Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I have two kingsnakes... the shop that sold them to me say they are Aberrant Mexican Black Kingsnakes. However I have had several people say that Aberrant is refered to the striping and that my two snakes are NOT MBKs. One said it could be a dessert king.

I am new to keeping snakes and I really like these pair (even though they are not what we ordered (we wanted MBKs)).

Can anyone identify them please. I dont have any problems with taking more photographs but I think the ones on my account should do it.

Cindy (if she is around) says you guys should be nice to me and help me out lol

A huge THANKS to yu all THANKS.

PW
Link

You could call them Desert kingsnakes (L. g. slendida). They are not aberrant at all, those two pattern types are pretty common but the one with the most yellow on the sides is normally favored over the other. Nice kings by the way.

Those actually aren't "aberrant" at all, and could actually be either Desert kings(L.g.splendida) OR Mexican Black kings(L.g.nigrita). The fact is that indeed "most" all of the captive-bred MBK's in the hobby are hatched muck more solid black(actually very dark brown) with some light flecking on the chin quite often. But in nature these very often hatch with a VERY typical Desert king(splendida) patterning. I have seen many of these exactly like yours become solid black within about 9 months to a years time. As a matter of fact, so-called MBK's are very likely nothing more than very melanistic splendida.

Now since those you have are already on the dark side, you could very possibly have two MBK's, or since you don't know the origin, they could also be interrgrades from someone that bred the two together, who knows. All you can really do is keep them and see if they become more solid black. If they do, then they would be considered Mexican Black kings. If they stay basically just like they are, and only become a tad darker as they mature, you can be confident that they are darkish splendida, or possibly intergrades.

The bottom line is if they were sold as MBK's, you really cannot discount that they aren't just yet, because they certainly could be, you just have to wait and see, or else know what the two parents looked like..LOL!

You just might have what you bought, even though they "look" like typical splendida at this point!..

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Great info, Doug. I didn't know they could be that big and still have that much of a pattern if they were MBK's.

True Ross, I will say they do seem a bit large to not be darkening up more if they were true MBK's at this stage, so they are most likely darkish splendida. Would be interesting to see what they looked like in another 6 months, or more though.

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

And looking over those photos again, they look on the thin side. I would up their meals a bit.

And looking over those photos again, they look on the thin side. I would up their meals a bit.

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YEP! Most definetly. I would offer larger more mature mice than what the pics show.

Anytime the top of the spine sticks out means these snakes are much older than they appear and have been on a once per week feeding.

Up it to every other day and feed as muny mice as they will eat in a sitting. I about 2-3 months they should look more healthy.
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www.Bluerosy.com

Arrr bless. You mean that my snakes may have been neglected before i got them?

I picked them up on thursday last week. I will feed them as often as they will take.

You guys are great and I thank Cindy for pointing me towards you.

You mean that my snakes may have been neglected before i got them?

Yeah, I guess you could say that. The pet shop didn't know exactly what they were, so they probably didn't know how to properly feed them either. Young snakes like that should not be thin. And Rainer (Blue Rosy) is right about them being older than they appear. If they are thin, they have not grown like they should. Depending how long they have been neglected the the right amount of food, is how far behind they are. They will be fine, just feed them often and we'd love to see pictures of them in a few months and see how they are coming along. Good luck.

thanks buddy. I gave they 3 fuzzies each yesterday. Will try them in a few days time again. Am going to find some more food too. Now i roughly know what size they will take.

and yes, i will post more photos in time.

Cheers.

Ill post more photos in time.

Thanks for the help. So, they could actually become black in time. or they could be something else?

They are about 21 inches long so prob over 9 months old.

I thank you for looking and if in time you or anyone else can offer info that would be great.

I have mailed the pet shop but awaiting the reply.

These two kings are really nice and I would not change them. They are mine for life lol (even though they may not (or are) mexican blacks.

thanks all. If anyone else wants to comment please do so, im a learner.

You're welcome. At 21 inches though they are probably slightly darker than normal Desert kings or possibly have a tad of MBK geneflow to their genetic lineage. I would feed them two of whatever they can fit down their heads every three to four days and they will take off fabulously. This would mean two slightly larger rodents than the one is eating in the pic at a time. Don't even contemplate them eating as much as they can possibly consume every other day. That isn't even possible. They would have half-digested mice lining up in their throats and hanging out of their mouths if this was the case..LOL!

I'm quite sure you are not out to set a Guiness record for the most mice fed to a kingsnake in a months time... Just give it more as mentioned and you will see the snake fill out better, especially the last half where the fat reserves are stored.

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Don't even contemplate them eating as much as they can possibly consume every other day. That isn't even possible]
Doug,

Why do you want to start sh!t again. Of course it possible. i do it with babies, yearling and laarge adults. This whole squeemish none feeding makes the keeper leary and then the poor strvaed snakes suffer.

That snake is very undernorished.Why would you even suggest to someone to be careful not to feed it too much??!&*( Arggghh!*%(&$.

Let the guy feed it all it will eat. if the snake doesn't want to eat. Then i am sure he will figure out what to do with the dead mosue laying there..like re-freeze the mouse.. but why the heck you would suggest a feeding regime based on what YOU think the snakes should eat..and not what the snakes wants.

We have been over and over this before. The biggest problem I have is newbies will get confused by these post. Basically TO MUCH INFO for them to process. Lets keep it simple and just say OFFER it food every second day,If it does not want to eat until the 3rd or 4th day, that fine. Sometimes they do eat every second day. Sometimes they go a week during pre shed etc.,.But lets let him offer the food so he can learn from the snake. K??

To the OP. I apologize for the rant and confusion . But Kingsnakes are not like dogs or other domestic mamals, lizards or even pythons. They cannot be compared to those animals and species. Feed you KINGsnakes well and they will be stronger and live a longer life. A snake that has been undr a starvation diet is already way behind and may not survive as long in captivity and/or remain a problem finicky feeder. Hopefully your will take off (in growth and bone and muscle) and eat and grow and rebuild itself to be a strong and healthy captive.
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www.Bluerosy.com

>>That snake is very undernorished.Why would you even suggest to someone to be careful not to feed it too much??!&*( Arggghh!*%(&$.

If a snake's been fed too little for a while, abruptly feeding it "too much" (your words--see above) is not in the snake's best interest. The owner should start gradually to increase the food intake. It's not a growth contest, and not a hotdog eating contest it's just striving to optimize the animal's care. We can disagree on how much should ultimately be optimal intake. But we should agree it's not appropriate to take animals that have been underfed and immediately start feeding them as much as they'll consume. That's asking for trouble.

Yes, that is another very relevant thing I meant to add to my above post as well Terry, and I am not merely saying this because you commented on the thread here either. It is never a good idea to have a malnourished animal of any kind start pounding down vast amounts of food all of the sudden. Their dormant systems simply are not used to processing the sudden large amounts. I have seen the consequences of this being done many times in the past.

Anyway, another very good point you brought to the table on this.

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Doug, that is right. Feeding them a couple mice every four days or so works great for me. All my snakes have great muscle and look great. I have raised 10's of thousands of snakes on that feeding regimen and they all did awesome. Thats the best way I have found to go about it. Thanks.
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Gerard
www.livebaitclip.com

GONE FISHING!!!

I agree. As long as the two rodents they get are plenty big enough so that they have to work at getting them down, this is more than enough for them to thrive and be very full and robust animals when fed every few days.

I sure didn't get my kings and milks to behemoth size by feeding them scrawny little meals that they can gulp down like popcorn. When I feed my stuff, I make the meals count!

~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Good thoughts and awesome snakes Doug!!
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Genesis 1:1

Thanks Billy. Obviously the very LAST thing my snakes are is "starved" as anyone can see. It would be virtually IMPOSSIBLE to feed these things what I feed them with only one day in between feedings.....simply IMPOSSIBLE!!!!

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

hanks Billy. Obviously the very LAST thing my snakes are is "starved" as anyone can see. It would be virtually IMPOSSIBLE to feed these things what I feed them with only one day in between feedings.....simply IMPOSSIBLE!!!!

Of course it would. You don't allow them choices. You don't bond them. You don't allow them to breed 3x per year or more. You don't keep them in communual groups year round. You raised a fat snake on a diet. Congrats!

Take all that away and you will get a fat snake.
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www.Bluerosy.com

And NEITHER does this poster you are recommending all this pure BS too..LOL!.........CONGRATS to you too Mr. snake "expert"!

You trying to be the one and only dominating force here all the time really gets old.

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Doug,
Your such a bonehead. The Op had a severaly starved snake. Not only starved. but starved over a long period of time. Where it was barely able to grow and develope properly.

I just reccomended he should feed it as much as it will eat. And i explained how to do it. Then you bozoz jump in and confuse the OP with you diet and fat snake talk.

Don't you think the next person will be confused as you have confused others wehn they post sevraly emaciated snakes? Don't you agree it is you that is confsuing them?
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www.Bluerosy.com

No, I do NOT think it is me that is the one confusing anyone at all. I told the poster what would get the snake back on track and how simple it was to do. YOU are the one that then had to jump in to tell him all this mega type buffet stuff and that I was WRONG!!. And on top of it all, feeding these MEGA AMOUNTS to long-term underfed snakes isn't smart to begin with, their systems simply aren't used to eating non stop food.

Nobody on this green earth including you can tell me that the snake wouldn't have been right on track to a healthy way of living with what I suggested to the poster he feed his snakes. This was MORE than enough food to simply gain a tad of weight, it was PLENTY!!!!!!!!!. Then you insult me with saying my subadult females were FAT. So which is it, underfed?, skinny, fat?, don't produce 10 clutches per season so I am a stupid idiot??

Why is it that you are so darn hell-bent on always calling me and everyone else here on the forums names and how very wrong they are if they don't subscribe to exactly as you do? I ignore almost all of the BS I see, but yet you still keep pressing on with the forum DOMINATION thing that you crave so much.

The only thing that was important is that the posters snakes become fuller and healthier animals, not these mega production line egg machines producing clutch after clutch of eggs. He never said this ONCE!! Can you not see what the big difference is here man???

If you cannot understand this, then I will not keep going around and around with you on this anyway. This is exactly why I don't participate or comment more about topics here. Sh!t always has to get twisted around and everyone has to be insulted before you are satisfied until the next mud-sling that always ensues shortly after when another peeve topic of yours comes up for chrissakes.

I guess in your opinion me and everyone else in the entire hobby is just a simple-minded know-nothing idiot, huh?. Try to refrain from being such an overbearing jerk to people for once.

You really need to take a few steps back and look at how you come across to everybody else my friend. I know for a fact it isn't helping your business out whatsoever.

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Doug,

Are you losing it?

Go ahead and look at the thread and re-read it in sequence. You helped the OP with identifying the snakes. that's it!. You made two posts on identification and it never even occured to you his snakes were sickly....until i made the post...

You never made a comment on the snakes being underfed until after i made my comment . Then you directly contradicted me and suggested not to take my advice.

So who is to blame here? You are!...Just read the damn thread and then come back and apologize...or at least admit you made a mistake .

As far as my business. Since when are you so interested in me and what i am doing? I do know who is talking behind my back on this forum and trying their darndest to ruin my business. And it is diely noted. But i didn't think you were. But I can assure you I will find out if you were.

BTW i sell out of all my snakes before the next season starts every year. With the exception of a few possible het normals I don't have a problem even though some scum bags here have taken it this far. I would think you would be ashamed to call them your friends. Your pathitic little friends.
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www.Bluerosy.com

What a idiot!
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Gerard
www.livebaitclip.com

GONE FISHING!!!

Dude, what kind of mushrooms are you making your Kool-Aid with???
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Doug,

These were your two posts before i said anything about feeding:

"Those actually aren't "aberrant" at all, and could actually be either Desert kings(L.g.splendida) OR Mexican Black kings(L.g.nigrita). The fact is that indeed "most" all of the captive-bred MBK's in the hobby are hatched muck more solid black(actually very dark brown) with some light flecking on the chin quite often. But in nature these very often hatch with a VERY typical Desert king(splendida) patterning. I have seen many of these exactly like yours become solid black within about 9 months to a years time. As a matter of fact, so-called MBK's are very likely nothing more than very melanistic splendida.

~Doug"

LOL!

Then my post:
I would offer larger more mature mice than what the pics show.

Up it to every other day and feed as muny mice as they will eat in a sitting. I about 2-3 months they should look more healthy.

Uhg, I don't know why i bother with you nimrods.

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www.Bluerosy.com

Is that your signature or a staement?
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Gerard
www.livebaitclip.com

GONE FISHING!!!

"Uhg, I don't know why i bother with you nimrods"

Actually, it's the other way around. This is exactly why me and SO MANY other people you aren't even aware of don't bother getting involved with alot of what goes on here, or ever post anything at all. As soon as anyone that is not in your tight circle of "clique" buddies mentions ANYTHING that might differ from your views it always has to become some sort of silly-ass contest you have to be the "winner" of.

BTW, I know EXACTLY when and what I posted, so you highlighting it in bold black letters was a complete waste of time, just like so many other things on this forum are quite often.

Let me spell it out for you this time. I DID NOTICE HIS SNAKES WERE UNDERWEIGHT!!!. YOU did not point this out to me whatsoever, that is what I use my eyes for Rainer....OBSERVING. And I "OBSERVED" that you then told the poster to immediately start feeding them these huge MEGA amounts of food and EVERY OTHER DAY at that!. Soooo........when I read this, I did not agree with it AT ALL, and I posted to the person that this advice wouldn't be in the snakes best interest and advised against this and mentioned what in MY OPINION would be a better alternative to have very well-off and healthy snakes. And so it is very clear, I still do not agree with that advice you gave to the poster.

The last time I checked, people didn't need a pass from you to comment here on threads and give their opinions and/or advice on any topics or issues that come up.

It would be fantastic if you stopped treating every single thing on this forum as some sort of silly contest that you ALWAYS have to "win" at when anyone else comments on something that isn't exactly what you might do or agree with. And PLEASE STOP assuming that you "know" what me and other people are always thinking or meaning, because I guarantee that you do not.

This is my last go around on this ridiculous thing, so feel free to reply back and "win" this one too if you wish, but you will have to carry on all by yourself. I am not going to waste any more of my time with this silly sword fight.

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

As soon as anyone that is not in your tight circle of "clique" buddies mentions ANYTHING that might differ from your views it always has to become some sort of silly-ass contest you have to be the "winner" of.

Ha HA ..is that a joke? It is the exact opposite. It is the EXACT OPPOSITE my friend.

BTW, I know EXACTLY when and what I posted, so you highlighting it in bold black letters was a complete waste of time, just like so many other things on this forum are quite often.

Ya that what one is supposed to do, they copy and paste the responses when someone has a bad memory or to make a point. I knew you couldn't admit you were wrong. that is why i said it was a waste of time.. So go blow more smoke where someone is listening.

Let me spell it out for you this time. I DID NOTICE HIS SNAKES WERE UNDERWEIGHT!!!. YOU did not point this out to me whatsoever, that is what I use my eyes for Rainer....OBSERVING. And I "OBSERVED" that you then told the poster to immediately start feeding them these huge MEGA amounts of food and EVERY OTHER DAY at that!. Soooo........when I read this, I did not agree with it AT ALL, and I posted to the person that this advice wouldn't be in the snakes best interest and advised against this and mentioned what in MY OPINION would be a better alternative to have very well-off and healthy snakes. And so it is very clear, I still do not agree with that advice you gave to the poster.

Maybe you noticiced but didn't post anything until I said something. And when you did , it was in reference to my post and you had to say something disrespectful..about "setting a guiness book of recoprds". And so other posters jumped in and disagreed with your post. So it is a blatantly debatable subject-well maybe not in your mind [kettle calling the pot black-lol] because you just described yourself in this accusatory post..

The last time I checked, people didn't need a pass from you to comment here on threads and give their opinions and/or advice on any topics or issues that come up.

So stop commenting on posts with rude and disrespectful comments.

It would be fantastic if you stopped treating every single thing on this forum as some sort of silly contest that you ALWAYS have to "win" at when anyone else comments on something that isn't exactly what you might do or agree with. And PLEASE STOP assuming that you "know" what me and other people are always thinking or meaning, because I guarantee that you do not.

It would be fantastic if you and your cronies could have a intellegent debate. Or treat people with respect. But it is all game playing.

Others here don't know what lengths some of your 'friends' go through behind the scenes in this forum. i still have faith in you Doug. So not accusing you. You are also helpful to people with questions. Maybe the problem here is not you Doug. Maybe it is not me. Personally i think we could get along and respect each other. It is you nasty friends on here who you support and cause the problems.

This is my last go around on this ridiculous thing, so feel free to reply back and "win" this one too if you wish, but you will have to carry on all by yourself. I am not going to waste any more of my time with this silly sword fight.

Just because you said it, it is true right...hmm sounds like you are talking about yourself again. like you did throughout your post.

Open your eyes Doug! Use the same measurement on yopurself that you measure against others and lets get along.
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www.Bluerosy.com

As soon as anyone that is not in your tight circle of "clique" buddies"

Thare is no tight cligque circle. That is your fantasy.

it is just a few people that differ in their knowledge and experinces than you. That makes it appear in your delusion we are a tight circle.
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www.Bluerosy.com

Send that OB my way Doug and I will pay shipping and leave you a good guy post on the BOI. If it were only that easy. lol

You cracked me up Ross!..

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

,

Doug, that is a chuncky King man. It looks like it is hard a a rock. I hate when you see fat snakes from eating to much. They hardly move and dont live a long time. That one looks like metal.
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Gerard
www.livebaitclip.com

GONE FISHING!!!

Yeah, some of these girls are like this broad in the green..LOL!

"starved" they definitely ain't!, and nobody EVER hears me recommending skimpy-ass feedings to anyone here either.

What some folks never seem to think about here is that not every person that ever posts here or reads these posts is out to produce as many clutches of eggs as humanly possible, or even ANY CLUTCHES of eggs at all for that matter. A "pet" kingsnake can EASILY become over-fed and obese, just like they can be very UNDER-FED as you and many other's here already know. This is very common to see too. It's all about some common sense and balances for any given snake and what is the goal for any particular individual snake. And as you know different snakes can have different metabolisms too. The environment they are kept in also plays a big part of how their metabolism works.

A "pet" snake needs nothing close to what a very prolific female would need, simple as that. And by the same token, an adult male doesn't need as many calories as an egg-bearing female either. I'm sure you and countless other's reading this will agree when I say...I don't see a big "mystery" hear withn feeding, and never have. It's all about using some COMMON SENSE and using your eye balls for what they were inteded for to actually look and see what the animal(s) look like and what they need(or don't need). It's really just as simple as that...

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

.....another extremely robust green female..LOL!

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

now thats scary...LOL!
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Gerard
www.livebaitclip.com

GONE FISHING!!!

A "pet" kingsnake can EASILY become over-fed and obese

Yep!

Maybe Barrington should rename this the "Pet Kingsnake" forum for all you guys. That is where you all really need to be.
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www.Bluerosy.com

Did Jeff Barringer change his last name recently?

It's YOU that should start your own forum. You could call it something like the "Domination Obsession" forum, and have a logo underneath that says...."where only MY opinion really matters"

Here nobody can ever say anything here without you instantly popping in telling them how very "wrong" they are about whatever the topic happens to be, and how absolutely right YOU ALWAYS ARE..LOL!

BTW, maybe you could suggest to Jeff B. that YOU want to take over his kingsnake forum, because you like to be the most dominating one on it anyway and it would be best ran that way.

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

.
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Genesis 1:1

" It's all about using some COMMON SENSE and using your eye balls for what they were inteded for to actually look and see what the animal(s) look like and what they need(or don't need). It's really just as simple as that... "

Kinda like teaching a kid to use the faucet.." Left side=HOT! Right side=Cold!!"
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Genesis 1:1

some gorgeous floridana, Doug! just smokin!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you Micah!, glad you like these too my friend..

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Well yeah.....those are as good as it gets! Just awesome man!

Again, thanks for the help. I just want whats good for my snakes. Ive wanted one for many years now lol

Currently they have had only one meal since i got them (on friday) a fuzzy.
I was going the feed them again this afternoon just to see.

To me (as a newbie) they managed (but not with ease) to eat the fuzzy. So ill offer two more fuzzies each today and find out what my snakes are capable of. How does that sound?

Then offer some more in a couple of days or three.

I am new to this and I appreciate everyones help. thanks.

oh, im not sure at this stage what the next size mousy is. So do you think two fuzzies is ok?

These snakes will tell you what to do if you listen to THEM. The best way to listen to them is to give them choices and not control what "we" thing is best for them. They are the ultimate survivors. They are the teachers! that is what snakes do. They seek the perfect temps, humidty and food. Sometimes that is cold , sometimes it is hot. they seek dry and humid.. When you put them in a box with limited choices of temperature range and humidty, you restrict what they are want to do to survive already anyway. Then by adding a feeding "regime' you also take that away. Let the snake do what they need to do and learn from them. That is what makes keeping them fun! That is what will make you a succesful herpetoculturist. Not some pet shop recipe for what a few people think the snakes need. You won't learn anything from the snakes that way and you can't call yourself and expert in keeping snakes by doing that.

See what these 'expert" people here are telling you is how they raise their snakes by putting them on a regime. The regime is what they think there snake should eat. Not what the snake wants. Also they said they "raised" ther snakes to be healthy. But yours is not healthy. It hasn't been for a while. Imagine one of those children from africa who had were on a starvation diet an their bones and are groth stunted, That is what your snakes have been through and are..

the best way to try and make them heathly is feed them as much as they will take in a single sitting. Then offer food again in a couple days.

If the snakes feed this way. then they have a chance to be healthy. You may have a roblem though. Most depleted, long-term starved snakes become finicky feeders. they stay that way for life. That also make it hard to keep them. they refuse meals even when they are hungry and they won't get to breeding (which means they are healthy even if you don't put males and females together.). If you do decide to bred them,.. the snakes go through periods of depletion. Females ovulate and males shut down from feeding during breeding season. That takes a lot of extra food. Most people only have their snakes breed once per season. Mine breed 2-3 times pr season because they are healthy.

Also if you breed the snakes they also go through a brumation period during winter. That is where they are cooled and stop feeding for months. Your best bet is to feed , feed, feed them at this point. Some snakes shut down from food during winter even if you keep the temperature raised on high. Especially depleted snakes like yours. So be aware to feed them up now!

I would also bump up the size of the mice. IMO a larger adult mouse is more developed and has more calcium (something that your snakes need). From what i cantell from the pics. Your snakes can take the larger mice. But you should just experiment anyway. If the mouse is to big the snake will not choke on it. It will simply stop trying to swallow and leave it. That means it was to big a mouse. So you areall the time not doing anything to hurt the snakes. . In the wild, they also feed on other snakes. That is a large meal. So a mouse or two, though large in circumference, is noy too big a meal. Their systems are designed for large meals and they go through incredible growth spurts if given the opportunity..

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www.Bluerosy.com

>> Imagine one of those children from africa who had were on a starvation diet an their bones and are groth stunted, That is what your snakes have been through and are..

>>the best way to try and make them heathly is feed them as much as they will take in a single sitting. Then offer food again in a couple days.

Yeah, I can imagine that starving african child shortly after it had been fed as much as it would eat in a single sitting. You'reTRYING to make me crazy, aren't you!

>>Most depleted, long-term starved snakes become finicky feeders. they stay that way for life.

Paul, Rainer might be right about this, generally speaking. You need to pay special attention to your snakes to get them back to a healthier balance. But I'd urge the word "balance". Start slowly, and if the snakes keep the food down, try again in 3-4 days. You can increase the volume of the food OR the frequency, but remember, it's not a contest. You don't get points because your snake eats 14 food items in a day and someone else's only eats 13. I bought a yearling splendida, much like yours but not so dark, last summer, and it wasn't much bigger than a hatchling should have been. It ate only small meals, threw up a few times, went thru a few bad sheds. I wasn't sure it would survive. It went thru brumation, and this spring started keeping its small meals down. I kept moist towels in its hide and it shed several times. Now its skin is perfect and as I've increased its feed it's become a robust, strong and healthy animal. Yours can too. Just take your time getting to that point, because there's no downside to that strategy.

Rainer, I had a female 4' getula eat its 3' 10' mate. She couldn't crawl for a week, laid on her side. I don't think that was as good for her as if she'd had a few moderate-sized meals instead. I've also had animals eat "too big" a meal, puke, and refuse their next several meals, or get into a puking habit. Have you ever observed that?

Rainer, I had a female 4' getula eat its 3' 10' mate. She couldn't crawl for a week, laid on her side. I don't think that was as good for her as if she'd had a few moderate-sized meals instead. I've also had animals eat "too big" a meal, puke, and refuse their next several meals, or get into a puking habit. Have you ever observed that?

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Yes a getula will eat a another snake to big for it and then regurge. that is what they do in nature. Also when they regurged. Did you notcie part of the snake that was regurged was partially digested (usually the head and neck)?

As far as to big a meal...not for getula. IMO their systems are set up to take large meals at any time

Oh and I never had any kings regurge repeatedly from large meals, or get into a puking habit unles they have parasites. I have seen puking habits in other snakes. Like rosy boas and pitophus. But we are talking about knigsnakes here. Have you observed this puking habit from Hondurans that were well fed? or was it something that flagyll cured?
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www.Bluerosy.com

I would call them Splendida........
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

Be nice! Thanks for helping him out.
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Cindy Steinle
PHFaust
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>>Be nice! Thanks for helping him out.

You spoke TOO soon.......LMAO!!!!!!!!
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

...
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Gerard
www.livebaitclip.com

GONE FISHING!!!

hahahahaha I was thinking the same thing.

Thanks Cindy. I managed to log in lol

what you have are getula NOBODY can definatively say what ssp. they are without seeing parents or knowing lineage anyone attempting to do so is talking outta they cloaca.
as said feed them they are underfed.
listen and they will tell you ALL they want and need.
good luck,,,,,,,,,thomas davis
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Morphs... just like baseball cards BUT ALIVE, how cool is that???

my website www.barmollysplace.com