Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Y'all. Haven't posted in a very long time. I remember reading that breeding lavender albino to lavender albino Brooksi Kingsnake wasn't recommended. Is that correct? I have a hold back male from last year that carries 'red' in his line. He is beautiful animal and never skipped a meal.....he's huge already. Last year I purchased a beautiful female lavender albino Brooksi that had LOTS of red and although the red is now sorta orange she is beautiful. What are the problems of breeding these together in a year or so?

There are different strains of lavender out there. One strain that has been widely accepted as pure is Tim Ricks (or Steve Osborne) strain and the Lemke lavender. Then you have a bunch of crosses that get there amelanistic/lavender gene from Calif kingsnakes. These original 50/50 hybrid snakes were bred back to floridana 15 years ago to produce a Florida king that looks like it is pure but the amel gene comes from a cal king.

You have to know who your animals originated from. For instance there is a breeder (whos name I won't mention) that is selling his double het projects as pure...which will really complicate things for future breeders who are not informed since this DH is not compatible with that DH. When questioned he will tell you he got his original amel brooksi from Tom Cructhfield in Florida. If I was a betting man I would say that Tom did not sell him a new strain of lavender brooksi This breeder also admitted to me it was a cal king gene and not related to the others.

Bottom line know who your stock comes from.

I feel confident that the purchased female is from a reputable breeder and the one I produced was from a breeder in Texas that I also trust. I purchased the male (father) from him and he had used him for his foundation stock. I sold the pair this year but kept a couple of the babies. What will happen in the worse case scenerio? And in the best case scenerio?

Thanks.

Well the breeder that I mentioned who is selling DH brooksi that have cal king in them is from Texas. He is also well known and reputable. Email and we can talk further on that.

Worst case you will get normal looking double hets. Best case you will get lav's