Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I picked this up at a local pet shop advertised as a mountain king. I just want to know if anyone can verifiy if it is zonata or if it is a milk of some sort. She has 28 triads. Thanks for the help.
Jason

it looks like a zonata but im not the huge snake expert here. im more in the cali kings

looks like a milk....could it be one of those mixes????

np

Yeah I feed here a couple pinkies just before the shot. The snake eats great. I was thinking that she might be a hybrid, but its hard to tell.
Jason

It looks like the snout is white or gray, which would mean not a zonata. This is where a key might help. Keying it out should be able to identify it to the species level.

Either a Sinaloan Milk Snake or a Nelson's Milk Snake. It's almost impossible to tell the 2 apart.

Looks well fed though lol.

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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
Helmz777@aol.com
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
Updated 9/6 NEW PICS/INFO

NOPE....neither

(red spaces not nearly wide enough)...if there's white on the snout(check the front sides of the lips,not the tip of the snout obviously)....i would bet louisiana milk...no light on lips,could be mexican milk,maybe zonata....also (less likely) would be possibly a thayeri,'milk phase'.gotta be one of those.

It is a little too clean to be a zonata, but it does look like one otherwise.

It isn't a Nelson's/Sinaloan milk. If it is a milk, my money says New Mexico Milk.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, TX

although something "seems" odd about it.
once again, a tough call for me from a photograph.

Forky

Looks like a calaenops from the eastern part of their range with some anulatta influence....
Where is Ric Blair when you need him?....he could probaby tell us what it is....
John Lassiter

I haven't ever looked very carefully at many celaenops but the one I have and all the ones I can remember have the white bands widening on the sides. I can't figure it out. Maybe it's a Ruthven's, some of them look very zonata like. Of course it could be a hybrid.

specifically the "spear" point shapes ventrolaterally....
but the photos do not show that point of view very well.

I'd Like to see the belly too...

Forky

now here is a zonata........wooo hooooo

a

Looks too "clean" for annulata to me, although I have a clean one. caelanops would be my guess as well, or a mix. milk for sure.
Todd Hughes

Here is a shot of her belly.

I think you guys are right about celaenops. Anyone know anything about the scale counts on that spp.?
Thanks
Jason

Markel lists celenaops with 179-194 ventrals and zonata with 194-227 ventrals. Ventrals are the wide scales on the underside from the neck to the anal plate.

>>Here is a shot of her belly.
>>

Now I'm more confused. I don't believe that is celaenops now. Further If I would hazard a guess, I would guess mixed milk? but that would "only" be a guess.