New Baby Black Milk Snake

Well I have one big black milk that is a real hit with my snake shows for kids but sometimes he is in shed when a show comes up. :( That is too bad because the kids adore him perhaps the mot of all. So what to do?

Well I picked up this little gal from Don Sonderberg at South Mountain Reptiles. She is still tricolored and I plan to shoot her each month as she changes to use that for educational purposes once the color is gone.

She has started you can see tiny black dots on the tip of each scale and her yellow has gotten real thin.

http://jackspirko.com/images/snakes/...milkbaby-1.JPG

http://jackspirko.com/images/snakes/...milkbaby-2.JPG

http://jackspirko.com/images/snakes/...milkbaby-3.JPG

To me anyone that is willing to pay for a permit to own an Indigo Snake with out first considering one of these has probably not

1. Ever held an adult 6 foot black milk snake

2. Cleaned the poo in an Indigo enclosure every other day for year and gotten tired of cleaning smeared snake poo off the SIDES of the viv.

I understand why people want Indigos but honestly think the "you can't have it" factor makes it more appealing. Just have a look at what an adult one of these turns into, what more could you want in shinny, jet black and docile?

http://jackspirko.com/images/snakes/blackmilk.jpg

Is that a picture of an Eastern Indigo, or a Black Milk? (the bottome one)

That's amazing the color changes so much. Very cool snake.

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Originally Posted by patthesnakeman

Is that a picture of an Eastern Indigo, or a Black Milk? (the bottome one)

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The bottom is a Black Milk. Thanks to all for the compliments.

Very Awesome! Indigos are awesome, but the price tag is not. These milks seem pretty relative. Thanx for the info.

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Originally Posted by jjspirko

To me anyone that is willing to pay for a permit to own an Indigo Snake with out first considering one of these has probably not

1. Ever held an adult 6 foot black milk snake

2. Cleaned the poo in an Indigo enclosure every other day for year and gotten tired of cleaning smeared snake poo off the SIDES of the viv.

I understand why people want Indigos but honestly think the "you can't have it" factor makes it more appealing. Just have a look at what an adult one of these turns into, what more could you want in shinny, jet black and docile?

http://jackspirko.com/images/snakes/blackmilk.jpg

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You make it sound like cleaning liquid velcro poo from a drymarchon enclosure, your leg or the wall is something negative.:)

I love black pines and milks, and I have a beautiful female black pine, but can still say that my indigo and cribos are my favorite snakes.

However, that black milk is a stunning snake!

what temps do you keep your black milk at? I've heard a lot of debate over it...I notice anything over 81ish my guy will start to kind of slightly "heat stress"

Wow. Thats another direction I could point my collection in...amazing. A very tame snake with a very *dangerous* look.

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Originally Posted by pilot511

what temps do you keep your black milk at? I've heard a lot of debate over it...I notice anything over 81ish my guy will start to kind of slightly "heat stress"

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Yea they do not like high temps. What I have done is take my UTC heat and move it to behind the back of the tub. This seems to keep them happy. I don't really worry to much about temps and measure much. I just adjust and judge the snake. When I had my heat under the tub with my Black Milk he never went to the hot side. Now with it in the back of one side of the tub he goes there after a feed and spends most other time at the cool side. Cool side is about 74. Hot side was 83 last time I bothered to check. Same as I keep my Spotted Pythons by the way they don't seem to like it as warm as a boa or corn, etc either.

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Originally Posted by Skiploder

You make it sound like cleaning liquid velcro poo from a drymarchon enclosure, your leg or the wall is something negative.:)

I love black pines and milks, and I have a beautiful female black pine, but can still say that my indigo and cribos are my favorite snakes.

However, that black milk is a stunning snake!

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Naw Skip it ain't that bad. Note I said "CONSIDER" for that very reason. My point is there are people who want an Indigo so bad they will save for years, get the permit etc. Don't know if you ever read Raymond Ditmars but his early work had a lot to do with romanticizing the Indigo talking about how they actually "bond" with a keeper.

He mentions bonding at a point where the snake would follow the keeper if allowed to crawl on the floor. With all due respect what was he smoking the day he wrote about cribos, :O.

They are great snakes my point is only that those who want one someday could do a lot worse then a Black Milk today,

Wow! Awsome snake. Now you've got me wanting a black milk snake. Do you have any links to some caresheets for these snakes? Are they hard to find?

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

Wow! Awsome snake. Now you've got me wanting a black milk snake. Do you have any links to some caresheets for these snakes? Are they hard to find?

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I don't know of many out...basically they're from Costa Rica, they are the biggest of all the milk snakes (males actually can get bigger than females hitting 6-7 feet)...They are from high altitude areas so they're not a huge fan of heat (80-83 on hot side, my guy doesn't like it much over 80 though) and start tri colored and eventually turn completely black...they're quick little guys and love to burrow (mine does at least, aspen bedding)...Great snakes.


What are you feeding your black milk rigth now?

AH! My second favorite species! Love these guys! Always hungry. Always shed's in one piece. Just a Joy to keep! NIce pick up! Although i am Jealous! Now i have to get another one.

Ditto on what Reediculous said. Consider them a corn snake that likes temps 5-10 degrees lower and needs a bit more space. There is absolutely nothing special they need as opposed to any other milk/king/rat snake other then slightly lower temps.

Two hides, fresh water, feed appropriete meals once a week, clean their poo. It ain't rocket science I think sometimes we have be care sheeted to death.

They have great dispositions and I have never known a captive bred animal to bite other then an SFE or if you startle a baby they may strike. They have amazing muscle tone and popping one after they are say 30 days old is therefore very difficult if not impossible. They are one of the most powerful colubrids relative to size you will ever encounter. They will eat anything, dead, live it does not matter.

I worked with a wild collected adult at the Philly Zoo during my volunteer time there about two decades ago. She came in at about 5 feet fresh from the wild, never bit, strait onto PK Rats and took only a few weeks to not really be nervous when handled. I honestly consider them one of the most overlooked snakes in the industry. Beautiful, calm, gentle, easy to keep and again an adult can hold its own next to any Indigo in my opinion.

By the way Indigos almost never bite but has anyone seen a Cribo bite? Stitches are normally required. The South American versions are more apt to bite and it shows you what damage they can do. Again though I have never heard of a North American Indigo biting. Has anyone else?

what are u feeding ur guy now

Mice or Rats of the appropriate size. They seldom refuse a meal, just latch on and swallow. My big guy is on small adult rats, the new baby is on large fuzzys and should move to hoppers in month or less.

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Originally Posted by Reediculous

AH! My second favorite species! Love these guys! Always hungry. Always shed's in one piece. Just a Joy to keep! NIce pick up! Although i am Jealous! Now i have to get another one.

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I agree, Gaigeae are awesome! :) Plus they're a heck of a lot of fun to feed. My male gets so excited that his aim pathetic. Last night he kept striking, missing, and "running" after the meal that he didn't get it until he was completely out of his cage and in the middle of the room. Of course I probably wasn't holding it as steady as I could have because I was laughing hysterically at the situation. :8:

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Originally Posted by xdeus

I agree, Gaigeae are awesome! :) Plus they're a heck of a lot of fun to feed. My male gets so excited that his aim pathetic. Last night he kept striking, missing, and "running" after the meal that he didn't get it until he was completely out of his cage and in the middle of the room. Of course I probably wasn't holding it as steady as I could have because I was laughing hysterically at the situation. :8:

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my guy does the same thing, goes into complete "spaz" mode and starts running around and going nuts.

I've been meaning to ask, I've always loved the looks of these guys, but I heard some rumors about an awful stench... ie, the musking. How bad is the musking? Do they do it often? I can't remember where I read it, but it was enough to make me reconsider for awhile...

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Originally Posted by GirDance

I've been meaning to ask, I've always loved the looks of these guys, but I heard some rumors about an awful stench... ie, the musking. How bad is the musking? Do they do it often? I can't remember where I read it, but it was enough to make me reconsider for awhile...

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I have never had a problem with it happening much. Sometimes if you are trying to pop one to sex them they do it. The WC female at the zoo did it a time or two. But with CB I have not seen it much. It is certainly no worse when it happens then if a rat or garter does it. It is honestly not much of a concern they get very tame very fast.

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Originally Posted by jjspirko

I have never had a problem with it happening much. Sometimes if you are trying to pop one to sex them they do it. The WC female at the zoo did it a time or two. But with CB I have not seen it much. It is certainly no worse when it happens then if a rat or garter does it. It is honestly not much of a concern they get very tame very fast.

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Thanks! PS, took a look at your house snake site... This line should *definately* be part of your sig, I spit coke on the keyboard laughing:

"Spammers are scum! If I had my way they would all get reincarnated as feeder mice!"

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Originally Posted by GirDance

I've been meaning to ask, I've always loved the looks of these guys, but I heard some rumors about an awful stench... ie, the musking. How bad is the musking? Do they do it often? I can't remember where I read it, but it was enough to make me reconsider for awhile...

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my guy was barely ever handled before i got him, he's never bit or musked me.

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Originally Posted by GirDance

Thanks! PS, took a look at your house snake site... This line should *definately* be part of your sig, I spit coke on the keyboard laughing:

"Spammers are scum! If I had my way they would all get reincarnated as feeder mice!"

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And so it has been done. Thanks for the suggestion I rather like my signature now.

Thanks for the pics and explanations Jack, these are still on my must get list. That big one is a real beauty.

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Originally Posted by jjspirko

She is still tricolored and I plan to shoot her each month as she changes to use that for educational purposes once the color is gone.

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Wait... now I don't know much about milksnakes, but that tricolored red/yellow/black snake turns into that solid black giant??

That's freakin awesome! How long does it take?

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Originally Posted by bait4snake

Wait... now I don't know much about milksnakes, but that tricolored red/yellow/black snake turns into that solid black giant??

That's freakin awesome! How long does it take?

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Right around a year to 14 may be 15 months for some and they are jet shinny black. They are pretty close to done growing at three years, they will still grow some after that but it is very slow. This all assumes a good steady feeding schedule during the young years of course.

I honestly love them and have to agree with Don at SMR when he calls them a "cheap and legal version of Indigo Snakes for the common man".

I'm hooked on these things. Where can I get one?

There's a guy who vends at the NH Reptile Expo that has an adult for display (he sells babies). It's my favorite snake to handle there - a real joy in looks, behavior, and skin texture.

NH as in New Hampshire. Thats a bit of a drive from here. Any breeders that sell online?

I wasn't saying you should go there - I was just commenting on the species.

there are quite a few vendors that come up if you Google...I can't vouch for any of them though since I have only bought from NERD so far.

First go to South Mountain Reptiles and email Don and ask if he has any. He does not advertise them on the site but usually has some. SMRs site is www.cornsnakes.net

Second Ryan Beatty has some currently on Kingsnake.com at http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=59&de=577448 they are San Antonino line animals the same as both of mine.

I got my adult from Ryan and my Baby from Don you can't go wrong with either. And to top it off Ryan's snakes come from Don's stock. Hard to beat either one.

I love black milks...and have always wanted one. The one you have is incredibly gorgeous!

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Originally Posted by fishmommy

There's a guy who vends at the NH Reptile Expo that has an adult for display (he sells babies). It's my favorite snake to handle there - a real joy in looks, behavior, and skin texture.

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I got my black milk from him 7 or 8 years ago, do you have any idea of his name or if he has a company name?

Well after reading this thread I think I will look into this Milkshake they sound like a Pleasure to own.

Sent from my SGH-T999