Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently bought a mex-mex king juvie at the ontario reptile expo in november as an early Xmas present to myself. when i bought it it was approx 4 months old and 12" long. on boxingday it shed (perfectly) and when i measured it i found that it has grown approx 6" in just over 5 weeks!!
is this normal for mex-mex as my other snakes have never shown such a growth spurt in such a short time

many thanks

EDD

1 south florida king (suspected fem)
1 tiawan beauty (suspected male)
1 ball python (suspected male)
1 mex-mex (suspected male)

If you measured the shed skin you will definitely get a false reading of the actual length of your snake. If you look at your Mex mex closely you will see that the scales on him/her are overlapped. When he/she sheds its skin the scales on the shed skin are stretched out and not overlapped. In a 5 week period a snake can grow about 2 inches in a growth spurt with feeding about every 3 days but 6 inches is unheard of. Here is a picture of my female Dark Phased Mex mex. Would love to see a picture of your new one.
-John Lassiter-

And if you did not measure the skin and you measured the actual snake I have no idea except that is an aweful fast growth spurt. What are you feeding and how often?
Thanks,
-John Lassiter-

jlasstier,
Nice posts of your mex mex's. I like the dark phase too. Is the second pic of a San Luis Potosi? In my biased opinion I just can't get over how beautiful a mex mex's head pattern is compared to other kingsnake species. It's amazing! I've noticed you posted lot of pics of mex kings. Question? What projects are you working with the mex mex species?
Happy Herping,
Uncloudy

Drop me an email Uncloudy and I will show you the collection.
Yes both are San Luis Potosi Kings.
Yours has the same head pattern as my "classic" looking one.
Very Nice!
Here is my splitbanded male:
-John Lassiter-

Mex-mex are San Louis Potisi. I have a trio myself as well as 9 young that hatched in Aug. from my dark phase by red male. I just got a red female this past Nov. that I plan to breed this spring. I like mex-mex, & mexicana greeri. As for trhe growth rate that would be a big one for the mexicana complex. I've seen getuelas grow that fast though.

I would love to see some pics of your Mexicana.
San Luis Potosi is the actual Mexican state they are mostly found in.
I, too keep Greeri (Durango Mt. Kingsnakes) and would like to see yours if possible.
Email pics if easier.
Thank,
John Lassiter
jlassiterjr54@grandecom.net

Here is my female Greeri that is a younger sibling to the only striped one in existence:

another pic of tequilla

thanx for the responses, yes this is the actual snake that i measured not the shed. its been eating 2 pinkies per week since i got it.
hope you enjoy the pics

more pics