Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A friend of mine went to Texas last summer and came home with a couple of WC snakes, one being a very nice and very large banded female cal king. She seemed in A1 health and a good eater so he brumated her over the winter in hopes of breeding her this spring.
Well, I went to look at said snake today and she is most certainly gravid, in the blue, and refusing food. Sounds great huh?
Here's the weird part...apparently she never shed when she came out of brumation! She ate like a pig, kept eating, but never turned blue. He went ahead and put a large male in with her just to see what would happen and they were locked for hours (obviously lol) on 2 or 3 separate occasions. But this shed she is in now is the FIRST time she has sloughed since she came out of brumation back in February.
I personally have never had this happen with my snakes, nor have I ever heard of it happening to anyone I know. Is it possible she DID shed but perhaps ate the skin? I HAVE heard of that happening once or twice, although have never experienced it myself. He said she 'looked' like she was in shed a few weeks ago, but her eyes weren't blue, she was just 'cloudy' looking, but he never found a skin.
Anyone ever had a similar experience or heard of such a thing?
Thanx!
~Roo
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"Klaatu...Verata...Nicht--cough, cough, cough!"

Texas doesn't have California Kingsnakes but does have Desert Kingsnakes.

Older kings don't shed as often and it is possible for a snake not to shed. I had a California Kingsnake that never did a pre-lay shed and she laid nice clutches.

Kerby...

Guess she would be a desert king then huh, lol! God, what was I thinking? Just tired I guess.
I'll try get over there for a pic or 2 of her, she's very thick and her light bands are almost a light orange in the centers...I've never seen any WC snakes in person from that end of the country (that I know of) Cal, Texas or otherwise so I'm a dummy when it comes to that
Thanks for the response though, she looks like she's gonna drop a nice sized clutch.
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"Klaatu...Verata...Nicht--cough, cough, cough!"

i have a albino banded desert king and i thought it was a cal?Chris

I think you are referring to desert phased california kings (L. g. californiae). the desert phase cali kings show black and white coloration instead of the coastal phase which shows a cream and dark brown normally.
Then there are desert kingsnakes (L. g. splendida).
It is much safer to use scientific names when referring to snakes. Common and coloquial names are confusing to say the least.
-John Lassiter-

The best thing to do is post a pic. Cal Kings just don't exist naturally in Texas. Someone could have let one go or it could be a lost pet. I believe Don Shores is working with a wild-caught strain of albino desert king (splendida). Plus there are crosses between splendida and californiae that naturally occur in Arizona.

Kerby...

....

Well, here she is in all her gravid splendor. She has just cleared up from being blue so will most likely shed in a couple of days. Because of this she looks kinda crappy...but you get the general idea. She actually looks alot like one of my banded cal king females, but mine has MUCH more contrast of colour between her light and dark bands, is built much more delicately and is shorter. I'm gonna post a pic of her when I'm done here so look at the post for comparison.
He says he caught her about 45 mins out of Austin about a mile away from any main roads out in the boonies.

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"Klaatu...Verata...Nicht--cough, cough, cough!"

and if it was indeed caught n.of austin it was released there thats a cali and they are not native to texas, great looking king BTW,,,,,
thomas davis

Could be an escapee or someone might have released it in the wild. They will breed with splendida.

Either way, glad it's off the street.

Kerby...

So I was right after all, lol. I knew she wasn't a splendida when you guys had mentioned it. My only ignorance is not knowing that these don't grow in the wild in Texas. Guess I really am a 'Damn Yankee' as my husband likes to call me!

I told my friend Chris and he had a laugh, said a few unmemtionable words, then said 'Well, it figures I go trekking out in the middle of nowhere at high risk to my own life just to pick up something I could have gotten from you to begin with' lol
It doesn't matter, she's a beautiful snake and certainly has tha 'WC' look to her and he's (we're) glad to have her. Might explain why she's so docile though
Thanks!

~Roo
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"Klaatu...Verata...Nicht--cough, cough, cough!"