Reptile & Amphibian Forums

.......and when she slipped out of her fresh shed, it didn't take long for "Mr. sticticeps" aka Outer Banks king to take full advantage..

~Doug

Look forward to producing some cool striped/aberrants like the sire here!

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Good luck Doug....
I've always liked OBX kings.......
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

Thanks John!

Yeah, this rarest form of getula just can't be beat for their unigueness and small isolated locality..

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

my website -Serpentine Specialties

>>Thanks John!
>>
>> Yeah, this rarest form of getula just can't be beat for their unigueness and small isolated locality..

Yep....very similar to Suwanee's in phenotype and isolation.....

But I thought the rarest was the Catalinensis.....LOL
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

Yeah, this rarest form of getula just can't be beat for their unigueness and small isolated locality..

I can think of a few that can beat it for their uniqueness and small isolated locale.
Todos Santois is one. Then there are extremly smaller isolated pops in and around the L.A. basin. The desert B&W striped cal king and the melanistic Long beach beach grease kings.- while the last two are not on any unique sub specific level. However the Todos Santos is.

I am sure there are more. But those are just a couple off the top of my head.

But I LOOOVE isolated pops. Have you been to the outebanks to collect any yourself? Has anyone here? I have not been there.
But if anyone has i sure would like to hear the story and how and under what you found them.
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www.Bluerosy.com

To begin with, the Todos Santos Island king is a zonata(L. z. herrerae). I was referring strictly to subspecific "getula" forms only. Even though it's subspec status is somewhat problematic..LOL!

I have never been there personally, but I know a guy that has captured one many years ago in the early 90's.

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

my website -Serpentine Specialties

To begin with, the Todos Santos Island king is a zonata(L. z. herrerae). I was referring strictly to subspecific "getula" forms only. Even though it's subspec status is somewhat problematic..LOL!

Yeah I know Todos is a zonata king. lol! I just think the isolated pops are the coolest period. But to me there are more interesting isolated pops than OBX. Like I said the Los Angles Grease kings and the Desert striper in Scissors crossing/Borrego are very unique.

I think the rarest is...the "brooksi". Which is so rare, it is now extinct. LOL!
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www.Bluerosy.com

I agree, there are many isolated populations of things that are very interesting and unique.

From what I have seen, especially in the past decade or two is that many of the south Florida "brooksi" are definitely in major trouble and their numbers are declining at a VERY alarming rate!. The habitat encroachment for development is bad enough, and the fire ants have had to have taken a heavy toll as they emerge from the eggs as well. But many of the wild-caught snakes these days seem to also be extremely thin, or even found dead. I am thinking there is some heavy-duty environmental poisoning that has impacted their numbers down south.

Being that they feed on just about anything that moves, it only makes good sense that when they are constantly feeding on things like tadpoles, frogs, lizards, and other snakes in these areas, especially around canals and other water areas that they would have to be ingesting accumulating quantities of pesticides, fertilizers, etc.. from run-off. And over time has been killing many of them off in a slow agonizing death.

It's really sad situation for them and many other animals.....Seems that man's so-called "success" all too often equals the demize of many animals as he blazes the trail..

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

my website -Serpentine Specialties

The habitat encroachment for development is bad enough, and the fire ants have had to have taken a heavy toll as they emerge from the eggs as well. But many of the wild-caught snakes these days seem to also be extremely thin

Don't you bthink this has more to do with the fire ants than habitat encroucment?

In the past few years i had adult floridas escape. Sometimes i find them later eaten by fire ants.

Maybe the thin snakes are a result of them always being on the move to avoid the fire ants.

Recently i was looking for a new house to move into. of course i checked the prperty lines for snakes. most all of them had fire ants all along the fences and border by trees. Then one house i found one under some tin. In that peace of land i did not see one fire ant hill or any ants under boards. But in all the other houses land that i saw fire ants I KNEW there would not be a single snake of any type. I looked anyway under many boards, tin, carpet ..etc. Most of the boards and stuff had ants. But not a single snake was found where the firenats lived on the property.

Unfortunatly i did not get the house where i found the eastern (i would have liked to but the house sucked). I settled on a small house with a small parcel of land. So again no snakes in my back yeard for me. Oh well.

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www.Bluerosy.com

Hmmm?, I don't really know. It seems hard to imagine that the snakes couldn't just flee if they were being bitten by the ants and go somewhere else, but if they were EVERYWHERE, which they definitely seem to sometimes be, that could indeed be a major stress on the snakes, as well as the ants eating some of the prey animals the kings eat too I guess. I don't really know if the snakes you saw were actually killed by the ants themselves, or were found by the ants and consumed after the snakes died from something else??. This would be very interesting to know for certain, I'm sure you would agree, but either way, it sure does suck big-time for the snakes!

Did you just catch that king in that cold weather just prior to the photo being taken?.......that's awesome man!

Got any full-body shots of it?..

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

my website -Serpentine Specialties

I just took the shots where he was caught. No full body shots. Found him under a peice of tin. I might go back and get a full body shot later. i am sure he is still there.
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www.Bluerosy.com

Heck yeah!, that would be cool for everyone to see what sort of phenotype he has..

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

my website -Serpentine Specialties

LOL!!,....yeah, I don't buy the validity of "catalenensis" at all either. Especially not from one single specimen that was "claimed" to have been captured there..LOL!

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

my website -Serpentine Specialties

>>LOL!!,....yeah, I don't buy the validity of "catalenensis" at all either. Especially not from one single specimen that was "claimed" to have been captured there..LOL!

I know....I know......LOL
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

sweet! Did you breed the same pair last year? You should be able to get some killer OBX from that breeding!
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www.Bluerosy.com

They are only '08's, and although they were plenty large enough to breed last year, they didn't quite get the job done. I could see interest, but they were interested at different times, and then the male lost interest when she seemed willing later in the season. Now that they are more mature, I guess their instincts were sharper this time around. I have had several other OBX breeders say they typically breed their third year anyway.."shrug"

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

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Awesome! Very nice looking kings there!
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Genesis 1:1

Thanks Billy!

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

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Is that an EEEEEEVIL pairing of sticticeps?

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Jerry Kruse
www.zonatas.com

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

Very evil!!..

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

my website -Serpentine Specialties

OH Yeah! I better start saving up, lol! Those are some of the best I've seen!
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

LOL!!, thanks Jorge!

Yes, we will see how things go..

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

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Well ,I know they can lay some big eggs but this is ridiculous! LOL!
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

I was wondering what that was too! Doug bought some Hydro domes for his snakes, looks like?
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

"Well ,I know they can lay some big eggs but this is ridiculous!"

LMAO!!,.....I know!, it does look like a huge dinosaur egg..HAHA!!

It is a tall plastic container I cut in half for a hide. They really work awesome!

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

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Doug, those are smokin' even naked!!! Not much of a fan for getula but everyone posting these awesome animals I may have to step into the "ring of getula" (no more, no more, no more,)
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Jimmy Tintle

LOL!!, yeah Jimmie, "sticticeps" aren't exactly "EYE-POPPING" with bright colors, but they are very special snakes for sure...

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

my website -Serpentine Specialties

nm

.....fingers crossed..LOL!

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

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Nice looking special animals, Doug. Another success story for you, one of many, hopefully.

Dennis

Thanks a bunch Dennis.....yeah man, I have always liked the Outer Banks kings ever since I first read about them as a young kid in some books..

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

my website -Serpentine Specialties