Black Milks...again, with the male

Stockwell · 02-01-04, 02:24 PM

Below is my male Lampropeltis triangulum gaigeae
someone asked to see the male. He has not completed his transition to black yet, but he's getting there.

Below is the female. She only has a hint of the milk snake triad pattern left... Someone asked their size, so I measured them today...They are both about 37 inches, and are now eating full grown mice, as you can see. I look forward to breeding these in 05

vanderkm · 02-01-04, 02:34 PM

These are fantasitc pictures - really nice to see the development of the black coloration and the difference between these two. Looks like lots of irridescence in the black too! Interesting that the skin is very pale between the scales, even in the darker areas. Very nice and thanks for posting,

mary v.

Ace · 02-01-04, 04:59 PM

Nice pair Stockwell! Amazing to see how much they change, great pics! Looks like the male has a full belly.

Katt · 02-01-04, 08:13 PM

Very weird looking! I'd like to see a change to black. I wonder why the babies are tri-color, what's the advantage?

Stav.T · 02-01-04, 08:22 PM

Very nice Roy! Thats another superb species that's not comonly kept .
Good luck with breeding,
Stav

Stockwell · 02-01-04, 09:47 PM

Thanks Mary and Stav!
Katt, these snakes have been given a distinct supspecific status but basically I look at them as being melanistic Hondurans.
William's hypothesis is that gaigeae evolved from the blending of Stuarti and Hondurensis.
They are from higher cooler elevations up to 7400 feet in the mountains of Costa Rica and Panama. The intense black tipping which eventually overtakes the entire initial tricolor patten is believed to be an adaptation to absorb heat.
This might also be why females get darker faster. Once they are mature the black pigment might better equipt them for reproduction allowing better heat absorbtion for developing eggs.

TheRedDragon · 02-01-04, 09:52 PM

Beautiful pair, and I wish you the best of luck with this breeding project. The colour transition is so fascinating, I want at least 1.1 of them, so, keep me in mind when they breed for you.

Very good photography too.

Stockwell · 02-02-04, 01:00 AM

I guess I should have included a pic of how they first looked..
Here is a picture of the same pair one year ago

Clownfishie · 02-02-04, 01:57 AM

Awesome Roy!

Those guys are definitely on my wish list... the change that they go through is so cool! Great pics too btw!

**Andy_G** · 02-02-04, 04:56 PM

Awesome Roy! Mine was sexed as a male but I am not sure because it is getting a large amount of black tipping at only 5 months of age. I made the mistake of only getting one of them so next fall I will have this one probed and get an individual of the opposite sex so I can breed them in a few years time.

Mine is 24 inches at the moment and on a hopper a week. I've sort of been wondering if that's overfeeding it because I see many people with yearlings that are just starting to choke hoppers down. :/

Classic · 02-02-04, 07:36 PM

They are fantastic.

Bring on shipping weather!

Tara Garratt · 02-03-04, 12:24 AM

The colour change is amazing. Snakes are such interesting creatures. I would have never believed that animals that started out looking as those two did would eventually turn black. Thanks for posting!

Tara Garratt

**Andy_G** · 02-14-04, 05:20 PM

I think they are born as tricolors to be a coral snake mimic because they lack size, but where they live those colours don't do them any favors for thermoregulation, and if they were black when at a very young age they probably would have extremely low chances of survival which could be why they turn black once they put some size on...but then again when I think about it, wouldn't black camouflage them better than bright red and white, and black bands?