In my decade ‘plus’ of experience I have handled too many snakes to count. My personal favorite is the Splotched Sinaloan Milk Snake produced by Robert Applegate of Applegate Reptiles. Today we can purchase various colours and patterns of Milk Snakes ranging from stripes to spots and mixtures of stripes and spots as well as solid coloured high contrast species. The word morph refers to variations in colour and even patterns that are selected by a breeder and then bred specifically to enhance a specific trait. Today, through the efforts of captive breeders, we have what are known as morphs. The Coral Snake has few predators so it is believed that the Milk Snake and some Kingsnakes evolved to become mimics in order to ward off predators. This evolved as a form of Batesian mimicry of the Coral Snake a highly venomous species in the Elapidae family with which Milk Snakes and Kingsnakes sometimes share a habitat with. The combinations and widths of these bands vary between species. In the wild most Milk Snakes come in the typical three colour variation of black, red, orange, yellow, or white. Now this is where the fun begins for herpetoculturists breeders of Milk Snakes ( Lampropeltis triangulum) have been working with this species for so long, that there are some incredible colour variations offered now. Generally speaking Milk Snakes achieve an adult size of 3-4’ in total length which makes them the perfect pet for any home.
According to Robert Applegate’s book Kingsnakes and Milksnakes in Captivity “They have the largest natural geographic range of any land snake and live from below sea level to over a mile high.†Size The Lampropeltis genus is found from Southeastern Canada all the way to Northern South America and inhabit a wide variety of habitats capable of supporting reptile life. Tricolors, generally refer to some Kingsnake and most Milk Snakes three coloured ringed pattern. Another term that is often thrown around in certain circles within the industry is that of ‘Tricolors’. Regardless, the name once again stuck and has been used since. I assure you that no cow to my knowledge would stand for six rows of teeth being embedded into its teat without some type of reaction. When he attempted to milk the cow he noticed that there was a shortage of milk and made the connection that the snake must have had something to do with this. The Milk Snake name may have come from a farmer of old going to his barn and discovering a snake near the cow he was going to milk. Logically, this would make it the ‘King of Snakes’ and the name simply stuck. The Kingsnake most likely achieved their common name by someone observing them eat a venomous Rattlesnake. From all the research I have done I have come to the same conclusion as many of my colleagues and mentors have.
0 kommentar(er)
