INTRODUCTION

Nelsons Milksnakes are one of the larger Milksnakes reaching lengths of around 4 foot. They are easy to care for in captivity, usually calm and non aggressive, although hatchlings can be a bit nippy and nervous, with regular handling they soon settle down.
There is some confusion in the hobby between the Nelsons Milksnake & The Sinaloan Milksnake as they are very similar looking in both pattern and colouration, both were classified together as Lampropeltis triangulum nelsoni, it wasn't until 1978 that the population of Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico were described as Lampropeltis triangulum sinaloae. The main difference between the two is the spacing of the bands, in "nelsoni" the red body rings are are twice as wide as the black-white rings in the "sinaloae" they are three times as wide. Nelsons Milksnake is known to intergrade with "sinaloae" in the north of it's range.
Nelsons Milksnakes have black, white, black, red bands the red bands are twice the thickness of the black,white band combination. Albino Nelsons are bright red, white & yellow.

COLOUR & PATTERN MORPHS

Albino Nelsons Milksnakes.
There are two known strains of Albino Nelsons Milksnakes. The first known Albinos were from Wild caught snakes bred by Gary Slippery of San Diego, these Albinos have a yellow coloured background. The second line of Albinos were bred in 1998 by Roger Bull, these are different in the fact that they have a white background.

Bullseye Pattern
This pattern mutation is caused by a recessive gene which fuses the red bands together along the bottom of the snake leaving the white background in a circular pattern.

Striped / Aberrant
Striped & Aberrant individuals have been hatched from clutches, but this has not been proven to be genetic yet.

Patternless
Patternless hatchlings have been produced but again this has not been proven to be genetic

FOOD & WATER

In captivity these animals will eat a diet of mice. In the wild they feed on small lizards, small snakes, nestling birds & rodents. Hatchlings can be fed every 3-4 days on pinkies, where as adults will only require feeding once a week on appropriate size mice. Fresh drinking water should be available at all times.

TEMPERAMENT

Hatchlings can be a bit nervous & nippy but soon calm down with handling and age.

TEMPERATURE

A thermal gradient with a hot spot of 84 degrees F and a cooler end in the mid 70's.

HOUSING

Nelsons Milksnakes should always be housed separately because of the cannibalistic qualities of these species.
Hatchling Nelsons should be kept in a small container with a paper towel substrate, provided with a hide and fresh drinking water.
Adults & Juveniles can be housed in aquarium type enclosures, vivarium or a racking system, a general rule for deciding the size of a snakes home is length approximately equal to three quarters your snake's length. The cage's width should be about a third of your snake's length. A hide should be provided at both ends of the vivarium. Good husbandry and overall cleanliness are essential to your snakes general state of good health. If the enclosure is dirty, too wet or dry, or too hot or cold, this will cause skin or respitory problems or both.

SUBSTRATE

Hatchlings are best kept on paper towels.
Adults & Juveniles can be kept on a sterilized bark/wood chippings or aspen bedding, newspaper and paper towels are often used in racking systems but are not very pleasing to the eye when used in other forms of housing. Pine & Cedar shaving should never be used as these can be potentially dangerous to the snakes as they could digest some when they are being fed, and the fumes from the shavings can be toxic and could cause respitory problems.

HIBERNATION

To hibernate a your Nelsons Milksnakes for the winter, make sure it has had no food for two weeks and that the temperature is normal during this time allowing the snake to fully digest it's last meal and empty it's guts. After this the temperature should be lowered gradually over a few weeks until its 55-60 F . The snake should not be fed during this period but fresh drinking water should be available at all times. After three months the snake can gradually be warmed up over a two week period and can then be offered food again. Most hobbyists hibernate there snakes from mid November to mid January.

BREEDING

After hibernation and approx 3 weeks into a normal eating pattern for the female they can be introduced to one another, males will sometimes not eat at this time being more interested in breeding than eating. Female Hondurans should only be bred from if they are healthy and feeding well. A female that has eaten well from a hatchling may be sexually mature by 18 months of age. The female should be introduced into the males cage. Once several copulations have been witnessed or the female looks fatter mid body they should be separated. The female should be given a laying box. A plastic container big enough for her to coil loosely in, filled with damp sphagnum moss. She may refuse food during her pregnancy, or may only except smaller prey items than usual. Expect her to lay between 7-12 eggs any time between 5-14 days after she has shed. The eggs when they are laid should be removed to another container two thirds filled with damp vermiculite ( when a handful is squeezed in the palm of the hand only a small amount of water should be produced. ). Do not rotate the eggs, and don't unnecessarily handle them. The box should have a fitted lid, and the humidity inside should be 100%, some condensation will form on the lid if this is too much and is dripping on the eggs, the vermiculite is too wet and a little dry should be sprinkled over the surface to take up the moisture. I usually have the egg boxes ready in the incubator a few days before I expect her to lay, this way the vermiculite is at the right temperature and any mistakes made in making up the vermiculite mixture can be rectified. The eggs should be checked weekly removing the lid will give a good exchange of air. The Eggs should be incubated at 80-83 degrees F, expect them to hatch after 58-70 days. The female should be offered food after she has laid, although some will refuse until they have had there post laying shed. It is a good idea then to feed her twice a week on smaller prey items until she has recovered her weight lose.
The hatchlings emerge between 8-10 inches and should be housed separately. They will have there neonate shed 5-10 days after hatching, at which time you can begin to start feeding them on pinkie mice.


 © Sue Knight 2002