Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is "Bonkers," a snake I got in Tallahassee in Sept. 2000. She was 52" when I took this last July (the tape measure is 60" long). I don't know the lineage but it's a straight Eastern, that much I know. She had totally red-orange bands for the first year but they've faded by now (that's why I never bought any of those wild-priced "Blaze" blotched a couple of years ago that were screamin' at birth - you never know what's going to happen).

I have to have her sexed again to be sure, but when I went to the vet a year ago because she had a little blood in her stool (this is right after I lost the Terminator so I was freakin' when I saw the slightly bloody stool) she had a solid estrogen level. The tests came back negative, just elevated potassium and calcium levels from having just eaten 3 mice two days before I brought her to the vet. so the vet wasn't alarmed.

Has anyone had a female that at that age (2.5 years) that had any temporary, unusual things like an unusual stool? I thought that at that age she was becoming sexual mature and so that might explain the brief little episode with the blood in the stool. Since then no problems whatsoever, or no problems before that, so...?

-John

John

That looks identical to one of Kevin Enge's stock of GA Easterns. I would bet 50 bucks thats one of his animals.

Here is a pair of Will Stills animals he got from Kevin anumber of years ago.

Another thats a sib to the 2 above.

-----

Keith,

That's amazing - they look sooo alike. So much so that if I didn't know the pattern of my snake, I would confuse it in a second with your second pic; even the body size, length and girth are nearly the same. If those hatchlings had a ton of red on their crossbands then I'd bet $50 bucks too that they are from his stock.

This is also the snake that I told you looked like the one you have on your site from southern Georgia!! Good news...maybe I can track down the origins since I still know the guy who sold me the snake.

So...this is the snake I'd like to breed with the GA boy - what do you think. Next year I could brumate each and she what I get?
I still have to double check the sex, but do male snakes have estrogen in them, at least enough to show up as a normal level during a blood test? Her and the GA boy would be bred for size because this is already one big female (at least 53" by now) and she'll be 4 in late August, 2004.

-John

Hi John,

Nice eastern. I agree totally with Keith, it looks very similar to some of my S. GA animals (descended from K. Enge founders). The reason I chose my original pair was because of their deep red orange band pattern. Actually, the F2 generation has held onto a lot of the orange color into adulthood.

I've had several of my easterns drop the random nasty stool now and again. A little blood, maybe a little mucus, and smellier than even $h!@ oughta be. Yet on all occasions, the snakes came back with clean stool checks (floatation & smear) and healthy looking feces the next go around. All of the females have also subsequently laid fertile eggs. I attribute these seemingly random gastro-intestinal events to bacterial blooms caused by stress over such things as seasonal change, mating trials or an adjustment to an increased caloric intake. If allowed adequate temperature choices and seclusion, easterns seem to quickly get past any minor glitch in the system.

If the fecal checks came back clean and the normal stools return, I wouldn't worry. Good luck.

Will Still

Yeah I think its a Enge animal but if you can find out for sure that would be cool. As far as the estrogen I wouldnt be suprised if is a male . You must be rubbin off on him errr I mean her errr I mean it LOL. Get a tail shot and I can give ya a good guess.

Here is the pair if thats one of Kevins it most likely came from. This is Will's pair Mom and Dad.

-----