snakes

[damz68]

Hey Bob,
Just a question. Why do you want to mix an abbarent cal king with a fla. king? What would happen if you sold the offspring to someone who is not that responsible and they sit the animal free when they get tired of it? I can tell you, it will breed with the kings of the area and could completely ruin the bloodline. It will make the animals weaker and more prone to predation. It took many years for each and every snake to choose its colors and patterns to survive in certain ecosystems. Some are still working on it like the cal king with its striped and ringed varients. The ringed varient works like a strobe when the snake is making an escape. It makes the snake look like it is not moving when it is. This will throw off a predator such as a hawk. It can mean life or death and the abberant cal king with broken stripes would most likely die.

A lot of people get into breeding snakes to make a few extra dollors on the side. If you want to make even more dollors you should be trying to get the purist form of each species/subspecies. I can tell you that a pure example of a fla. king can bring you much more money than a mutt.

Two more things that I need to mention. Housing those two snakes together could end in the death of your cal king. I think the reason you have been lucky is the bigger snake is the male, and males are much less aggresive. Also, the reason that the female had egg retention is because the eggs where way to big to pass. This happened because fla. kings get a lot bigger than cal kings, even the babies. So here again if the fla. king was the female the eggs would have passed without a prob but the cal would have most likely been eaten. In the wild they never eat there own kind, captivity is differant not to mention they are differant subspecies seperated by about 3500 miles.

If I were you I would sell that cal king and get a female fla. king and make some fla. king babies. Keep the healthiest/best looking babies for future breeding and give them 3 years to mature before breeding. If you keep going the way you are going your cal king will continue to retain the eggs. When it comes to reptiles and amphibians pure and simple is the best method.

I dont mean to preach, just trying to help you out.

 

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[bobinsd]

Hey Bob,
Just a question. Why do you want to mix an abbarent cal king with a fla. king? What would happen if you sold the offspring to someone who is not that responsible and they sit the animal free when they get tired of it? I can tell you, it will breed with the kings of the area and could completely ruin the bloodline. It will make the animals weaker and more prone to predation. It took many years for each and every snake to choose its colors and patterns to survive in certain ecosystems. Some are still working on it like the cal king with its striped and ringed varients. The ringed varient works like a strobe when the snake is making an escape. It makes the snake look like it is not moving when it is. This will throw off a predator such as a hawk. It can mean life or death and the abberant cal king with broken stripes would most likely die.

A lot of people get into breeding snakes to make a few extra dollors on the side. If you want to make even more dollors you should be trying to get the purist form of each species/subspecies. I can tell you that a pure example of a fla. king can bring you much more money than a mutt.

Two more things that I need to mention. Housing those two snakes together could end in the death of your cal king. I think the reason you have been lucky is the bigger snake is the male, and males are much less aggresive. Also, the reason that the female had egg retention is because the eggs where way to big to pass. This happened because fla. kings get a lot bigger than cal kings, even the babies. So here again if the fla. king was the female the eggs would have passed without a prob but the cal would have most likely been eaten. In the wild they never eat there own kind, captivity is differant not to mention they are differant subspecies seperated by about 3500 miles.

If I were you I would sell that cal king and get a female fla. king and make some fla. king babies. Keep the healthiest/best looking babies for future breeding and give them 3 years to mature before breeding. If you keep going the way you are going your cal king will continue to retain the eggs. When it comes to reptiles and amphibians pure and simple is the best method.

I dont mean to preach, just trying to help you out.



Damz,

Thanks for your cocerns, and I understand them. But I am not a breeder and have these for my own pleasure. I have only given away offspring to individuals or schools ( they were purebred).

The FL king IS the female and also larger. The eggs were normal size but may have been "cooked" internally accidentally. I have never read any such explanation as yours...where did you get it? The area (San Diego City area) is devoid of most snakes except for and occasional and lots of rattlers, so the intentional or accidental release would do nothing to upset the natural order. It may be a moot point, since I have not seen any mating activity this year.

As far as cannibalization, snakes bred on mice would not find another snake appetizing, unless they were starving, and I keep these well fed.
In the wild, however, every snake is fair game, even brothers and sisters.

Bob

 

[minelab rick]

This has been an interesting post to read. I had a neighbor, woman about 65 years old that was bitten last year by a copperhead while she was picking beans in her garden. she was bitten on the hand and after a short stay in the hospital was fine. Here is the interesting part of the story, she had been on high blood pressure medicine for years, and the normal pattern is that the dosage increases over the years. Since the snake bite she hasn't needed any high blood pressure medicine at all!
Seems to me that this is something a doctor should pursue. Wouldn't it be great to find a cure for high blood pressure?

 

[damz68]

This has been an interesting post to read. I had a neighbor, woman about 65 years old that was bitten last year by a copperhead while she was picking beans in her garden. she was bitten on the hand and after a short stay in the hospital was fine. Here is the interesting part of the story, she had been on high blood pressure medicine for years, and the normal pattern is that the dosage increases over the years. Since the snake bite she hasn't needed any high blood pressure medicine at all!
Seems to me that this is something a doctor should pursue. Wouldn't it be great to find a cure for high blood pressure?

Hey Rick,
Southern Copperhead venom is already being used for blood pressure meds. They are called beta blockers, I think? I think they have been using it since the late 80's. They are also using it in new cancer drugs, and may eventually be a cure for certain types of cancer in the near future. That is just the Southern Copperhead, there are quite a few other venomous snakes that could help save lives in the future also.