hmm?? Eastern Sound blues lol.

[Artic Exotics]

So I took in a pair of Easterns from a cat that had housed them together.

The female is normal yellow but pretty IMHO and gawd awful huge. I named her Shiloh.

The male is a nice blue, and much calmer. His name is River.

The cat I bought them from mentioned to me she could be pregnant (by him of course) and while waiting for my herp vet to get back I figure id ask the forum

what do you think about if she is or not?

heres a few pictures, im not sure why there is such a huge color difference with the flash, but they all are her.

this wouldnt be my first surprise litter, but it is the first time i've been sold blue easterns when i thought i was buying puget sound blues lol. Next time I buy from better established breeders. lesson learned.

[drache]

there are people with far better ID skills than myself on this forum, but . . .
she looks like a Florida blue T.s.sirtalis (Eastern) to me
I can't tell exactly what he is, but he kind of looks like a T.s.similis to me

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

This is so funny because not too long ago I had to reveal to someone on Iherp that their snake was NOT a similis, but a puget sound garter. They bought a "florida blue garter" and got a puget. Haha!

Those are FL blue easterns, and the female does look gravid!

[drache]

so the male is a florida blue also - thanks for clarifying that, Shannon

[Artic Exotics]

Thats what I thought too! I have had several puget sounds in my life because I used to live there and caught em all the time as a kiddo. So when I opened the box on these too characters and I saw this funny shaped head and strange thick tails I was like ????? They're still pretty cool though. he's very blue in real life. Any other guesses on her mommy status?

[GarterGeek]

How long ago did she eat before you took the photo?

[Artic Exotics]

How long ago did she eat before you took the photo?

Oh yes sorry I forgot to mention that! These were taken on seperate days so I couldnt tell you exactly on each, but Im pretty sure she had just ate in the bottom one. Sorry I meant to say that earlier. You know how it goes when you start taking pictures of your snakes and ya get carried away...... I'd say the middle photo although a horrible representation of her color is an accurate representation of her "girlish figure". She hadnt ate yet in the top one either... I could certianly take more photos after she empties out (expecting that today she's been rather 'regular' lol )....

[ConcinusMan]

I noticed the food bulge. Not the same place a gravid bulge happens.

I would say definitely gravid on the top right snake. Pretty much looking like my red stripe ordinoides female right now. It's taking her quite a bit of effort to drag that last 1/3 around now. It's quite heavy and lumpy. I palpatated her yesterday and I could have sworn I felt one move! Not sure about that other snake you have. could be mid-stage gravid.

I seriously wish people would quit calling easterns "florida blue". I don't care how blue an eastern is, it is not T.s. similis.

It's also irritating to find people selling "Oregon Red-spot" when it's really a fitchii or pickeringii.

[drache]

I seriously wish people would quit calling easterns "florida blue". I don't care how blue an eastern is, it is not T.s. similis.

I don't think anyone is calling just any Easterns "florida blue"
there is a local variety of easterns specific to Florida that typically has a blue/green colouration and is referred to as Florida blues, and yes - they are not similis (which are also referred to as Florida blue-stripe garters), but they are definitely distinguishable from other easterns as a specific group
I hope I explained that decently enough
they are blue Easterns specific to Florida
are there blue easterns elsewhere? somebody else answer that

[ConcinusMan]

I saw one that supposedly came from North Carolina.