Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have worked with several different kings from the SE, mainly specks and blacks, but I'm new to brooksi phase FL kings. They appear to mature a lot quicker than what I'm use to and they are heftier all together anyway. As I'm not a native to south FL and haven't dealt with them much, what sizes are ideal for a pair to breed? I want to take into account age, not only size. I have a pair from '03 that I think can breed next spring in '06, any thoughts?

Hey Matt, if you had pumped those Brooksi up you coulda bred them this year. Next year they should be more than ready to go. The only other snakes I have that grow as fast as the Brooksi are my Hondurans. It's one of my favorite things about Brooksi. They seem to grow before your eyes. Tom Stevens

if you can get your brooksi up to size they will breed at 18 months ( the "two year olds", seen it done by others and have achieved it myself, but is expensive(food) and intensive( always feeding, cleaning, trying to stay on track). the debate rages on as to whether it is truly harmful to the snake, growing or at least feeding at such a fast rate.
i got tired of that race pretty quick, no time to do much of anything else when you're raising a colony of yearlings. what i usually accomplish is breeding in the third year at a size minimum of 40" and greater than 400 grams. not everyone draws the line on a minimum weight, i feel it is important - still- there is ALOT of success outside of my system!!
hope this helps some.
dave

Thanks guys! I didn't know if they would breed successfully that young or not. She's over 40" by quite a few, but I was hesitant to breed her this year. I'm under the assumption that feeding them like mad at young ages to reach maturity isn't all that healthy. But then again I have no lab to study that in! If I ever do find the anwer I will share it with you all. Thanks again, and look forward to seeing some sulfur brooksi next season!

Matt, I seriously doubt you'll find any hard evidence that frequent feeding is hazardous to them. They are opportunistic feeders in the wild, and there are many things for them to eat in FL. Just on the front porch of a friends house in Daytona, you can count literally 100's of anoles just walking to the front door. This would be a feast for a juvenile brooksi.....and we all know how plentiful anoles are in FL.

I've raised several to 4' in 18 months and they are still alive and well almost a decade later. One female, Big Whitie, is now 11 years old and is still in great condition. She's produced well over 120 babies in just six seasons.....only one year with a double clutch.

I believe to get them to their maximum potential, aggressive feeding during the first 18 months is critical. I've done it both ways, and the snakes fed once a week are smaller and produce smaller clutches.....obviously. One female this past season produced over 40 healthy hatchlings. I can't remember the exact number but the first clutch was 22 fertile eggs with a few infertile, and then a second clutch of 19 or 20. Thanks to Dave B. for that massive and beautiful double het.

At 40" and stocky, I think you're good to go. Good luck on the breeding.

Here's a pic of Big Whitie.

Brandon Osborne

Hopefully I'll get these to go this year. They were a little "immature" last year. This was taken at about 6 months old. The yellow on these is unbelievable. Pics just don't do it for them.

Brandon Osborne

Thanks Brandon! I haven't really done enough stodying on the issue to really feel confident with feeding them a lot. Even being fed once weekly they have outgrown all other '03's from other ssp. I have. They are great to work with, and I'm quite surprised that I don't see even more sulfurs on the market. They are so cool, and yellow!

I also love that bug white one!! I've debated getting a pair of those as well........may have to make some contact later

Brandon-
That big 2x het female did breed at 18 months, laid 17 eggs, second season laid 19 then found her way to Indiana. Even after age three she has grown so much. What a beast!

By the way, if you breed them could you put me down for a sulphur pair?
~dave

Sulfur lavender male. The female actually has more red but was in the blue during this pic. I will post a pic of her after she come out of brumation.

Can't wait to see some pics of it after shed. Are these something you produced from a lavender albino and a sulphur?
Nice!
-John Lassiter-

Is this a good representation of what they look like at birth or do they change that much in a 6 month period?
BTW, Nice Brooksi
-John Lassiter-

Are the Sulfur Brooksi a normal snake with a yellow coloration?
or is it a morph... plez share some pix, i'll be getting a Sulfur lavender soon but i haven't seen too many sulfur brooksi pix. plez share some pix, i'm trying to build my brooksi breeding colony so i wanna see all the good stuff.

Thanx

~ZF

I'll try to get a few pics up later today of my young-adult pair.
From my understanding the sulfurs are a naturally occuring color phase in extreme south FL. Go check out Len Krysko's web-site for more info.

Try to get the pix up...

The Tampa Bay area in West Central Florida (Hillsborough County). At least thats where Krysko's line came from.

Yep.

What Brooksi Morph is that? i wanted 2 take a guess but i rather if you told me... what ever it is it's amazing...

~ZF

that's my ghost female. she is pretty amazing. she is originally from the monster 2x het female that Brandon now owns.
-dave

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