California King snake

[Solid Snake]

I think hes a 50/50 since theres even colours of black and white.

when i look closely his black looks somewhat like brownish and his white is kinda yellow.

i thought they were only white and black..?

[Ace]

That's what's called a coastal phase. The solid black and white ones are desert phase, still both Cal-Kings ;)

[Solid Snake]

i know how a coastal phase looks like and its brown and yellow.

well mine is white and black but when u look very close to it, he looks yellowish white and dark blackish brown. lol well when get my digi cam back i'll take pics

[Vanan]

Yes that's very possible. Noone nowadays breeds true locality coastal phases and desert phases. THe true coastal phases are predominantly brown and yellow as you've mentioned. I say predominantly cos there is variation even within localities.

Now given this, many breeders just breed caliking and call em as they see em. Black/white means desert and yellow brown means coastal. Intermediates, like what yours sounds like, don't generally fall under a category. A true 50/50 will be blk/wht. But most people go by the percentage of colour, not taking into account what the colours themselves are.

Keep in mind that melanin can occur as black or brown. The concentration of melanin varies, thus making it look more black or more brown.

Snakes are very variable even within subspecies, so this does not make yous snake any less of a beauty. A desert phase caliking is still a caliking, which is an awesome species. If you want a real true desert phase, go seek some of the reputable breeders out there and may be interested in their "Joshua Tree"locality kings.

[gonesnakee]

I'll second what Vanan has to say. Futhermore (no disrespect to anyone) I consider everything that is not bright white/dark black a Coastal phase & to be a true 50/50 it should be a Desert phase that has at least 50% or more white in it's bands. If it has say 65-70% or more white I'd call it a high white desert phase. If it doesn't have at least 50% or more white I call them Banded CK's. I think the term 50/50 is used quite loosely & most snakes called 50/50's are actually just banded CK's in my opinion. I have sold many of what I call banded, to see them later labelled as 50/50's in the petstores. Mark I.

[marisa]

Interesting topic guys. What would you call my guy?

<img src="http://members.rogers.com/mattl/3mojave04-26-03.jpg">

I have always thought he looked typical of "Desert" phase and thats what he was sold as. I really prefer solid black and whites. I want to find a girlfriend for him but normally all I see are the ones with more brown and yellow. But accourding to your descriptions he is more like a banded. (i dont care either way)

Marisa

[gonesnakee]

I'd call him a Desert Phase Banded Cal-King myself Marisa. He is white/black enough to justify being called Desert phase & is banded dispite his slight abberrancies (they almost all have them). Back to what I was saying before I know lots of people who would sell that as a 50/50 which it obviously isn't because of the width of the black vs. the narrow white. He's looking good though, I myself love Cal-Kings, especially High White Desert Phases. Most people desire the "higher" white content & most breeders charge more for them also. Thats why people like to call them "50/50's" because they bring a higher price than "banded's". I have had snakes that I produced being sold at a table next to mine at a rep. show being charged double what I was charging for their siblings on my table. The only difference between the snakes was I called them Banded's (as they were) & buddy called them 50/50's (for double the price) even though they all came from the same clutch at my house. I myself do not make up fancy names to charge higher prices, I calls em like I sees them. Anyhow nice Cali Marisa, Good Luck.
Mark I. - GONE SNAKEE!

[marisa]

Thanks! I always just call him California Kingsnake myself. :D

Marisa

[Vanan]

Yea nice Desert phase marisa!

[marylyn101]

what a little hottie., it's too bad you want a desert phase. i want to breed my coastel phase honey to a desert and see what happens.

[Solid Snake]

how old are hatchlings?

[Solid Snake]

Oops i meant to ask

How LONG are hatchlings.

[RaVeNo888o]

if you want to see abberent.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3842-med.jpg

hmm..wouldnt show up, its in my album though, middle pic

I believe he is high white as well. He has moslyt 'pure' black and white but in some places it goes a bit brown and 'cream' not really yellow.
edit: he does have a faint white stripe down the middle of his back, but it is not bordered by enough black to call it a stripe..i love the pattern but would love to get a more traditional single striped desert:)

[Jeff_Favelle]

I always thought that 50/50 was a description of the width of the yellow/white bands and was irrelevant when talking about coastal or desert??

[RaVeNo888o]

got my pic working, 2 posts up, from my album anyways

[Vanan]

Jeff is right. 50/50 refers to the percentage of white/yellow to black/brown.