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I was just in my snake room to clean some cages and I opened up my female alterna's cage to take a look at the love birds. I usually pair up all of my snakes for about a week at a time during breeding season, separate them for a week or two and then put them together again for about a week and consider the female bred. I keep a small number of alterna and have done so for the past 6 years or so. This year was no different than any other. I put my favorite wild caught male N. Sanderson with a GENERIC (this was my first mistake) alterna female. The female has been exceptionally aggressive lately, and you have to watch your hands while tending her cage to avoid being bitten. I put the male snake in with her and saw the typical courtship behavior and then left the snake room. When I opened up the cage today, the female was just cruising around in her cage, but the male, a perfectly healthy well fed male, was lying in the cage dead. I have no indication why it died, no visible marks or anything. I therefore am having to assume that the female, being ultra aggressive, strangled the male to death. Has anyone ever heard of this? I have seen California Kingsnakes bite others of their own kind, but I though this was not something that graybanded kingsnakes ever did. I am extremely bummed out right now....

Wow !! That is the most bizarre thing I have ever heard of. My condolence to you for your loss. I have never ever heard of such a thing with any snake let alone graybands.......... they would have been my very last bet as to which species would do such a thing. I too will be very interested in hearing what other more experanced fokes have to pass along about this truely strange incident. Again my condolence to you.

A bit different, but I've know of one certain instance where a hatchling gray band killed and consumed a sibling within 3 days of hatching.