Big photoshoot

Captive care and husbandry.

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justinm
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Big photoshoot

Post by justinm »

I visited an old friend who has hundreds of animals from quite a few genera. He was kind enough to let me shoot some of his snakes. I took pics of the few I wanted and he requested a few of his favorites be shot as well. I'm sorry that I don't know the names of the morphs, if you do and want to shout them out feel free. I have a hard enough time knowing the taxonomy without adding another level of confusion.

I'm starting off with some choice shots of the Appalachicola Kings that I just recently hatched out. I traded the clutch for some racks, that I need.
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Lampropeltis getula meansi by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Lampropeltis getula meansi by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Lampropeltis getula meansi by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Lampropeltis getula meansi by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Lampropeltis getula meansi by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Lampropeltis getula meansi by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Lampropeltis getula meansi by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Pantherophis guttatus by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Pantherophis guttatus by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Lampropeltis getula meansi by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Lampropeltis getula californae by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Pantherophis obsoletus (Leucistic Texas Rat) by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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IMG_5184 by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Pituophis deppei janni by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Pantherophis guttatus by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Morelia spilotes mcdoweli by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Pseudelaphe flavirufa by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Lampropeltis mexicana thayeri by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Lampropeltis mexican thayeri by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Lampropeltis getula splendida by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Lichanura trivirgata by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Lampropeltis mexicana mexicana by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Lampropeltis ruthveni by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Pantherophis obsoletus (Scaleless Texas Ratsnake) by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Pantherophis obsoletus (Scaleless Texas Ratsnake) by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Pantherophis bairdi by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

I have Corn Snakes, and they're fine not super exciting. I don't bother breeding them. This snake struck me as pretty cool though. It's marked like a Garter, but it's the colors of an Okatee Corn.
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Pantherophis guttatus by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

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Pantherophis guttatus by Justin.Michels, on FlickrImage
Elaphe schrenckii by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

I thought this Tarantula shot came out nice, so I'll throw it in.
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IMG_5243 by Justin.Michels, on Flickr

That's all for now folks.
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Big photoshoot

Post by Kelly Mc »

Excellent!
VICtort
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Re: Big photoshoot

Post by VICtort »

Some fine photos herein, my favorites are the carpet python head shot, and the tarantula. The Elaphe shrenckii is very different than those I had years ago, mine were very dark chocolate brown with bright yellow marking on labials and the head, with yellowish cream banding. I wonder if your photo subject is from a more southerly source or it is just young and does not have adult colors?

Some interesting animals for sure and great photography, Vic
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Cole Grover
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Re: Big photoshoot

Post by Cole Grover »

Good stuff, Justin. Those little kings you hatched are friggin' awesome. I got your PM, but haven't had time to reply until now. I'll kick it around (again) and get back to you.

-Cole
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justinm
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Re: Big photoshoot

Post by justinm »

Thanks Guys.

Vic that snake is said to be from Korean stock. I guess those look a little different than the Russian ones? I had a Russian Rat years ago and he was very dark, with yellow bands. This snake didn't remind me of him at all.
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Sam Bacchini
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Re: Big photoshoot

Post by Sam Bacchini »

Great photography and beautiful animals!

Your Elaphe schrenckii is actually Elaphe anomala (formerly E. schrenckii anomala) also known as the Korean ratsnake.

I think I have seen that corn snake morph referred to as a tessera corn.
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Jeroen Speybroeck
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Re: Big photoshoot

Post by Jeroen Speybroeck »

Not so sure about anomala, but Elaphe schrenckii is a very variable species. Here are 2 from an introduced population in N Europe (Netherlands).

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justinm
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Re: Big photoshoot

Post by justinm »

Jeroen, thanks for the photos. The second snake would have had me scratching my head for sure. It's a neat looking animal.

Gila-91,

I think it was called a tessera (spelling?), but to me it's just a Corn Snake. Kenny Wray who's taxonomy I usually trust implicitly thinks that the Korean snakes are now anomala. I'm pretty weak on the taxonomy of Asian Snakes.
VICtort
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Re: Big photoshoot

Post by VICtort »

Jeroen, that is interesting and gives me a broader perspective. I had some of the first to come into the USA, they were much darker than those in this thread with vibrant yellow, contrast... somewhat like a mangrove snake (B. dendrophila). More like your 2nd photo but much more contrast. Also very large relative to those I now hear about.

Introduced to the Netherlands? I had no idea, they must be very cold tolerant. Is that an established population and is it regarded a threat to native species?
Are there other nonnative (in addition to red eared sliders) reptiles established in Europe? Apparently the Romans moved some around.

Justin, I just reviewed your post on a large screen rather than just an I phone, some of those kings are stunning.

Vic
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Jeroen Speybroeck
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Re: Big photoshoot

Post by Jeroen Speybroeck »

VICtort wrote:Introduced to the Netherlands? I had no idea, they must be very cold tolerant. Is that an established population and is it regarded a threat to native species?
Are there other nonnative (in addition to red eared sliders) reptiles established in Europe? Apparently the Romans moved some around.
Sorry I didn't reply to this any sooner, I must have overlooked it. This species lives in harsher continental climates, so it's surely used to a (very) cold season. The bottleneck I would rather expect is reproduction to be hampered by not too cool summers. Apparently not. The species seems to be stable and might be spreading, but lack of knowledge seems apparent.

There are quite a number of introduced reproducing reptile species in Europe, but most involve species that occur naturally elsewhere in Europe or in nearby circum-Mediterranean areas, often dating back to ancient times. Lampropeltis getula on the Canary Islands are an example of a somewhat more exotic species, if you consider that a part of Europe.
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BillMcGighan
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Re: Big photoshoot

Post by BillMcGighan »

:thumb:
Nice pics, Justin
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justinm
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Re: Big photoshoot

Post by justinm »

Thanks for the kind words guys. I have found that I often overlook captive animals, and then years later regret it.

Jeroen, your insight into the herps of Europe is so cool to have on this forum. I honestly hadn't thought of what invasives might even be in Europe.
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Sam Bacchini
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Re: Big photoshoot

Post by Sam Bacchini »

Your P. flavirufa is interesting as the color is different from what I am used to seeing with my P. f. flavirufa. Makes me wonder if you have one of the other subspecies.

That is interesting about the E. schrenki in the Netherlands. E. schrenki and E. anomala are good solid species (formerly considered subspecies). The hatchlings are identical, but the color changes as they grow differ dramatically. I was not aware of there being that much variation within each species though. I wonder if it's possible that the introduced population has genes from both species?

I still say Justinm's animal is E. anomala
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Jeroen Speybroeck
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Re: Big photoshoot

Post by Jeroen Speybroeck »

gila-91 wrote:I wonder if it's possible that the introduced population has genes from both species?
Good point. In general, I'm actually surprised that there seems to be so little concern about that invasion, as I normally consider the Dutch to manage these things better than their southern neighbours (= my countrymen).
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justinm
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Re: Big photoshoot

Post by justinm »

gila-91 wrote:Your P. flavirufa is interesting as the color is different from what I am used to seeing with my P. f. flavirufa. Makes me wonder if you have one of the other subspecies.

That is interesting about the E. schrenki in the Netherlands. E. schrenki and E. anomala are good solid species (formerly considered subspecies). The hatchlings are identical, but the color changes as they grow differ dramatically. I was not aware of there being that much variation within each species though. I wonder if it's possible that the introduced population has genes from both species?

I still say Justinm's animal is E. anomala
Gila-91 This is an F2 animal, and some of the snakes that have come from the original pairing have been deep red and lighter colors as well. So it's not what I would call a typical coloration really.
Aaron
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Re: Big photoshoot

Post by Aaron »

The flavirufa looks anerythristic to me. I never owned any but I know that anery flavs have been established since the 1990's; I'm not sure how common they are nowdays.
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