Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here are some new pics of one of the pairs we collected while in Acadia Parish in the early summer. The female(top pics) is probably an '04 hatch, and the male below an '03. I know several factors can influence their growth rates but given the abundance of prey where they were collected I think I can safely assume their age to be close to my captive ones. One thing that makes these unique to me is their overall multi-speckled appearance. They are very different than the slightly banded animals I'm familiar with in AL and MS. Anyway, maybe one day they'll make some LA babies for me!

Those are really cool. What would you guess is their preferred food where you found them? They're on a diet of mice as of now? Good luck with those. Hopefully you'll get babies form them in the near future Tom Stevens

Hey Tom, the area we collected these was loaded with numerous Nerodia and Thamnophis. We saw 48 snakes the day these were collcted, and of those 48 I think somewhere around 38 or 39 of them were water snakes or ribbons. I would think that would constitute a large amount of their prey. There were also a lot of water loving frogs. The fields were covered in small rodent burrows too, especially under debris. I would say they took advantage of any of these meals if given the opportunity.

The all converted to f/t rodents with no issues, even the smallest hatchling that we found(around 8 grams). Speaking of her, she regurged a dekay's snake that was as large as her when she was captured.

I sure hope they will start a diverse line for me. Only time will tell.

Thanks for the pics! Keep us posted on your project. Looks like a good one. Phil

Love those speckled necks, Matt! Great pics, Not too much crawlin' around here now with the temps in the 100's. Hope too find some more specks in Sept. Keep posting those awesome specks!
Todd Hughes