Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am a small animal veterinarian with an interest in reptiles. I also have a large collection of my own.

Recently a client brought in a california King Snake-black and white stripe- who has been housed with a male Everglades rat Snake.

The two were seen to mate and the female King produced 6 eggs, 4 of which were viable and hatched 60 days later.

The babies do not look like either of the parents and show a circular or saddle type pattern. The circles or saddles are quite dark and the background color is a light grey or off white. On 2 of the babies the central area of the sadlles is lighter in color and i suspect will get lighter with growth an shedding.

The client believes that these 2 snakes have never mated before and this is a first.

1. Have you heard of this cross before?
2. Are the babies worth anything since he would like to sell them?
3. Where else might we go to get more information on this cross?
4. Where could the client go to market the babies?
5. Is anyone intereted in this hybrid?

Any help or information you can provide will be much appreciated.

My E-mail addresss is ivywood2@comcast.net

Thank you.

The hybrid forum is where you can get your "Have these ever been crossed before?" question answered. But here's a little fact and a little opinion:

The "saddles" are a very typical pattern for juvenile North American Ratsnakes, such as the everglades. The saddles will likely turn into something else as the animal ages.

Value is likely next to nothing. Most of these hybrids are considered little more than "mutts" to most of the herp world. Once in a great while a cross comes along which displays some stunning or unusual features, but this is not often. In fact, crossing species willy-nilly is considered unethical by many since it tends to produce a bunch of baby snakes that nobody wants and tends to "pollute" the gene pool a bit...Again, you may well get a different take on this situation from the hybrid forum.

My suggestion: Keep some of the offspring and give others away to folks who will take good care of them. And, again, consult the "other" forum for their special insight on the matter. Good luck. Duffy