Can anyone tell me how to tell the difference between a juvenile black milk (which still has the typical tri color pattern), and the several other species of milks that (to me) look just about the same? Thanks, Ritchie
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Identifying juvenile black milks
jsrocket
Oct 11, 2004 09:19 PM
Replies (2)
Tony D
Oct 12, 2004 06:44 AM
That's a great question and I'm looking forward to a good answer! I purchased my blacks as adults but was really surprised at how typical of tricolors the neonates looked. My experience with other central American milks is limited but if anything I would say that "tipping" is VERY prominant. With Hondurans, its seen as a blemmish and you generally pick neonates with as little of it as possible. In contrast black milk neonates uniformly have lots of tipping.
nategodin
Oct 12, 2004 12:37 PM
Hello,
Black milks look identical to Stuart's milks (L. t. stuarti) and very similar to Andeans and other Central/South American milks as hatchlings. The L. t. micropholis pictures that Shannon Brown posted the other day look a lot like gaigeae too. Once black milks get to about 6 months old I would say the tipping/darkening process is apparent enough to set them apart visually from other subspecies. For younger hatchlings, I guess you just have to take the word of the person who's selling it to you... or breed them yourself!
Nate
