As promised, an update on the Kisatchies

[Floof]

I promised in another thread that I'd post up new pictures of some of these guys, so here goes!

I'll start with a few of the hatchlings...

#2, who recently decided that food isn't so bad after all... S/he was a non-feeder up until a few weeks ago. Now s/he's one of the best feeders here!

#3 is a little male who seems to be retaining that nice silver background from his mom's side. This was taken a few weeks ago, after his second shed.

#4 just went through his/her second shed yesterday, and is looking quite nice.

#13, male, who looks like he might finally be gearing up for his second shed. Took this picture just real quick today for his for sale ad.

I have a love-hate relationship with #16. On the one hand, s/he is such an incredible little beauty. Such a crisp silver background sets her apart noticeably from her clutchmates... But, on the other hand, she's one of the two non-feeders who have yet to go for a single trick. Haven't given up just yet, though... I still have one or two tricks to go.

Then there's the parents. Vrael and... Well, I still haven't decided on a good name for her, so she's still going by "Clove," the name my roommate had given her.

Here's a few recent pictures of "Clove."

She has had the exclusive privilege of living in a planted vivarium.

She seems to really enjoy it. Here she is exploring it shortly after moving in. (Please excuse the unsightly white specks--I had sprayed the tank down with diatomaceous earth-water some weeks earlier and hadn't quite gotten to wiping down the outside of the tank.)

Vrael isn't the biggest fan of being photographed, it seems. Here's a couple of the more decent shots I managed to get in the last couple weeks.

He has such a pretty pink belly... It's almost a salmon pink in person. (Mmmm... Salmon...)

Thanks for looking! I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

 

[poison]

Love it How big do these guys get? Is it the same as an average corn?

 

[Floof]

From my understanding, yes, they'll get about the size of a corn snake. "Clove" is right about the same size as your average corn snake at 450 grams (actually not far off from the size of my adult female common corn snake, who's a year younger than these two).

Vrael, on the other hand, weighs in at about 800 grams, which would definitely be on the BIG side for a common corn snake! I don't know whether getting that large is a usual thing for Kisatchies or not, though, since these are the only two adults I've ever seen in person.

 

[TortoiseBoy1999]

So how long do they get? They are beautiful by the way

 

[poison]

yeah Vrael does seem a little large.

 

[Floof]

You know, I rarely actually try to measure my snakes' length... LOL. I just tried with Vrael, and he seems to be about 5 ft??? I'm not going to try with "Clove" right now, but she's probably in the 4 ft range. "Average" for corn snakes in general seems to be about 3.5-4.5 feet, but potential is anywhere from 3 feet (for especially small adults, particularly those common corn snakes from Upper Keys lineage) up to 6 feet for the particularly humongous males.

 

[TortoiseBoy1999]

You know, I rarely actually try to measure my snakes' length... LOL. I just tried with Vrael, and he seems to be about 5 ft??? I'm not going to try with "Clove" right now, but she's probably in the 4 ft range. "Average" for corn snakes in general seems to be about 3.5-4.5 feet, but potential is anywhere from 3 feet (for especially small adults, particularly those common corn snakes from Upper Keys lineage) up to 6 feet for the particularly humongous males.

Oh wow, I never knew they could get that big

 

[Floof]

Length can be deceiving! Vrael, even though he's 5 ft, only weighs 2 lbs and couldn't safely eat anything larger than a weanling rat (twice the size of an adult mouse). He's small enough that a child could keep control of him... But people hear "5 feet" and automatically assume that means it's HUGE.

 

[TortoiseBoy1999]

But people hear "5 feet" and automatically assume that means it's HUGE.

Not me

 

[Floof]

Oh good! It's still always funny to me when you show a person a snake like Vrael and say he's 5 ft... And they're SO surprised, because they expect something at least as big as my Woma python (about 5 lbs, just a touch over 5 ft, MUCH heftier than Vrael). I guess it's just hard to fathom for some people that a 5 ft snake can actually be small enough to thrive on a single adult mouse every couple weeks... And, more importantly, NOT be big enough to kill a small dog/cat/infant. LOL

 

[sibi]

Beautiful pics. Your snakes are truly magnificent.

 

[mainey34]

They have some nice colors. They have sure come a long way since I was breeding oh, 15 years ago. I sure do miss them...

 

[Floof]

Thank you!

Charmaine, did you use to work with the Kisatchie species? That's pretty cool. There really aren't enough of these guys around...

 

[TortoiseBoy1999]

Where are they from?

 

[Floof]

Kisatchie corns are native to Louisiana and extreme eastern Texas, IIRC. They get their common name from the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana.

 

[poison]

How much do these guys go for?

 

[Floof]

When I've actually seen them for sale, the normals seem to run around $40-60? Not 100% sure on that, of course. I'm trying to sell mine (well, the ones that are feeding) at $50 each, but I can only do local sales and, unfortunately, people around here are either uninterested in this species or only see them as another version of a corn snake.

 

[ColorfulTortoise]

You have some beautiful cornsnakes. They are magnificent! I am a huge corn fan, as I have five and I am planning on breeding them. (I also have a few other species of snakes)

A female lavender



A female diffused-blooded



A handsome feisty young candy cane male



And another female, who is a silver ghost queen:





And, last but not least, my handsome 2005 male normal, Slinky

 

[poison]

You have some beautiful cornsnakes. They are magnificent! I am a huge corn fan, as I have five and I am planning on breeding them. (I also have a few other species of snakes)

A female lavender

View attachment 31477

A female diffused-blooded

View attachment 31478

A handsome feisty young candy cane male

View attachment 31479

And another female, who is a silver ghost queen:



View attachment 31480

And, last but not least, my handsome 2005 male normal, Slinky

View attachment 31481


View attachment 31482

Your pics aren't popping up for me

 

[Floof]

It's unfortunate your pics didn't go through. I'd love to see your corns. Always had a soft spot for them.. My first snake (still have her) was an Anery corn. I also have a lovely young lady who I'm fairly certain is an Ultramel Anery Motley, possibly from Tequila Sunrise lines. I don't really plan to breed them at all (as much as I love to toy with the idea of getting a TS male). Only Kisatchies here, if even that.

Just a quick update on these guys... I'm sad to report both my little non-feeders passed away. #16, my little silver beauty, passed last week; #11 passed sometime tonight. I'm sad to see them go, but you can't win every battle. There's one other (#15) that seems to be going downhill, but I'm not terribly surprised; he took one pink 26 days ago but nothing before or after. I may break down and try force-feeding something small like the leg of a bigger mouse to see if a little energy boost helps.

Everyone else is doing well, though. Only had 3 babies refuse food this week (not counting 11 and 15), which just might be a record, lol! One of the refusals was #2, who has been SO enthusiastic about food for the last month and suddenly seems to have changed her mind. I guess I spoke too soon when I called her one of the best eaters here... Fickle little snakes, I could just about scream some days!

Vrael and "Clove" (still deciding on a permanent name...) are also doing well. They both ate tonight... Like pigs, as always! I love snakes that always eat... I don't think I've had a refusal from anyone but the woma in months! (Hopefully I didn't just jinx it... LOL)