Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Early this spring I was doing some wetland work in Montgomery County when I came upon a very sick eastern kingsnake. Due to the wetter than usual conditions the water-table rose and forced this snake from it's hibernacula. It was in desperate need of shed, had bloody fluid coming from the lungs, and it's breathing was extremely wheezy. The whole area was slated for housing, and the hibernacula was under a planned road. I brought the snake home. Dry heat and a clean warm soaking area was provided. Two months and three back-to-back sheds and he(?)is now glossy black with narrow cream colored patterning, extremely active and feeding on live mice. I would like to know if there are any breeders of lines from Central Maryland. If there are'nt can anyone inform me of the breeding possibilities for this sub-species; are there mutations like albino for eastern chains?
Thanks Bob
OBTW: length=52"

Great job getting that king back in good health!
There are locality specific breeders of eastern kings but I'm not aware of any currently working with Maryland locale.
Albino eastern kings exist but they are still pretty expensive and not a lot of people are working with them. (I believe Terry from Albino Tricolors is producing them)
If you enjoy eastern kings, you'll definitely want to check out Keith Hillson's site. You can check out the Maryland easterns in his locality photo gallery. If you get a photo of your king, send it to him so he can add it to the gallery.
Check out the attached link,
Chris
Keith Hillson's site

Thank you for your response. I will be posting a picture soon.
Bob

My pair bred this year, as you can tell in the first pic below. i've got a couple dozen eggs due to hatch later this month. The male's colors are washed out in that pic due to the lighting, but he's still got a lot of color on him, including the red spots you can see in the second pic, taken of him when he was a juvie. Like other albinos, the pink skin has turned white as it became opaque, but he's developed a yellowish tint dorsally as well, while retaining the creamy chain pattern & a few tiny red spots.
terry
albino tricolors

I have 19 eggs incubating from two Maryland Eastern Kings. The adults were acquired as hatchlings from Dan Dellatore in Southern Maryland.Pictures of the adults are posted on Keith Hillson's E. King site.
Send me an E-mail and let me know if you are interested.
Brad

I have a WC male eastern king at work that came from the Dunkirk area of Calvert County. His bands though are not the narrow cream color I normally see in Maryland eastern kings...they are broad and quite yellow. I do have a female eastern king with the narrow cream but I have no clue to her origins - she came from animal control from a confiscated collection a few years back. I had hoped to breed the two definitely next summer now that the male has finally put on some size, but right now looks like the female may never be able to produce...just had emergency surgery on Friday for dystocia. I get to pick her up tomorrow and will need to have a long talk with the vet to see if she is still breedable or not.

_____

Wyvern

I wrote a recent email to a breeder discussing regional types for Maryland. In that missive I outlined a southern Maryland region encompassing all of Calvert, St Mary's, Charles, P.G., and Anne Arundle. A central region including all of the fall zone in Montgomery, Howard, Baltimore, and Harford. Thirdly an eastern shore region south of the Delaware River. These areas are seperated by natural topographic features and would thus be considered a macro population. Are any pictures of your snakes on the web?
Bob

You have a Calvert Co. Eastern and no pics ? Im in dire need of MD pics and one with yellow crossbars to boot!. Thats just cruel to let on about that snake and not show him LOL. Sorry for the shamless plea for a pic

Regards,

Keith

>>You have a Calvert Co. Eastern and no pics ? Im in dire need of MD pics and one with yellow crossbars to boot!. Thats just cruel to let on about that snake and not show him LOL. Sorry for the shamless plea for a pic
>>
>>Regards,
>>
>>Keith

I will get some pics posted eventually for you. Right now he's in the middle of a shed and his colors look dull and horrible lol.