Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, just thought that it was pretty crazy that one of the Mexican Black Kings that I hatched looks like this and was curious to know if this is common at all in Mexicans. It hatched a few minutes ago and the two before it were your typical looking Mexicans. The rest are hatching, but haven't made it all the way out yet.

- Alejandro
Baby Mexican Black King

They look like splendida to me (desert kingsnake). What do the parents look like?

Greg

That one certainly shows splendida influence doesn't it?
I've seen a few hatch like it biut generally they all look similar within a given clutch.
Of course it is believed by a few that they are one and the same snake anyway....
That said, he may or may not darken enough to be considered a "nigrita". Some will retain that pattern/coloration into adulthood.
Most these days must be solid black in order to be considered nigrita.
Have any pics of the adults?? Do they show any pattern at all?
:Mark

No. They usually look like the photo below. Sometimes MBKs and desert kings intergrade and there is a bit of pattern, but yours looks far more like a desert king than anything else (even an intergrade).

Tim

Third Eye

Well, I really have no idea. I put photos of them hatching and the adults up though.

- Alejandro
Mexican Black Kings

That's pretty crazy Alejandro,

It's almost as if they're carrying the desert king pattern as a recessive genetic trait. I've never seen anything like it.

Tim

Hey, Alejandro, I'll take that ugly nigrita/splendida off your hands!! LOL! Can't have something like that mucking up those awesome nigritas! I love it when the unexpected happens! Good luck! But seriously I am interested in that oddball.
Todd Hughes

When my MBK eggs hatched i hat 2 out of 6 show pattern. From people i have talked too that has bred them said sometimes they show patern when there young but wil darken up over time. I plan on keeping one of them to make sure the pattern disapears and the other i'll let go cheap to a local pet store. your not alone in this and i hear it happens in most clutches. Paul

Look very much like their Splendida ancestors.

FR suspects that MBKs are a dark phase of the Splendida. Your photos seem to support that theory.

I think he may be right.
TMH

Look very much like their Splendida ancestors.

FR suspects that MBKs are a dark phase of the Splendida. Your photos seem to support that theory.

I didn't want to believe that FR was right, but this clutch definitely seems to support his theory. Here is an example of the extremely melanistic getula that are common around Tucson (where I believe FR lives). I always assumed that they were splendida/mbk intergrades, but maybe splendida just get more melanistic the further south you go until they go fully black.

Greg

My friend once hatched one out that looked like that. The adult were solid or nearly solid black and so were it's siblings.
I also have a pic of a wild baby from southern Sonora, MX that looks like that. I saved the pic from a post on the AZ PARC forum so I am not at liberty to post it. In the same post there is also a pic of a wild adult from central Sonora and it is solid black.