Pituophis catenifer ssp help

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Kongi
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Joined: May 14th, 2012, 3:33 am
Location: Czech Republic

Pituophis catenifer ssp help

Post by Kongi »

Hi, I am working in a zoo in Europe and we have this nice female of Pituophis catenifer. I´d like to find her a mate but I can´t do that. Since it is a rare species in European zoos, I am not sure what subspecies she is (sayi or deserticola).
Would you more experienced with the species be able to tell me? Is it possible to say it with certainty without knowing the locality just from a picture? Is there any reliable source describing how to distinguish the subspecies?

Thank you very much for your help.
Petr
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mark buck
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Joined: March 30th, 2015, 11:01 am
Location: Bakersfield, CA

Re: Pituophis catenifer ssp help

Post by mark buck »

Certainly looks like a Bullsnake (P. c. sayi) to me.

Nice snake!
hcarlton
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Joined: August 22nd, 2021, 6:12 pm

Re: Pituophis catenifer ssp help

Post by hcarlton »

Between the options of sayi and deserticola, by and away this matches sayi far more. However locality would be rather important as sayi intergrades in more than one place with deserticola, and in some broad regions with affinis (which tends to resemble sayi a lot more than deserticola does).
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Bryan Hamilton
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Joined: June 10th, 2010, 9:49 pm

Re: Pituophis catenifer ssp help

Post by Bryan Hamilton »

agree with sayi. its interesting to think about this species being rare in european zoos. super common in my area.
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Biker Dave
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Location: Wittmann,AZ

Re: Pituophis catenifer ssp help

Post by Biker Dave »

Does the zoo have funds to do a DNA test?
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