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Here is a pic of my Hernando County King on my beat up semi painted snakeroom table. She is quite big at 18.19" long (she hatched 7/14/2004). She is from wild collected parents as well. my question... is she an intergrade or a Floridana King ? Looking at range maps the intergrade zone goes right into Hernando County. For those who dont know Hernando Co. is north of Tampa on the Gulf side. Any of you Florida guys care to offer up an opinion ?
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Just my opinion, but it looks like an intergrade to me. Especially after seeing the pictures of the parents that you posted a while back. They definitely had the intergrade look to me. Also, Hernando is not far from, and a little North of, Pinellas county, where the "Pinellas Kings" definitely are intergrades. Just my opinion, we'll see what others think.

Todd

Looking at the band count as well as the classic "chain" look to the side pattern, I would have to say it "may" be an intergrade-but one that leans very heavily to the getula (Eastern Chain King) side.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

I once heard someone say they had caught 5 kings in Hernando county, and that they were "obvious florida and eastern intergrades", because they were very speckled, yet had lower band counts.

I think those Hernando County kings look like intergrades, but they might "pure" Floridana. The eastern king's band count,pattern, and coloration varies by locale, and I'd think the Florida king would have similar variation. Most of the FL kings we see in captivity have originated from south of Lake Okeechobee or are "brooksi" from further south, so we're not seeing what FL kings look like over the entire state. I don't necessarily think the Pinellas County kings are intergrades either, though they seem to be widely accepted as that. I think their look is within the variation of a Florida king, and I have seen kings found over 100 miles southeast that look identical.

But sure, whatever, the Hernando kings are probably intergrades.

>>Here is a pic of my Hernando County King on my beat up semi painted snakeroom table. She is quite big at 18.19" long (she hatched 7/14/2004). She is from wild collected parents as well. my question... is she an intergrade or a Floridana King ? Looking at range maps the intergrade zone goes right into Hernando County. For those who dont know Hernando Co. is north of Tampa on the Gulf side. Any of you Florida guys care to offer up an opinion ?
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Here he is he belongs to Terri C. and Mike C. of Florida. This pic was taken by them as well.

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Definitely looks to have an Eastern influence to me. The chain pattern is really prominent.

Todd