Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It seems genuine arcifera are also difficult to come by. A quick search in Google images for L.t. arcifera is laughable. I'm amazed that so little info is out there for such a handsome little snake. In the few examples I've seen of arcifera the females tend to have high crossover in the black bands while the males do not. The two breeders I know of tell me that in their experience this tends to be true.

I'm sure there must be more than two breeders out there so for any of you other arcifera breeders out there... do you also notice the females having a higher tendency for high crossover in the black banding as opposed to males? What are the sizes of our adults. Are small clutches(4-6) also the norm for you? I'd really appreciate any answers... e-mail if you're one who prefers lurking.

Now for my usual post of the few thing I have...

Trinity, my abnorma, has taken to hanging out in the plants again... perhaps now that the plants are secured with mechanical fasteners rather than duck tape and won't fall off she's more comfortable venturing there again. You (or at least me) gotta love her, as soon as I slid the glass door aside she was poking her head out to see what was going on.

No names for the stuarti yet other than 1 thru 5... here's #3, a female and perhaps the best looking one of them all and certainly the nicest to handle... all the others still musk or bite... #5 is still a rabid/possessed individual given to being unpleasant in every way... a definite keeper!

Again... if you're a breeder/keeper of arcifera I'd really appreciate more details about them as there's damn little out there I believe is factual.

Gerry

I agree, Gerry. It's just as ridiculous as doing a search on several other Latin milks as you already are very aware of..LOL!. The extremely BOGUS depictions are everywhere and most don't even come close to being what they are said to be. As you might know, many years ago Ruthven's kings were thought to actually be L.t.arcifera, but since then it has been noted that that is quite false.

That's very interesting, I wasn't aware that there was a sexual dimorphism with the female arcifera having a higher tendency towards having crossovers, but anything is possible with snakes and other animals as there are many sexual dimorphisms known out there.

Nice shots by the way. That's really cute that the little abnorma girl peeks out of the vines to see if "dad" has a tasty morsel to offer her. They sure do get familiar with the "program", don't they..LOL!...

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

I don't think sexual dimorphism can be shown or even inferred with just two breeding pair and I don't think you were implying that. It never occurred to me to ask questions such as "how many clutches"... "did you keep note of females with crossover compared to males... etc. May have to fall back on info from just those two breeding pair... not expecting much in the way of replies here since arcifera don't seem to be that popular. Rather a shame because pics I've seen with animals having that high crossover are very cool... almost "flame sided".

Don't encourage me to read more into what Trinity is thinking when she hangs out in the plants... I swear she does peek out to see what I'm up to when she's coiled up in them.

Gerry

Yeah, with few specimens in the hobby and a very small number of offspring produced, you would definitely have to have a good number of them in a controlled setting to even insinuate them being sexually dimorphic regarding the black cross-overs.

Even so, it could simply be an individual bloodline and not pertain to any other arcifera whatsoever.

Yeah, I love to see little heads pop out of hiding to see what's going on too....it's pretty cute..HAHA!!

My little dog ALWAYS comes running downstairs whenever he hears the crisper drawer in the fridge open and close. He knows the meat and cheese is stored there and knows I always give him a snack when I make something..LOL!

~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Isn't it the other way around Doug?....
arcifera in the old days ,actually were ruthveni...?....

I knew people with arcifera...actually I had some...but they were said to be just ruthveni a few years later.......Shannon knows all on this stuff.....

....
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........JY

Yes, what you stated was exactly what I meant to say, the way I worded it came out backwards when I just read it too..LOL!!..

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

I know you know your stuff...I figured you just typed what you meant only bassackwards and all....just wanted to set it betterer for the rookies who come here and read this stuff and don't type at all.....still miss my critters....hypo Calvert's really sad not having...(he threw slugs so far for Theodore I think though,a bad boy).....

....always kinda liked ruthven's...so many triads in the count....first one I ever saw was at Micheal Walls place in eastern Pa.........awhile ago..>>>>>(91? 92)
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........JY

Yeah, I agree. Those hypo temporalis and ruthveni are very cool snakes.

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

What a sweet, little guy!!
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Genesis 1:1

LOL!!,.....he sure is Billy, thanks!

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Hi Gerry, I have some info and will be glad to share. I've attempted twice and both times it would not post. does your login timeout if take too long?

Hi Gerry,

I have 11 L.t.arcifera, 7 adults and 4 yearlings. 2 of the adults are females and 2 of the yearlings are females. 4 of the adults have the cross-over pattern. A 2008 male is overall the darkest(see photo) the other 3 are about equal. most have a pattern similar to nelsoni with a higher band count(18-22). Most of the ones from Applegate via Stan Draper do not have the cross-over pattern. Also I have seen several photos of wild arcifera with locality noted and the cross-over pattern doesn't seem to be the most common pattern for arcifera. That may be more locality oriented or just occurs in a small portion of the population.

all my adults are around 3' or less. my only clutch was 4 eggs and the hatchlings were around 11 inches long.

Jack