yank or Brit ?

[PINJOHN]

Pinjohn, hi there, what are these Russian melanistic grassnakes? I keep a few europe sub species and have never seen these before

hi john just seen your question [above] i cant tell you much about them as it was so long ago, i have been trying to remember just where i got them it was ether from a guy who lived in ainsdale near southport or at one of the I.H.S shows when they used to be down your neck of the woods at walsall, i was told when buying them that the area in Russia they come from was known for its abundance of melenistic grassnakes and i remember reading something later which confirmed this but cant say if it was a article or in a book, i really apologize for my inability to be able to tell you more at this time, i promise to try and track down the info as soon as i can, if it was in a book then i will still have it as i treat my books better than my kids [at least that's what the kids say] even if it was an article in a rep mag there's a chance its still here some where . i never succeeded in breeding them as it was in the days of sticking the eggs in the airing cupboard and hoping for the best and i never did manage to quite get it right.
i shall start to look through the books tonight.

[johnc79@hotmail.com]

Hi John ,
Thanks for the reply. manual labour that made me laugh

[johnc79@hotmail.com]

Pinjohn, hi there, what are these Russian melanistic grassnakes? I keep a few europe sub species and have never seen these before

hi john just seen your question [above] i cant tell you much about them as it was so long ago, i have been trying to remember just where i got them it was ether from a guy who lived in ainsdale near southport or at one of the I.H.S shows when they used to be down your neck of the woods at walsall, i was told when buying them that the area in Russia they come from was known for its abundance of melenistic grassnakes and i remember reading something later which confirmed this but cant say if it was a article or in a book, i really apologize for my inability to be able to tell you more at this time, i promise to try and track down the info as soon as i can, if it was in a book then i will still have it as i treat my books better than my kids [at least that's what the kids say] even if it was an article in a rep mag there's a chance its still here some where . i never succeeded in breeding them as it was in the days of sticking the eggs in the airing cupboard and hoping for the best and i never did manage to quite get it right.
i shall start to look through the books tonight.

Thats interesting . I have never heard of it before. I think the grass snake sub species in russia is natrix natrix natrix. In saying that I have a natrix natrix persa that is very dark and I have seen photos of Milos grass snakes that are melanistic. Either way top snakes but the musk puts thamnophis to shame!

[PINJOHN]

probably my keenest memory's of natrix is the smell of musk not nearly so reticent as thamnophis to bestow on you his pungent pong and so generous with the amount they gift you, its been a while but i seem to remember that it just didn't wash off as easily as thamnophis ether or is that my memory playing tricks .
not had much luck with the Russians yet but a couple of references i have so far found 1 a field guide to reptiles and amphibians of Britain and europe. says many specimens from the cyclades [greece] are almost black. 2 reptiles of northern and central Europe by Donald street says cases of partial or total melanism in Natrix natrix persa are particularly prevalent on some greek islands this book also contains a photo of what it describes the striped grassnake [persa] which are exactly what the other five snakes in my group were and says they are associated with the balkan peninsula and the pannonian plain.
this small amount of info has so far only served to muddy the water further, i will keep on looking