Posted by Fred A(AZTEC REPTILES) on August 24, 2000 at 16:44:03:
In Reply to: Captive cross breeding of Drymarchon subspecies posted by Roy on August 24, 2000 at 05:05:01:
: Has anyone ever done this, as some have with Elaphe and Lampropeltis? Not that I would condone it, but it could be easily done as the Drymarchon are all subspecies of the same snake, i.e., D. corais. It certainly must happen in the wild, especially with the blacktails, unicolors and yellows, there are probably hybrid animals combined with parentage of any one of these subspecies. Also, what about Eastern and Texas Indigos?
: Has that been done in captivity? I'm only interested in what has been done by captive breeding or any regional taxonomical observations, however, I don't condone the procreation of Drymarchon morphs in captivity for any reason, especially the "designer" snake trade.
: Thanks,
: Roy
Roy,
Years ago (10+) when I was younger, less expereinced and way more trusting tha I am now, I bought a pair of Easterns from an established breeder in California(Not Chuck Elliot) and I noticed that one had a strange color to it, almost a golden yellow hue mixed in with the black. That snake was a hybrid, and I got rid of it and sold it as one. I lost money in the process, but didnt want mutts in my collection, as small as it was then. Since then I have seen D.c.couperi and D.c. erebennus crosses at shows and have seen Drymarchon that I would not even guess as to their parentage. This is at shows. But generally speaking, Indigo breeders dont even try to cross the diffrent subspecies with each other. The value of the snake goes down considerably when it is crossed to another drymarchon and the resuolting babies will not have the natural beauty of their parents. After all, Drymarchon are not Milksnakes or kingsnakes that have been manipulated and toyed with so as to produce new hot "Morphs" that sell better. Most people that buy drymarchon buy them with the understanding that they are buying snakes that will look like the parents and that the snakes they are buying are rare(Couperi) in collections , or like black tailed cribos are not as rare but unique never the less. I WOULD NOT encourage crossing them and would actively discourage people from trying to bring to Drymarchon the same rush for "New Morphs" that is allready present with Milksnakes.kingsnakes,ratsnakes, boas,pythons,etc.al. Lets keep it simple foplks and enjoy it while it lasts.
Fred