ID Please ASAP?

[Natrix]

Yeah, I know. Quite the dilemma, but to confuse matters, you also get plenty of WC snakes imported but misidentified and/or misrepresented as CB.



And both supposedly checkered garters. If you can't be sure of the species, how do you expect to be sure of the sexes?

I would say you don't have much of a choice but to take the breeders word for it on both matters. It's very difficult to tell from the few pictures posted here, from across the Atlantic Ocean. In some pics I'll swear it's a checkered, in others, a radix. My suggestion is to get the snake in hand and make all the comparisons you can and draw your own conclusion or post better pictures after you have it and then run it across us (the forum) again. I'm certain we can at least confirm the sex, if not sex and species, with better pictures. I'm very interested to see the underside of this normal colored snake. That's one more piece of the puzzle that we are missing.

I will do my very best to please and provide clearer pic. It may be difficult as I live on my own, but the again, us falconers are pretty good when it comes to doing things one handed!

[EasternGirl]

000_0010 (1280x900) (2).jpg Selena on plant.jpg Okay...well then my easterns are marcianus or radixes! Lol...Because I am telling you it looks like an eastern...the checkering doesn't look checkered enough for a marcianus. It looks like the checkering on an eastern. Where is Dae? Can we get her to post a pic of her checkered?

[EasternGirl]

I guess the answer..or at least part of it will be in the supralabials like Steve said. Easterns have 7...and radixes and marcianus have 8 right? So...if the snake has 8...we know it isn't an eastern...but then we still don't know if it's marcianus or radix right? I say it's a chessboard garter. They have those in the U.K. right? Along with the goldens, pinks, and darks?

[Natrix]

I'd much prefer a healthy WC specimen of unquestionable origin. But we brits don't have luxury, we have no choice but to use CB specimens.
Yeah, I know. Quite the dilemma, but to confuse matters, you also get plenty of WC snakes imported but misidentified and/or misrepresented as CB. Spot on!

[EasternGirl]

I am now convinced that all of the easterns in my yard have disappeared over the last couple of years because stores in the U.K. are coming over here and stealing them and taking them over there and selling them as northern garters.

[Natrix]

000_0010 (1280x900) (2).jpg Selena on plant.jpg Okay...well then my easterns are marcianus or radixes! Lol...Because I am telling you it looks like an eastern...the checkering doesn't look checkered enough for a marcianus. It looks like the checkering on an eastern. Where is Dae? Can we get her to post a pic of her checkered?

Trust you to confuse matters more......

[kibakiba]

The markings on the face take eastern out of the picture completely.

[ConcinusMan]

Yeah, I see a lot of difference. Doesn't look eastern to me at all. Not even a little bit.

[ConcinusMan]

hybrids sometimes don't show the traits of one parent species at all.

This is true, but radixes and marcianus' share a lot of similar traits and I've seen the results of crossing them on the web before. They really do just look like a blend of the two.

[Natrix]

As far as I am aware, the people that I am getting this snake from were told it was a Chequered -T marcianus, when they bought it. They have had it for around 5 years and have had it since it was approx. Six months old. Found this info out tonight. The reason for posting is when I first saw the photo (the one with the shed), it didn't look like the classic paterning of a marcianus. Because I have doubts and there are people on here with far more experience than I, I thought it best to ask for help with ID. I have no knowledge of origin? Just want to know what it is. Will try and get some better pics tomorrow for labial count and scale count.