Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all. I have a decent pet store near me that has had an all black Candoia for a few months now. Someone bought the one it came in with, which was a standard cream/tan zig-zag patterned. This one is solid black, no zigzags that I can see, with a reddish/orange and gray/black speckled ventral side. Is this still Paulsoni, or could it be a different Candoia? It looks like Paulsoni, but I know nothing of differentiating between them by scale count, etc....any input would be appreciated.
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1.1 Ball Python 0.0.1 corn snake 1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.2 fish 1.2 cats 3.1 kids 1.0 husband and now...
0.0.1 Pink Zebra Beauty Tarantula
2.0 Solomon Island Boas

It could be another type of Candoia - I remember reading about an all black snake with one of the species. However, it could still be a paulsoni. The last male I purchased looked basically black when I purchased him - the pattern was almost indescernable. After a few days of settling in, he turned lighter and is now a grey snake with darker grey zig-zags. From what I can tell, they seem able to change shades of color depending on temperature, humidity and/or stress. It may well be that once you purchased him and let him settle in, he lightens up into a more recognizable color.

Raven

This is possible. He's been there for about 3 months. I almost bought them before going to the show where I found my other 2. Is there a description of differentiating scale counts out there?? I may post this in Yahoo.....
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1.1 Ball Python 0.0.1 corn snake 1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.2 fish 1.2 cats 3.1 kids 1.0 husband and now...
0.0.1 Pink Zebra Beauty Tarantula
2.0 Solomon Island Boas

I'm not sure about the scale counts (haven't gotten into it that far myself). You might want to refer to Jerry Conway's site as well, since I believe he gives some detailed species accounts - it may mention something in that. Otherwise, I think the Yahoo site is a good idea. I dare say Randy has some information on it.

Raven