Neuvo Leon Kingsnakes are moderate
sized snakes growing to adult lengths of approximately three
foot. They can be found in the wild in rocky outcrops and desert
areas in the Mexican areas of Tamaulipas & Nuevo Leon. Variable
Kingsnakes are calm and shy and rarely bite. They feed more
readily than the other "mexicana" snakes as hatchlings,
and can with a good feeding regime reach breeding size by 18
months.
Nuevo Leon Kingsnakes or more commonly called the Variable Kingsnake or Thayers
Kingsnake, occur in 3 phases the phase
which are pictured on this page, the phase & a phase
Through selective breeding two more phases have emerged the phases.
By hybridizing with Ruthvens Kingsnakes an mutation
is now being produced too.
  The
has
a grey/cream back ground
with numerous thin orange bands outlined in black. This is the
phase we are currently working with, and which is pictured on
this page.
The has broad red/orange & black
bands on a white/grey/cream background.
The or Melanistic is
a simple recessive gene that engulfs the snake in black pigment, obsuring all
pattern, the Black Phase Variable Kingsnake appears as a solid black animal.
  Breeding the Variable King can produce all three phases in one clutch. With selective
breeding the phase can be fixed to a certain extent, where by a clutch will produce
all the same phase, although occasionally you may get one of the other phases
occuring in a clutch.
By breeding the albino gene into this species through
the use of an Albino Ruthvens we hope to be producing
some real stunning in the near future. The picture to the right &
left are examples of a heterozygous for Albino Variable Kingsnake using an Albino
Ruthvens
for one of it's parents. As you can see the Ruthvens does not seem to have influenced
the pattern much at all.
  In
2003 I mated an Albino Ruthens king to a Variable, as a result I have 1.2 hets that will
breed next year. I have found working with these two species
much easier, as they are more closely related. My intention
is to work towards an.
In 2003 we also produced some Het for Albino Variable x Greyband x Ruthven Kingsnake
I am growing these hatchlings up for future breeding
projects. I expect to produce some Albinos and hets in a few years time. Because
of the diversity of the genetics involved it is impossible to predict what future
breeding's of these will produce. Most of the hatchlings produced last year have
the patterning of the Variable Kingsnake. Some have light beige backgrounds others
have nearly white backgrounds.
|
|
 |
