When faced with an animal of unknown origin, anybody got a surefire way to determine what species of milk you're dealing with? I've got a "honduran" that I'm beginning to doubt is actually that.
Anybody know proper scale counts or something similar?
-----
-Paul
Reptile & Amphibian Forums
Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.
Reliable method of determining species?
blueharlequin
Oct 23, 2004 12:58 AM
Replies (2)
chrish
Oct 23, 2004 11:59 AM
That's easy....they are all Lampropeltis triangulum.
Oh wait,.. you mean which subspecies. LOL
Actually, milksnakes in captivity are messed up. We have determined the phenotype of most milksnake subspecies in captivity after years of inbreeding of lineages with little good locality data from the start.
So, for example, as common as Hondurans are in captivity, most of them look about the same from years of breeding to remove black tipping, increase orange in bands, etc. They look very little like the wild caught Hondurans that used to appear in the US 15 years ago. Therefore, most people probably wouldn't recognize many wild caught hondurensis as such.
When you start comparing Nelson's and Sinaloan milks, they lines get even blurrier.
Frankly, without locality data, it can be really tough to assign many central american milks to subspecies.
-----
Chris Harrison
Jeff Hardwick
Oct 24, 2004 11:09 PM
Just to add to the confusion, I would post a pic right here and a bunch of us will take a shot at it. Include a single head shot and full body shot please. Maybe who you got it from.
As far as scale counts, etc.. here's a link to a fine herp book supplier. At the site, you'll do a search for:
"Systematics and Natural History of the American Milksnake, Lampropeltis Triangulum" authored by Kenneth Williams.
http://www.herpetologicalbooks.com/cgi-bin/hrp455/scan/mp=keywords/se=REPTILES/st=sql/ml=1000/sp=quickcat/tf=author/tf=title/cs=no/em=yes
There's one in stock currently and you want only the 1988 (2nd revision) copy.
Keep in mind that the pics you find on the internet do not capture all the variations of color and pattern you can find in Hondos or the few other tropical Triangulums offered.
Zip a pic to Shannon Brown and me when you get a chance.
Jeff Hardwick Jis97@aol.com
