Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I posted a few months back saying that I was trying this cross. Well, the results are in. My prarie king female mated with an albino (snow) cal king male, and laid 23 eggs. Of the twenty three, only this one made it

What do you think?

Nate.

Has anyone seen this cross before? Someone was asking a few months back, but I didn't see any answers. Honestly, this cross came out better than I expected by far, and so I wonder why I don't see more of them.

Nate.

Its hard to tell from the pic and the info you gave but it looks like a normal albino Prarie king. I used to have a line where the babies came out high red like that. Do you know if your prarie king was het for anything ? Maybe there was some sperm rentention and the prarie king is also het for amel.(?)

Maybe you can share more info about the adults and the history behind them?

I don't know if she was het for anything, but I do know that she has NEVER bred before I bred her, as I got her from a friend who had had her since she was a Petco special about six years ago, and he had never had her around another snake, as she was his only one. Yes, I have seen some albino praries come out colorful like this, but she was only with an albino cal king.

nate.

I don't even own a male prarie.

nate.

Can you post a pic of the parents?

Yeah, but all my breeders are at my store, so I will have to do it in the morning. Anyway, since I got a bunch of sorta negative responses to my post, I figured more info was needed. So, here's the history.

I got the female prarie from a long term friend of mine, who got her as a baby several years ago. Now, this guy knew nothing about snakes, other than how to feed, clean, and handle them, and has never introduced her to another of any species. Finally, he decided that he wanted to give her up as he was having a baby, and didn't have the time. I took her into my store with the intent of selling her or using her in my petting zoo. I got her last year, and the more I looked at her, the more I got thinking about attempting a hybrid, so I cycled her with my other kings.

Now, I had intended to pair her with an older male cali 50/50, as they were more similar sizes. However, after many introductions, I never saw even a glimmer of interest from him. So, as a last ditch effort, I introduced her to my smaller snow california male. He jumped on her instantly, and I saw hookup, but as this was his first year breeding, I didn't know what to expect.

Now, I didn't even notice her gravid, as she was so big, and she kept eating anyway. What gave it away was her nesting behavior. I gave her a nest box one night, and had 23 eggs in the morning.

However, the eggs were odd. The majority of them were smaller and rounder, quite unlike a Cali egg. Five of them were large oblong califonia-like eggs. only a couple were obviously slugs. However, in two weeks, all of the small eggs were bad, and only three of the large eggs were good. One more went bad in the next month, and I had almost written the clutch off when I found this little girl.

Finally, I cut the other egg open to find a long-dead baby that looked just like her, but instead black and white. I'm sad that he didn't make it.

I realize how much she just looks like an albino prarie, and the only differences I can see is that so many albino praries are sort of an ugly yellow, instead of the bright red/orange of her.

I will post both pictures in the morning. Sorry for the long post, but I read all these responses and felt that I was being underestimated, or called a liar.

Thanks,
nate.

Nobody is calling you a liar. I am sure you are telling the truth as you know it. Sorry if I or anyone else came across that way. What we are trying to do is help solve a mystery.

Yeah from that pic it looks like a normal albino prairie king to me.I would think the cal king would be more visible in it.Maybe it's just the pic.To bad you only got one good one.

Thats wild it doesnt look like a hybrid. Thats the fascinating thing about hybrids you dont know what you will get no wonder the love of hybrids is growing.

This has been attempted by someone else as well with similiar results, meaning that all the eggs went bad or they died, Just bad coincidences or? It was about two years ago, Maybe Clint Boyer? If you would care to get rid of that baby just let me know!