King cobra color change - hormonal?

[snakegetters]

I have a particularly nice king cobra who was a beautiful golden color with black-tipped scales in the lower half of his body and a very orange head and throat. Or had, should I say.

He bred two females this season, and underwent significant behavioral and physical changes within a span of less than three months. His head and neck has visibly thickened. His color has changed from light, pale golden to extremely dark chocolate brown. He is now an unusually dark king cobra rather than an unusually light one. The orange is still visible on the neck but not the head. The black tipping and the chevron patterns on his hood are almost obscured.

Behaviorally he is a much more dominant animal. He will not submit or hood down as he did before when his head was gently pressed with a snake hook. He stands a lot taller when hooding; the difference is obvious in the cage he's in. He strains to stand as tall as physically possible and then some, nearly tipping over in his efforts to get higher than me. I don't like describing any snake as aggressive, but let's say that he moves forward very vigorously to defend his territory when I open the cage door.

Anyone else have this experience with a breeding male? His adult coloration and behavior was stable for years before he bred. His health is quite good, he is a big strong bull daddy of a snake in excellent body condition, willing to eat anything. This color change is not one that I would associate with an illness; this snake is *magnificently* healthy and active. Hormonal changes possibly? Any input from other breeders?

[Gregg M]

Temp changes and even introduction to other animals of the same species can bring on color changes in most reptiles...... From what I understand some even dull out a bit when stressed or excited..... I guess there are alot of reasons why this can happen.....

[Glenn Bartley]

I don't like describing any snake as aggressive, but let's say that he moves forward very vigorously to defend his territory when I open the cage door. I do not know about the color change, but king cobras have been known to be aggressive snakes that not only do not back away but often chase the object of their aggression.

[frankf]

do you have any c.h. king cobra's available or know where i can find? thanks...

[Mustangrde1]

Tanith, I have read about this in other species in some old journals never though in king cobras. My guess is it has to do with the post mating behavior of kings. Perhaps a camoflauge that they undergo for protection of the nest. but again its only a guess.

[snakegetters]

I'll be darned. He went through the deepest color change I've ever seen in a snake for some months, then he went into shed and voila, I have my old golden-orange boy back again.

For the last few years his shed cycles turned him a dull greenish at their darkest, and the color changes never lasted that long before the shed. No idea what happened here but my best guess would be that it was hormonal and related to the mating.

And no, none of the offspring are ever going on the open market to strangers. Just not happening. Sorry.

[snakegetters]

Now it's really getting interesting. He shed yet again, and now the orange tones on his entire body seem to be deepening. He looks fantastic. He weighs a bit over 3 kilos before feeding time and is somewhere between 11' and 12'. He isn't the longest king out there by any means, but he is a big old bull of a snake.

I wish I could post some pics, but he is an absolute monster to photograph. John Tashjian was staying with me for a few weeks, and I got a second experienced king cobra handler to help work the big boy so John could get some good pics. It was entertaining and amusing to be chased around the house by His Majesty, but it was something of a fiasco in terms of the photography.

Oh well. I'm willing to try again if I get another photographer/handler pair down here. John's camera equipment is a little dated and didn't work to catch fast shots or moving shots. Anybody else with a faster camera want to volunteer?

[COBRAMAN]

I will help with the handling, but I am not so hot with photography

[snakegetters]

Ray, it might work if you handle/pose him and I do the photographing. The problem is that this guy doesn't like to stay still long enough for some of the older cameras to take a decent shot. My digital camera is faster than John's old fashioned standard film setup, but not that much faster. We might get some halfway decent snapshots if you can hold his attention long enough for me to get a focus.

What we really need is a good wildlife photographer with a camera that doesn't suck, and two handlers for safety - one posing the snake, one protecting the photographer.