

Juveniles will 12 times or more in a year, whereas adult Hondurans will shed less frequently every 2 to 3 months. They may also hide more inside their enclosure and have a decreased appetite. You’ll know it’s shedding time for your Honduran milk snake when their scales begin to look dull and hazy and their eyes turn a cloudy blue color. As a result, juvenile Hondurans will only appear to have the duo color of reddish-orange with black bands and will adopt their tri-color pattern of red, white, and black as they mature.Īround 2 weeks after they have hatched, baby Honduran snakes will begin their first shed of many throughout their life to make way for the new and glossy layer of skin.įrom start to finish, the entire process of shedding from preparation to completion will last around 1 to 2 weeks, so it’s important to visit your local vet if they have issues shedding after this time. What Do Baby Honduran Milk Snakes Look Like?Īs hatchlings, baby Honduran milk snakes will look similar to their adult form, only without the pale yellow/white sections that show in between the black bands. Bear in mind that Tangerine varieties may cost more than the original tri-color pattern snakes because they are less common. Honduran milk snakes are relatively affordable, costing around $100 or less in some cases, but it really depends whether you buy from a local reptile store or an independent breeder. Milk snakes have been bred in captivity since the 1970s, and in that time, breeders have been able to create many stunning color morphs based on the variations of the original tri-color and tangerine types as well as many designer morphs thanks to heritable genetic mutations in the milk snake such as the recessive ‘Anerythristic’ trait – this can create much darker colored or Albino milk snake morphs since Anerythristic means it lacks the red or orange pigment. Translated from Greek, Lampropeltis means “shiny shield”, which is an apt description for the Honduran milk snake’s smooth and glossy scales. The Honduran milk snake is a tri-color morph and as a subspecies of the milk snake, it is closely related to the king snake, which belongs to the same genus as the milk snake known as ‘Lampropeltis’. This gives the Honduran milk snake its distinctive tri-color pattern.Īside from the tri-color Honduran, there is a second naturally occurring color phase of the Honduran milk snake known as the “tangerine phase” – in this snake, the white/yellow bands are replaced with a light orange color.

Wild Honduran milk snakes have bright reddish-orange bodies with black stripes and between each of the black stripes is usually a ring or ‘band’ of white or pale yellow.
HONDURAN MILKSNAKE ENCLOSURE HOW TO
If you’re interested in a pet Honduran milk snake or simply want to know a bit more about them, check out our brief guide below, where we’ll be looking at their color morphs and how to breed them as well as how much they cost and more. They possess a striking tri-color pattern of bright reddish orange with black and yellow banding and make very popular pets with breeders because of their potential for creating many bright and eye-catching color morphs.Īs the larger of the milk snake subspecies, Honduran milk snakes will soon take up sufficient space in your home and will need careful temperature and humidity control within their enclosure to simulate their tropical rainforest environment. Honduran milk snakes are a harmless subspecies of milk snake found in the tropical parts of Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and are one of the larger milk snakes, capable of reaching up to 6 feet in length. There are currently around 24 recognized subspecies of milk snake found in Canada and right across North and South America – and a particularly beautiful and sought-after milk snake subspecies is the Honduran milk snake. Milk snakes are a non-venomous species of king snake and are recognized immediately by their bright and bold tri-color patterns that come in combos of black, red, orange, white, cream, and yellow banding.
