Soba, the Gray Banded Kingsnake

My new addition. He is a 2 year old dark phase blairi grey banded kingsnake of unknown locality. I had spent months looking for a dark gap locality and this one looks very much like it (Could be of the gap locality or mixed with one?). I searched high and low, spoke to different breeders, went to so many expos. So I am very happy I finally found the snake with this particular bands and color, especially the white mixed with the grey. The photo was taken today while I was cleaning his tank (The photo is not too great, sorry in advance). He is very active and won't pause for the camera because he is hungry and ready for food again.

So far, I am loving this species. I had seen another grey banded king (Light phase... Not blairi). Beautiful baby female with a calm disposition like Soba. It is a shame not many people breed them anymore. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...886d745121.jpg

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Gorgeous critter. I love GBKs.

Gorgeous snake, I'm jealous! :cool: I've never kept any of these, but always thought they're so attractive...we have similar taste, I guess?

Glad you finally found what you've been looking for...and I agree, it's a shame that so few seem to be working with them any more. There's SO many more kinds to
enjoy than just the few top picks (BPs, boas, kings).

Super cool addition!!! As you probably know, I love Kings!!! I've always been partial to Cali Kings, but GBKs are gorgeous!

I haven't been in the market for a King in a few years, so I'm a little out of touch with what's out there. But I do regularly "window shop" on morphmarket, Kingsnake and fauna and it seems as if I don't see GBKs very often. It's too bad, they're a beautiful species.

Very nice!

I've got an alterna phase one myself. Not a super common snake in most places, but there's a guy who does a lot of gray banded king breeding who turns up to all my local expos, so I see them much more commonly than most. Not too familiar with different locales, but you chose well, a very pretty snake.

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Originally Posted by Craiga 01453

Super cool addition!!! As you probably know, I love Kings!!! I've always been partial to Cali Kings, but GBKs are gorgeous!

I haven't been in the market for a King in a few years, so I'm a little out of touch with what's out there. But I do regularly "window shop" on morphmarket, Kingsnake and fauna and it seems as if I don't see GBKs very often. It's too bad, they're a beautiful species.

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What's funny is that they used to be very common, in fact one of the most common kings in the market. I'm a small breeder in SoCal and I'm practically the only one who produces around here. They're way less common because of the demand for other snakes that eat right out of the egg and are worth money right away.

The other issue is the locality/generic wars of (insert year). For some reason people believe that inbreeding/ collecting more locality snakes is the best for the species, while others like me only see it weakening the bloodlines.

I'll stop the rant there and provide a pic of my only hatchling from my Observatory Rd. locality.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4df08ca345.jpg

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Those are both beautiful Kings.