Hill Country Herps

01/05/2012

01/05/2012

Male Mex Mex from John Lassiter of Coastal Bend Captive Breeding

Of course the one time he sits still, he manages to hide his head...

01/03/2012

01/03/2012

New World ratsnakes are a group of large, non-venomous snakes inhabitaing North and Central America. These animals descend from Asian Ratsnakes, which crossed the Bering Land Bridge within the last twenty to thirty million years or so. These unique and specialized animals share this heritage with the rest of the "Lampropeltinid" tribe.

The New World ratsnake group includes the genera Pantherophis, Bogertophis, Senticolis, and Pseudelaphe.

01/03/2012

Cornsnakes! These are perhaps the most popular, beautiful, and loved snakes to enter the pet trade thus far. Long since Dr. Bretchel produced the first captive albino cornsnakes so many years ago, the captive propagation of this species has led to hundreds of mutations and morph combinations becoming readily available.

"Pantherophis guttata guttata" is a medium sized, docile, and hardy ratsnake originating from the East Coast of the United States. Their closest relative is the Great Plains Ratsnake (including the two subspecific "emoryi" and "meahllmorum"). They are easy to keep and breed in captivity, and of course come in an innumerable variety of colors and paterns. These snakes are for the first time snake owner and investment breeder alike. With a low end price range of $15, and high end price ranges of thousands of dollars, its no wonder that these animals have dominated the pet industry for thirty years.

12/28/2011

For all those who have already liked the Hill Country Herps page, please know that I am not trying to spam you by filling your newsfeed with new photos. These next few days I am just trying to get everything up and going.
Thanks,
Connor

12/28/2011

Cousins ;)

12/28/2011

The kingsnake species which constitute the "Mexicana" complex are perhaps the most enigmatic and misunderstood of North America's reptiles. Little information is known about their habits, ranges, or taxomony. This group is constantly being reclassified as new information becomes available, and the genetic puzzle that links all the snakes together is being solved.

These are the southern most representatives of the vast "Lampropeltis" genus, which extends from coast to coast across North America. Mexicana kings, as their namesake suggests, inhabit North/Central Mexico and extend up into the Transpecos region of Texas.

Some species in this group have proven to be closely linked with the Mountain Kings of the species "pyromelana" and "zonata". However, ruthveni seems to be closer to the milksnake group "triangulum."

Unfortunately there are few of these snakes in the pet trade compared to the more popular kings, milks, cornsnakes, ratsnakes, and pythons that dominate the market. Part of the problem is that getting fresh blood into the captive strains isn't easy considering how elusive these snakes are, and Mexico's exporting laws. However, it seems they are building up more popularity as more people are begining to appreciate their unique beauty, color schemes, and extremely variable phenotypes. Variable Kings (Nuevo Leon) "Lampropeltis mexicana thayeri" are the most popular of the group so far in captive collections.

Rockin' Fact - The pure amelanistic (or albino) mutation that arrised in Amaelco locality rutheni stock was outcrossed into closely related kingsnakes (mostly other tricolors). Thus they are responsible for most of the popular albino milksnakes in the hobby today.

12/23/2011

12/23 - Just about all the colubrids are down for hibernation by now. Python breeding should commence soon though. Merry Christmas!