Does anyone know if there is a visual difference between true albino brooksi (i.e. Ricks line) and those crossed with albino california or speckled kingsnakes as hatchlings or adults? What are those differences?
Thanks
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lavender/albino Brooksi question
chicagopsych
Jun 19, 2004 03:33 PM
Replies (1)
bluerosy
Jun 19, 2004 04:39 PM
Certainly one way to tell is by the breeder you are buying from. But even they can be mistaken.
Good question. Since I have kept and bred the Lemke line/Ricks line and some fake lines I might be able to share some thoughts. I have seen crosses coming out of florida breeders collections for years. If you attend any florida shows besides the expo you will see plenty of clifXfloridana crosses. Most florida breeders will be able to tell the difference and might give us some tell-tale signs.Unfortunatly the signs that point to that individual cross and may not apply to another.So there is no hard and fast rule. The easy ones are the new crosses (f-1,f2,f3)the harder ones are the ones crossed back to floridana/brooksi. These are the ones I will address.
I can usually tell the difference from the way the head looks. But there are some floridana that the calif has been bred out of due to back crossing to the floridana. I can still tell the difference by the head, side pattern, shape, temprament and color of a lavender.
To my best knowledge the Tim Ricks line has been "accepted" as pure floridana but it has not been proven. The Lemke line lavender has also been accepted as pure. I have a new morph that is the first pure amel (red eye) albino floridana. Its history dates back to Lloyd Lemke which came from a WC pair.
If you kept or bred floridna/brooksi for a while and are familiar with them and have been exposed to califXfloridana you will have a better idea than other. My advice is if you see any "california" in the head shape then its probably not pure.
I have seen literally thousands of crosses with floridana and speckled kings, calif kings and a few others. I can usually tell buy the one or more of the following factors.
1) head shape
2) side pattern
3) overall pattern
4) overall size (not to small), overall shape (not to thin or short)
a few long term ways are
1)feeding response from juvis to adulthood
2)temperment from juvi to adulthood
