Tangerine
Phase Honduran Milksnakes – Hypo and Normal (Lampropeltis triangulum
hondurensis):
These
animals are found in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras.
They average 4 ft. in length when full grown, and carry some serious
girth. Their diet in the wild
consists of rodents, small reptiles, eggs and amphibians.
They thrive on mice and rats in captivity.
I have one breeding pair of hypo Hondurans, and one
breeding pair of normal tangerines. Actually,
the “normal” tangerine male is het. for hypo, but the female with which he breeds is a normal tangerine.
In 2006, I should have two more female Hondurans up to breeding size.
This will give me two trios.
One trio will be
all hypos w/ a female that has vanishing pin banding in her blood line, and One
trio will consist of a hypo female, tangerine female 
and
het for hypo male.
These,
by and large, have been pretty easy to care for. Their cooling cycle is a little different than most of my
other animals, and I’ve had two of my yearlings stop eating for a time then
start up again with patience and some creative scenting. Once they’ve started eating, though, they are voracious
feeders.
My
price on the hypo Hondurans will be within market price range, subjective to my
personal taste of what I think is attractive.
My tastes are pretty standard, though.
Lighter, more silvery and fewer bands will be worth more than darker
gray, thicker bands. I hope to be
producing hypos and tangerines in earnest by 2007. I should have some for sale
this year (2005). I’ve witnessed both pair copulating on a few different
occasions.