Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I get this call this afternoon from a friend of mine that knows I am into snakes.He tells me that he thinks he found something special for me.I said what the heck are you talking about and he tells me that on his way home on some back road (12 miles north west of Bishop on south round valley road)he sees a couple ravens in the road jumping around.
He stopps and there is a "white" snake in the road coiled up.He knew it wasn't normal so he took a shovel and slid it under the snake and put it in the back of his truck.All he had was a sawsall case so he put the snake in there.He called me as soon as he was home and drove to his house (about 30 miles away) to see what he had for me.
Sure enough its a amel cal king.I can't say for sure if its not a escaped pet at some time or a released animal but I do know this.
1> it was in a pretty remote place about 3.5 miles from any house.
2> it has many scares and has a very large head so it looks like a typical king from around here except its amel and skinny.
3> I would chalk up the skinny part to being its lucky just to have made it this long as its a adult about three feet long (female b.t.w.)
Anyway,I will put a bunch of wieght on her and next year will breed her to a "hobby" line of amel king to see if its the same gene.

L8r Shannon

p.s. she was very very thirsty and when offered a fresh killed mouse she refused.I offered her a live mouse and she was all over it.

it has many scars and has a very large head so it looks like a typical king from around here except its amel and skinny

Well first off congrats on a neat find. Second i had to clean up your quote a little. Its scars not scares! LOL!

You don't happen to have a pic of a cal king that is from the same area? I thought that the area you lived had the wide band desert kings. Or even if they are more yellow they have wide bands. Correct?

Even if it was a release it looks like its made its way for a log while by itself.
-----
I still don't need no spell chack.

Rainer,Thanks for the heads up with the spelling .LOL....
Anyway,I am in the high desert and they vary allot here.They tend to be black and white most the time but there band width varies all over the place.

this is one I saved from a couple big rigs (he was trailing a fresh d.o.r female just 3 miles outside Bishop.

here is a old male I found on the day My Daughter (zonata) was born.6-11-03 about nine miles north east of Bishop just inside Mono County.

here is a young male found last year just one mile north east of Bishop on hyw 6.

But yes,there is the exception like this killer female found in (05) just four miles north east of Bishop on hyw 6.She has some really nice wide white bands but compare her to the male above and they were just three miles apart.

so,At the end of the day its really hard to say.

Shannon

I may be way off here but the pics you show pretty much shows what I was trying to say. Back in the late 70's we bred the coastal yellow phase cal kings into the desert (black and white) in hopes of washing out the yellow and getting an amel with whiter bands. I would think an amel from the area would have more whitish bands. Maybe Kerby can chime in here as our resident expert on Cal kings with his opinion.
-----
I still don't need no spell chack.

Over on fielfherpforum - they said the head pattern looks San Diego.
-----
3.6 L. getula californiae (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
1.0 Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi (Valley Garter)
1.0 Boa constrictor constrictor (suriname, fostering/rescue)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

I'll be your spell check...it's a long way...Helane

I'll be your spell check...it's a long way...Helane

Geez Helane!~ You sure got your work cut out for you being the spell check for Shannon!
-----
I still don't need no spell chack.

np

not a bad find at all, not like new blood isnt needed
-----
Dan S.
Crotalus & Company
Wisconsin Reptile Community
Hybrid Herps

First a W/S gopher..... and now an amel Cal king!

throw me a few lottery numbers bro.

byron.d

thats really cool shannon,congrats, it will be cool if its a diff. form of albino than captive lines IF SO i want some of the dbl.hets created....please!!!,,,,,,,,thomas davis

Yep,I will let you know next season if I produce all normals.

Shannon

I wouldn't... how could you tell apart the next generation?

I guess you couldn't - but if I did the math right, 7/16 of double het offspring would be amel opposed to just 4/16. Not that it really matters much.
-----
3.6 L. getula californiae (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
1.0 Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi (Valley Garter)
1.0 Boa constrictor constrictor (suriname, fostering/rescue)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

Well,since its a female I only really have one stab at her next year so I will breed a generic amel to her.If all the babies hatch out amel then she was a escaped or released pet and big deal.
If all babies are normal then they will be double het for two strains of amel.Big deal.But,then I will know she is a new bloodline and I will breed a normal male to her from the same area and have a new bloodline of amel cali thats locale.

L8r

And I would definitely want some from that second clutch!

While I suspect it is a release - what I would do is pair it with a locality mate its first season.

In fact, if you have a locality mate, you could do that this season.

Then test the gene w/ pet trade amel the next season. That way if it turns out to be a different amel gene, you have a clutch of hets that are a year closer to producing locality amels, and potentially mate a son to the mother the season after you test.
-----
3.6 L. getula californiae - 5 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
1.0 Boa constrictor constrictor (suriname, fostering/rescue)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

Another advantage to breeding with a locality male first, the head patterns of the hets may tell you if the female is locality.

For example - many of the young from my Antioch locality male and Amel albino are clearly not Antioch locality head patterns.

So you could rule out that she is locality amel that generation as well. Even if she mates with amel and produces all amel offspring, that still doesn't rule out that she's locality - it only tells you the amel is caused by same gene pair.
-----
3.6 L. getula californiae - 5 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
1.0 Boa constrictor constrictor (suriname, fostering/rescue)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

That is awesome. Can't wait to see what she produces.

Only in San Diego County are kings found with that type of head pattern.