Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello Mtn. Kingsnake fans,

I have been lurking on this site for years, not posting, just reading and dreaming.
this past fall, I found my first zonata, however, I did not keep it, except to move it off the road.

Now that I am done with University, I finaly have the time to get back into snakes, and want to breed some multicincta specific to my home area, Nevada county. I will be getting a non-commercial breeders permit next year (no need to pay for one for 30 days if I don't have even have a single snake yet). And my fishing license so I may capture one wild zonata (I wont be destroying habitat however). However that leaves an opposite sexed snake still needed to do the tango.

Is anybody working with Nevada county zonata? Maybe I might have convince my best friend and brew buddy to find one also? Are there even people breeding Nevada county locality? Why that particular locality? I guess I like rooting for the home team. I would like to breed them, because I have been searching for one (in the wrong places apparently), since I was a small boy, and know plenty of kids (even the at heart adult variety), that would do anything to just have the chance to see one, much less have a captive bred one.

The one I found, and others I have heard of are the high crossover type. I think it looks so cool to have bright red triangles on the sides.

Thanks for reading my excited ramblings.

Here is a pic

Very cool find. They have been found by other herpers in that Co. before. As for someone coming on here saying they have one...I doubt you will have much luck. Your best bet is to do your plan...have a buddy catch one too. he doesn't need the permit to keep one-(just the fishing license to legally catch it) then when you guys do your breeding, you got 90 days-(I think that is the amount of days, I could be off) to gift the babies away. Good luck and have fun. Hope to see a pic of some babies next year !

Very nice find! The high black is great IMO.
I came across my second one in Nevada Co. this year after six years of searching a specific area.

That is a really high black one. Wow. I saw the two records of your finds in nevada county, and found one record of one more online. I'm sure a lot more have been found, just not by anybody putting the photos online. It looks like both of yours were over 4000 ft. Mine was at 2600, the other was at 2500. If it took six years to find two zonata, I better get up on it. I might end up going a couple of years without finding another. I have read stories of people finding a dozen in one day of searching, but usually farther south like Kern County. Is that just because more people search for them there?

You'll probably have a better success rate where you're searching because it's much closer to prime elevation for the area.
More people searching and habitat that is easier to locate them in would be my guess for more sightings down south. Population densities might also be higher.
As you mentioned, go easy on the landscape and good luck.

A buddy of mine found a hatching and 2 adults cruising in his yard near Quincy, Ca. It's in Plumas Cty. Close enough?

Bill

I'm in Kern County and I've found three in one day. I've seen another flipped. Its not as easy as some brag.

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Pituophis c. annectans
Senticolis t. intermedia
Pantherophis bairdi
Lampropeltis m. thayeri
Lichanura t. trivirgata
Pseudopus apodus

Great finds, Ryan.

I love the "as flipped" shot of the first Z- Looks a lot like my Kern animal