knox
11-17-11, 08:14 AM
My Black Milk Snake arrived this morning. What I want to do over the next year is to show the differences in the Mexican Black King (MBK) and the Black Milk.
Both of these snakes are 2011 hatchlings. The hatch date on the Milk is 10-10-11. I don’t know the hatch date on the MBK. However, it is quite clear that the Milk hatched much larger than the King. The King starts out jet black – mine has a white spot on her chin. The Milk will slowly darken with age.
The King is a female, and the Milk is a male. From what I understand, the Black Milk males tend to be larger than the females, which is generally the opposite of North American snakes. Of course, this isn’t a hard and fast rule, as genetic strains play a vital role as well.
The MBK is kept as any other North American Colubrid – warm spot in the mid 80’s, cool side mid 70’s.
The Black Milk, however, is kept in the low to mid 70’s – perfect room temperature. No additional heat required.
I hope you enjoy this little journey, and if you have any specific questions, I will do my best to answer them. And please, if any of my information seems to be in error, I welcome the correction.
Mexican Black Kingsnake:
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m82/knoxf4i/photobucket-1543-1320936184749.jpg
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m82/knoxf4i/photobucket-794-1320941747578.jpg
Black Milk Snake:
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m82/knoxf4i/photobucket-3628-1321538375789.jpg
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m82/knoxf4i/photobucket-1485-1321538334468.jpg
Both of these snakes are 2011 hatchlings. The hatch date on the Milk is 10-10-11. I don’t know the hatch date on the MBK. However, it is quite clear that the Milk hatched much larger than the King. The King starts out jet black – mine has a white spot on her chin. The Milk will slowly darken with age.
The King is a female, and the Milk is a male. From what I understand, the Black Milk males tend to be larger than the females, which is generally the opposite of North American snakes. Of course, this isn’t a hard and fast rule, as genetic strains play a vital role as well.
The MBK is kept as any other North American Colubrid – warm spot in the mid 80’s, cool side mid 70’s.
The Black Milk, however, is kept in the low to mid 70’s – perfect room temperature. No additional heat required.
I hope you enjoy this little journey, and if you have any specific questions, I will do my best to answer them. And please, if any of my information seems to be in error, I welcome the correction.
Mexican Black Kingsnake:
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m82/knoxf4i/photobucket-1543-1320936184749.jpg
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m82/knoxf4i/photobucket-794-1320941747578.jpg
Black Milk Snake:
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m82/knoxf4i/photobucket-3628-1321538375789.jpg
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m82/knoxf4i/photobucket-1485-1321538334468.jpg