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I was really hoping he would shed today and when I got home, lo and behold, he didn't let me down. A heartfelt thanks to the eteemed herp photographer J.Lassiter for his timely arrival. Just in time for a photo op. Check out the crazy orange sidewalls on this dude! Once again, thanks John!!! You the man! But whose ugly five digit hand is that holdin' MY snake!!! LOL!
Todd

Looks good Todd,
And by the way at least I have all five digits. LOL!
But I think it would be easier for me if I had no thumbs. I have a nasty bruise like that under each thumbnail. LOL!!!
Great find Todd!
John Lassiter

Great pic, John! Thanks. Here's a belly shot.

on its' lower sides! Where did he come from? Thanks for the pic!
What's with the thumb? Is that a nail protector, LOL! Just kidding - been there done that! Take care,

Zee

Thanks, Zee, It's a w.c. male from Calhoun county, Texas. Got him on 01-18-05. Going back up Monday for a girlfriend. He's got his groove on! That would be poor John's thumb. He wouldn't let me hold the snake soooo...lol.
Todd
p.s. here's one more...I can't resist

What a superb find and ready to breed.
Happy Herping,
Uncloudy

... shows a contrast between the lighter dorsum and the bright yellow belly.
Both are beautiful natural intergrades.
:Mark

another pic.
:Mark

Todd, is that an intergrade bt. a desert x speckled? Beautiful snake, btw.

Also, do you have to get rid of parasites, if you keep one of those w/c snakes?

Thanks....TC

Terry,
Todd has this King separate from all of his other snakes. I have been over to his house dosing it with Panacur on a few occasions and snapping some photos. It is now in tremendous shape since he first caught it. Look a few posts down and you can find a pic of it in shed days after catch.
John Lassiter

>>Terry,
>>Todd has this King separate from all of his other snakes. I have been over to his house dosing it with Panacur on a few occasions and snapping some photos. It is now in tremendous shape since he first caught it. Look a few posts down and you can find a pic of it in shed days after catch.
>>John Lassiter

Thanks, John. I was just interested in case maybe we found something we wanted to keep this summer. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to come down, but if I did and we found a cool ratsnake or something, I'd probably leave it with you to get in shape. I'm not set up for stuff like that.

That was a neat kingsnake, btw. I was interested whether it was an intergrade because the habitat around Calhoun Co. could be intergrade habitat for lots of species.

TC

Hey, Terry, Thanks for the reply. Yes, as John said, this snake is in a separate room away from my main collection and will be in quarantine till March-mid March. All w.c. snakes have the potential for parasites but that fellah had quite a few bumps on his skin and a sore near his vent. John and I have been dosing him and I applied a small amount of neosporin on the area. The pictures don't show the difference well enough but he definitely shed some of those bumps out. Can't be too careful. yes I believe Calhoun county would be a great place to see some intergrades. The rivers bring an abundance of herps around. who knows, maybe a Texas corn could find it;s way down that far. What say ye, Tom?

>>Hey, Terry, Thanks for the reply. Yes, as John said, this snake is in a separate room away from my main collection and will be in quarantine till March-mid March. All w.c. snakes have the potential for parasites but that fellah had quite a few bumps on his skin and a sore near his vent. John and I have been dosing him and I applied a small amount of neosporin on the area. The pictures don't show the difference well enough but he definitely shed some of those bumps out. Can't be too careful. yes I believe Calhoun county would be a great place to see some intergrades. The rivers bring an abundance of herps around. who knows, maybe a Texas corn could find it;s way down that far. What say ye, Tom?
>>

Todd, Thanks for the post. I know how it goes with w/c snakes, as far as how they look at first. I often keep one til it sheds in order to get a good pic. But we don't have much in the way of parasites in n. Michigan. Mites can't survive here (yeah!!) and mostly only the semi-aquatic reptiles occasionally have internal worms, etc. I don't have a lot of experience with that, except I did bring a snake home from Ohio a few years back that had mites. I've dealt with snake mites from snakes I bought at shows and am very wary of that these days. I guess it was a leading question because I pretty much figured you would quarantine your snake and that it had a good chance of needing treatment. Just wanted to be sure, 'cus I might make it down there this summer.

Another thing you said caught me by surprise. I'm starting to get very interested in the Gulf Coast Plain because of the intergrade possibilities and have been thinking about the various species that may have intergrade subspecies in the area of Calhoun Co. and Aransas, etc. Now you tossed in the idea that the rivers may bring snakes, such as ratsnakes, down toward the Gulf, and that brings up another possibility. A Western ssps. could follow the river into the zone of an Eastern ssps. Actually, I think it would work better the other way around, the E. ssps. may follow the river west into the W. ssps. zone. That's because rivers tend to have forested lowlands which favor E. ssps. But, of course, a W. ssps. could float down the river to the Gulf by chance. Anyway, I'm sure there's some possibilities there that would interest an inquiring mind, haha.

Then, again, maybe you just meant a TX corn (slowinskii) could be extending its range this far south. I just reread your post and this sounds more like it, duhh! If this is what you meant, then I agree. This is one reason I'd like to see the area you're talking about. I do think that it's possible this is an intergrade zone for slowinskii and meahllmorum. That would be very important information to both the taxonomists and the Herp Hobby.

I agree about putting neosporin on the sores of your king. I do that too on a snake that has sores from over-wintering. Often they're just cold sores or water blisters. They heal up pretty quickly. It's a pretty snake, btw. I gotta go to work, so I'll check back later this evening.

TC