Hello, I'm definitely NEW!!

[Almo75]

Hello, I am new to the forum thing and really new to the reptile thing! My nine year old son has an interest (I do not know where he got it) in snakes. So, for the past couple of months we have been reading everything from the library, plus as much as we can online. We have been a fixture at the local pet store and have been slowly narrowing our search for a ssnake! We do have a couple of dogs, a guinea pig and a frog....much different than snakes. Nonetheless, our favourite seems to be the Chihuahua Mountain Kingsnake. If anyone can give us more input and/or advise, we would really appreciate it. Many thanks!! Cheers to all.

[Boots]

Welcome to the forum. I wish my parents were as understanding of my wanting a snake as a pet. I had to wait till I moved out of the house till I could get my first snake.

Jason

[Joe]

Chihuahua Mountain Kingsnake, Pyromelinia knoblocki, gorgous snake, like most mountain kings they are very docile and reluctant to bite, as long as it is a well established eater then I think a great first snake, hatchlings can be a bit picky and with there small size can even be an issue finding prey small enough, but if its a well started juvi then I say go for it! good luck and let us know how it goes!

[Almo75]

Thanks Joe. We just have to find one! Are they difficult to locate this time of year? Or, are they just not a particularly popular snake in Canada?

[Boots]

I doubt you would find one at the local pet store. You might have to track one down online and have it shipped.

Jason

[gonesnakee]

I'll echo Joe's comments. They are very hard to establish as babies, but once established they feed great & make great pets. The Chihuahua Mtn. King & the Tarahumara Mtn. Kings are basically the same snake from 2 different locales. Both are Lampropeltis pyromelana knoblochi. They have the highest triad count out of all the kingsnakes (most bands) & are definite lookers. Not many folks in Canada work with these guys unfortunately. I used to breed them (Tarahumaras) but am now down to just 1 male & no girls. Nett of Wrapped Up In Reptiles still has breeding stock. I actually had my lone male up for sale at the TARAS show & would consider parting with him still. Email if interested. As far as aquiring a baby would go, Nett would be your best bet, but you will be waiting until late summer/early fall likely depending on if she has eggs or not yet. They tend to take 2.5 - 3 months after hatching before they start to eat has been my experience so after hatching it can be 3.5-4 months before they are properly established on food. I don't know of anyone else in Canada even working with them for sure anymore. There is one I produced a few years back at a local petstore for like $450+ which is pretty outragous, but they did used to go for upwards of $400 each in Canada 5-10 years ago from breeders even. Henry Piorun of BC used to have some way back. Mark P.S. I'm pretty sure I sold at least 1 to someone in Kamloops a few years back?

[Joe]

Paul and Lorraine Gillard also work with them, they are in Ontario but I know they ship often

[Almo75]

Thank-you Joe. I found them on the web and will make contact tomorrow.

[Almo75]

Thanks Mark. I found their website and have sent an email to inquire. This sound a bit off but what does, say, 1.1 or .1 mean when describing a snake???? Thanks again.

[totheend]

Thanks Mark. I found their website and have sent an email to inquire. This sound a bit off but what does, say, 1.1 or .1 mean when describing a snake???? Thanks again.

Refers to the sex.
It goes male, then female then unknown sex. ie- 0.1.2 means 0 males, 1 female and 2 unknown sex.

[gonesnakee]

To elaborate more 1.1 is a sexed pair, 0.1 is a female, 1.0 is a male 0.0.1 is an unsexed specimen. As stated male.female.unknown is the order of things, Mark

[Almo75]

Thanks, I haven't earlly come across that terminology yet. My apologies if I sounded a bit stupid.
I really starting to enjoy this forum thing and hopefully we can locate a good snake.

[gonesnakee]

A very popular question pretty much everyone asked once anyhow, Mark