California Mnt. Kingsnakes??

I posted this by mistake under the "classifieds" section. I should have done it here:

I have been away from the kingsnake "hobby" for a long time (since the middle 90's) so I have not been paying much attention to what is available, although I do see that prices have come down big-time. Can anyone please let me know what is the status of California mountain kingsnake in the hobby? I cannot find a single one for sale on the internet. Why have they become so scarce in the hobby? Does anyone sell/breed them anymore?

Thanks

N. Reyes

Winter gArden FL

Well, if you can't seem to find them online your next course of action could be attending a local herp show and see if there are any available there. Even if there aren't you could make inquires to the vendors who may have but may not have brought or they may know of someone who does have them.

Originally Posted by nreyes2000

I posted this by mistake under the "classifieds" section. I should have done it here:

I have been away from the kingsnake "hobby" for a long time (since the middle 90's) so I have not been paying much attention to what is available, although I do see that prices have come down big-time. Can anyone please let me know what is the status of California mountain kingsnake in the hobby? I cannot find a single one for sale on the internet. Why have they become so scarce in the hobby? Does anyone sell/breed them anymore?

Thanks

N. Reyes

Winter gArden FL

They occasionally are seen on kingsnake.com

One of the issues is that they are not legal to sell in any state where they are native, even from captive propogation. In California, no more than 1 may be collected from the wild, so most breeding programs in California are scientific permit programs, which often do not share with hobbyists.

Outside of California/Oregon/Washington - there are a few breeders that are legal, but not very many. I have an unconfirmed suspicion there are problems with productivity resulting from inbreeding since it is very difficult to bring in fresh blood and there aren't that many breeders.

Hopefully (wishful thinking) the law in CA will change allowing for commercial propogation in the state and a bag limit of two (or four) wild caught to allow captive stock to be built.