Reptile & Amphibian Forums

IF you get a chance Phil, take a look at my Virginia locality Eastern Milk over on the Milksnake forum. With your field experience, I'd be interested in a little information and insight with your experience on Eastern Milks that you encounter in Kentucky. Do they look simular to mine, or do the Ky. milks have a different look? Sizes & behavior, etc.

Steve

Steve, that is one beautiful eastern! I have never seen one carry that much red as an adult. I have seen many neonates that were brilliant red but none past the size of around 10" in pure non-intergrading populations. The easterns I see are fairly variable with the majority having chestnut brown dorsal blotches on a field of gray. Some have very crisp patterns with good contrast and others are more subdued. The shades of brown and gray varies quite a bit and that is the real difference. the easterns get larger than either our reds or intergrades from what I have seen. They average somewhere around 32"-36" with a really big one being around 3.5'. I have kept a number of them over the years and most did fairly well. Most, but not all adapted readily to a diet of frozen/thawed rodents. In my experience they don't tolerate handling as well as some other snakes and can stress and go off food if handled too much. they also have a preference for smaller prey size relative to their size than say king snakes for example. Feeling secure seems to be a must in my experience. I would keep them in a sterilite box then provide an additional hide box inside. In the winter months when the humidity is lower around the house they can have difficulty shedding unless well hydrated. Baby easterns that I have hatched were big enough to eat day old mice from the start, but they seem to prefer them live.I always found them to be an enjoyable snake to keep, but they had some special needs. Fortunately these needs were easy to fulfill so it was not much of a problem. I hope this helps! Phil

Thanks Phil, the information was very intreesting and helpful. This female I have is a Page county Virginia Eastern Milk. She was found about a 1/2 mile from Luray Caverns on private property. I have her setup in a 24x12 setup, on newspaper, with two hide spots, Warm side & cooler side. I'm guessing she's around 33-36 inchs long. The guy I got her from said she was one of the brighter red saddled Easterns he had seen. When I first got her, she was in shed, so I was quite pleased after her shed. I'll have to make a point and look back at some of your field photos and check out some of those Ky. Eastern Milks.
Thanks for your comments and info.

Steve

Steve, I'll see if I can get some pics together for you. Phil