rest should be anery's! Anyone want to get in on this new MBK morph? LOL! Thanks Tom Stevens to turning me onto these! I love them! Steve

Can you post some pics?
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Boneyardreptiles.com

I'll post pics tomorrow. I can't believe how relaxed these things are coming out of the eggs. Just kidding about the morphs. Awesome little babies though.

I had some hatch this year and they are really laid back compared to my brooks.When my brooks hatched they tried biting as soon as they came ot of the egg.The brooks are a little feisty when compared to the mbk's.
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1.0 aberrant cal. king
0.1 reverse spotted cal. king
1.2 mbk's
1.1 florida kings
0.1 anery brooks
1.0 hypo brooks
0.1 albino brooks
1.1 normal corns

I cannot BELIEVE how laid back they are as babies. I just got home from work and 2 more were out of the eggs just sitting there. I set up containers for them WHILE HOLDING THEM and they just sat there. I've kept more snakes than I can count but these are the best snake by far IMHO.

MBKs rock. Didn't know they had morphs?? I liked 'em a lot.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

I was just joking about the morphs. The morphs I said already are useless to MBK's hence the joke. Friggin' things are AWESOME!

That's what we used to call them years ago, lol.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

After seeing this again, I realized it could be taken wrong. It is meant as a compliment! I bred them many years ago and were some of my favorite snakes. I'm surprised they don't have an albino form by now, though! Maybe they do, I just never saw one.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

No offense taken, I use the phrase myself. I heard there is a hypo morph which is brown, I'm not really a morph guy but a white sided MBK would look friggin AWESOME!

>>No offense taken, I use the phrase myself. I heard there is a hypo morph which is brown, I'm not really a morph guy but a white sided MBK would look friggin AWESOME!

How about a whitesided lavender MBK????
I thought about doing it myself with Holbrooki influence......
But there we go again producing mutts...
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...
www.coastalbendcaptivebreeding.com

I like the melanistics the best. They remind me of the melanistic thayeri sooo much being jet black and all ROFL!!!!

No kidding, I think I might have a couple of melanistics too! I thought they were anery but now I have second thoughts!LOL!

They are morphs....
They are melanistic Splendida.....
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...
www.coastalbendcaptivebreeding.com

John, something about MBKs do not remind me of spendida for some reason. Not sure if its differences in head scalation, or just the coloration that throws me off. FYI, there is a recent ad on kingsnake for cal x mbk crosses. Now those look just like spendidas IMO LOL!!!

>>John, something about MBKs do not remind me of spendida for some reason. Not sure if its differences in head scalation, or just the coloration that throws me off. FYI, there is a recent ad on kingsnake for cal x mbk crosses. Now those look just like spendidas IMO LOL!!!

They really remind me of melanistic splendida....especially when some hatch out with splendida pattern then lose it after a couple sheds........

There have been solid black getula and patterned (splendida-like) getula found within feet of each other in Arizona.....

There may be a pure strain of MBKs down Baja way but it has yet to be proven in my opinion......
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...
www.coastalbendcaptivebreeding.com

I actually heard rumor that the ones further south in Mexico are actually more patterned than not? I believe it was a friend of mine that stated the solid black MBKs may be the anomalies and not representative of the race in general. I could have read it on this forum as well. However, as with all things, the most unique get tagged as the "best", or "classic example" we then perceive as the norm. As the influx of data on ranges, integrade zones, and general knowledge about these animals increases and becomes more and more available, things definitely change complexion in the getula game!!

I agree. Does anyone consider the American black kingsnake a melanistic form of a speckled king?

>>I agree. Does anyone consider the American black kingsnake a melanistic form of a speckled king?

Not that I know of...But now that I think of it....
When they are hatchlings they look so much like speckled king hatchlings though...They just don't speckle up they lose some of their light coloration and replace it with melanin...

I have never owned a Nigra so I don't have anything but a guess and/or an opinion........I have many Nigritis, Splendida and Holbrooki and the main difference I can attest to is their habitat and slight phenotyphic differences......

I am "in the zone" where Holbrooki and Splendida both occur and intergrades occur.... Or, are they intergrades? Anyway...they are what they are........We just call them intergrades....
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...
www.coastalbendcaptivebreeding.com

Another interesting point Kingboa!! I have not worked or kept nigra either, so have no comparison experience. I have kept splendida a bit in the past, including a large WC male from Texas and have to admit they remind me of holbrooki ALOT!! I was actually considering breeding the male to a pair of female WC specks I had at the time and it was even suggested by a well known commercial breeder I know that gave me the male spendida that they were "the same snake". The pics I have seen of nigra remind me of holbrooki as well, just darker. Maybe nigra adapted the darker pattern due to cooler conditions north of the coastal areas that holbrooki inhabit??

Why the different scientific names then? Is Floridana a hypo Getula?

>>Why the different scientific names then? Is Floridana a hypo Getula?

Nigritis are still recognized on their sub specific level......
No scientist/biologist/herpetologist has written the "paper" to change it or disprove the fact that they are the same sub species.......

It has just been my opinion for many years.....But I still breed them pure and have yet to cross any.....
But I may some day just for my curiosity's sake.....LOL
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...
www.coastalbendcaptivebreeding.com

I am agreeing more and more John that these animals are all just geographic variations like experienced with the normal cornsnakes across their range. After all, they are all L. getula for a reason. Similar to the mexicana complex, I think its important to keep the "locality" phases true in captive breeding situations. However, we may soon see these animals advertised as Eastern Phase, California Phase, or Desert Phase as opposed to an actual subspecies. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck... Once again, similar to corns, and probably the route E. obsoleta is heading in as well.