Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently got my first milk, a hatchling gaigeae. I'm EXTREMELY impressed. Although they're all beautiful, I've always been turned off by milks because of their spastic behavior when handled, especially as youngsters. I'm not a fan of getting musked, and that weird head-jerk reaction just always bugged me. But this little guy has changed my tune. He's a real charmer- perfect when handled, beautiful, and switched from live to frozen/thawed food without hesitation.

Now that I have him, I'm almost kind of sad that his gorgeous aberrant tricolor pattern will be going black. I mean, it's the reason I bought him. But that red/black/yellow is just amazing. I know that andesiana and hondurensis get large as well, but I've heard that they (especially andesiana) also get heavy black tipping as they get older. Are there any lines or specimens of these two ssp. that DON'T get the black tipping, and retain the striking tricolor appearance? Or are there any other milks that have a good tricolor pattern AND reach a large size?

Doubt I'll be getting another snake any time soon, but my interest in milks is now piqued. Thanks for your time!
-Jonathan

A Black milk is a good place to start, easy to handle and they can reach a good size too.
turned off by milks because of their spastic behavior when handled, especially as youngsters. I'm not a fan of getting musked, and that weird head-jerk reaction just always bugged me.
I think most neonate snakes tend to freak out when handled despite species, and they'll mellow with age in most cases.

I very rarely get musked by milks. Neonates will throw crap all over if you don't secure the tail quick, but they soon grow out of this habit, in most cases.

I'm not sure about the head-jerk reaction you're talking about, maybe I don't notice it any more.

He's a real charmer- perfect when handled, beautiful, and switched from live to frozen/thawed food without hesitation.
You're preaching to the choir here.

If you're interested in having a milk with out tipping (I like the tipping in most cases), look into some hypo. hondurensis , they can be great looking. And Lampropeltis triangulum sinaloae are really clean looking. A couple of our forum members have great line of sinaloae milks.

-Dell
Tangerine Honduran.

Black Milk

Tricolor hypo. Honduran.

Hypo Hondurans tend to stay "clean."

Six year old hypo tri-color male:

They still can get a bit of tipping like this hypo tri-color female:

Young adult "pin banded" tangering hypo:

Yearling tangerine hypo:

Tim
Third Eye