Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is my 2009 Christmas Mountain male. His hatchling picture and most recent picture.

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You can never have only one snake!

Very nice. Beautiful snake. It's cool to see the difference from juvie to adult.

Chris

Thanks. It is pretty exciting to see changes in darkening every shed.

Tony
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You can never have only one snake!

Hi there, I was looking at the juvi pic and I see 19 orange bands from head to vent. On the larger snake I see only 17 if you count one that may be obscured under the overlay of the body. Did the snake loose orange bands or is part of the snake (vent) covered by the body? I have never had one actually loose the bands.

ECTimaeus

Hi,

The juvi pic doesn't actually show this but 2 orange bands are connected to each other accounting for minus 1. Another orange band disappeared near the tail area, it actually darkened to black. It wasn't that big of a band. I was confused for a while and actually stared at him for a long long time and finally figured it out lol! That was a very good observation I must say as I thought I was the only one who questioned it haha!
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You can never have only one snake!

To specify the connected bands further, if you look at orange band #12 counting from his head to tail, this is the band I am talking about. They looked separated while he was a hatchling and as he grew the band stretched. Hard to explain but one side of him shows #12 band exactly as you see it in his adult picture and the other side of him looks like a 'W' shaped.
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You can never have only one snake!

I am not seeing what you are talking about in the picture. I am sorry but I am not buying it. Orange bands do not run together as the snake grows, and if an orange band turned black it would still be the same size and show as a large blotch, which I do not see in the picture. You will have to show a better picture of the adult in a pose like the juvi to convince me.

ECT

ECT,

I never said as the snake grew the bands started to connect together...read it again man. The bands were always connected since he was a juvi. I've watched him grow personally and that is why you cannot just go by picture which is fine because this is the only source you can use. This brings the question...how could you possibly know how the snake looks like more than I do?

No, I am not going to try to have the snake in the same angle, position as the juvi picture, then take a snapshot just to prove my point, because the main course was to show pictures of how nice he has grown to look, not to debate about the 'disappearing band act'(stupid joke). Makes me think 3 times before giving the inside scoop on my kings?! haha

Tony
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You can never have only one snake!

No reason to be offended. I am mearly pointing out that if you are going to show how a snake changed over the years, you should provide a picture that shows enough of it to determine whether or not it is the same snake. I wonder if anyone else out there has had an alterna loose a band while growing up? If I am miss counting the bands it would be simple enough for you to correct me by saying so. I already stated that maybe the picture is obscuring one of the bands on the end of the body. You are right it is your snake and you have watched it grow. But, if you want to make people believe it is morphing you need to back it up. Any of us that have raised alterna from babies to adults have probably seen color changes, but not loosing pattern unless it is going completely black so one cannot see the pattern any more.

Does the snake currently have the same number of blotches as it did as a juvi????

ECT

I think you may have made a mistake Tony. It doesn't look like the same snake to me either. I could be wrong too but I am not seeing the band count as you described? Is it possible you posted the wrong pic? Either that or more of the tail is buried than I am seeing. I guess it's possible distortion from the camera lense is making it look like the vent is in the wrong place.
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www.hcu-tx.org/

Aaron,

I appreciate the way you came across about it. This is really confusing to me to be honest. I tried to figure it out again but I am confused. Maybe Don Shores sent me a different snake, and I'm not trying to stir up anything. The first baby pic he sent me was the one he offered to sell to me. He then sent another baby pic with him feeding and I should have counted the bands but thought I didn't need to because he said it was the same baby. This is the pic of the baby feeding and when I compare with the first baby pic the bands don't count up correctly. Here is another adult pic of him as well. Starting from the head if you count to the 12th band, this is the one that connected since birth...just can't see it from the first baby pic because of the angle. It is shaped like a 'W'. There are still 2 bands unaccounted for. I speculate one sort of darkened to black because of the borders but that is highly unlikely, thought I was sure. I hope that it is the same snake because if it is not I am a little upset because I've had this happen to me 3 times, meaning that the breeder sends me a different snake from the actual picture. If it is intentional, it's just not right, but accidental it's okay but to have that happen to me 3 times already...you can understand why someone could get upset.

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You can never have only one snake!

This guy turned out to be a screamer so I am not complaining but it's just the principle of it. I remember talking to a breeder back then and he was selling 3 knoblochi males, one in which I really liked and so I bought it. I received him and found out a couple hours later his head pattern looked totally different from the one I picked. He said he was sure he sent me the right one but later admitted he made a mistake. He asked me to pay for the shipping to send him back which was about $63 because he resided in New York and although I am not sure exactly how an issue like this should be fixed, it sounds like I shouldn't even have to pay for shipping to send him back. If it was the right snake I wouldn't even have to deal with this as it clearly wasn't my fault.
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You can never have only one snake!

After looking these pics over I'd have to say that in the original post you made the hatchling is not the same snake as the adult. The hatchling has 18-19 triads while the adult has 16. In this last photo, yes, they're the same snake. Basically, of the two hatchling snakes you've shown, they're of two different animals.

Mitch

Btw, the end result is a screamer of an adult though!!!

Yes, I can't argue with that, but it's a darn shame because I really liked the first hatchling...nonetheless he still grew up to be a screamer. Thanks! I am glad you think he looks nice. =)
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You can never have only one snake!

I agree with what zonatahunt said, the baby in the first pic is not the adult but the baby in the second pic is. As far as the knoblochi, no you shouldn't have to pay shipping because it was his mistake. But that's just my opinion. Personally I would probably not send the snake back as long as it was the right sex. I just wouldn't have any further dealings with the person because he doesn't sound entirely trustworthy.
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www.hcu-tx.org/

I did exactly that...it was a headache and so I didn't even want to deal with him again. He was very reputable and I had no idea he was going to pull the bad business with me. I won't say his name because it might put a dent in his reputation. I'm glad you feel the same way about the shipping as well. Whether it was intentional or accidental I would always check to make sure everything is correct. I am very happy with the collection I built up though!!

Aaron I was wondering what locales do you work with?

Tony

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You can never have only one snake!