Reptile & Amphibian Forums

...well mebbe but shes gotta be a runner up! Every ring is perfect for 4-4.5'

C/B in ~ 1989 by my good colleague; Hans Koenig using largely mojave wild stock...she has produced a number of clutches for me & others, but alas she suffered a respiratory issue that killed her this past winter.

She sure was a fine looking Cali. Do you have more pics of your Eastern eating the Coachwhip? I'd be interested in seeing more...
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Matt from Minnesota

...it was a pretty incredible sight...

..deep throat allright!

I receieved several emails stating the snake would regurge & while Ive had that happen, tho very rarely... in fact a mere 1 week later @ ~ 80*, this king was hunting food again! Its shedding every 4 weeks, & my goal is to try & horse it on up to 6' Im surprised [as it is a boar] thats its even interested in feeing at this time of year.
I dont recommend making mega-meals the norm tho, I try to keep it down to a max of 1/per shed cycle to hopefully emulate what happens in nature. Ck out the small snakes forum to see an equivalent max ingestion by my namesake...

Cheers / John Gunn

John, sorry to hear about your loss of this beauty. Is Mojave stock nearly the same as Phoenix area stock? Those Phoenix snakes are gorgeous too

TC

Hiya TC, thnx for your sympathies, she went ~ 15 years & should have gone 20-25...I think loaning her out to a friend for a breeder loan last year was an unlucky tho avoidable .... circumstance.
Her DNA while somewhat similar to the far N valley kings is of Nev/Cali desert origin & these tend to be the most jet black w/ sno-white perfect rings Ive seen. Often theres a tinge of yellow on the ventral rings.
Most Az commonkings are pretty, but IMO....I like our splendidas & again the more northern true calis. These mongrel "yuma kings" of Tucson-Phx area are often a jumbled mess of broken rings, brown-spotted interspaces, etc. Once in awhile tho you do find a real jewel.

Cheers RxR

Cool. Will have to get one from the nw. corner of the state then for my breeding program. Already have seen some nice desertxmex mix in the Santa Cruz Valley. Thanks...TC