Striping in Zamenis situla is a naturally occurring form. There was a time when herpetologists though that the Striped & Blotched forms were different subspecies. The typical blotched situla were referred to as Elaphe situla var. leopardinus (Terentev & Chernov, 1949) and the striped referred to as Elaphe situla (Terentev & Chernov, 1949) or Elaphe situla var. quadrilineatus (Boulenger 1913).

Both striped and blotched situla can be found in the same areas in the wild. It also appears that you can get both occurring in the same clutch pretty much the same as with the Elaphe climacophora (striped and blotched) and Elaphe quadrivigata (melanistic and striped). The striped gene in situla is generally thought to be dominant to the Blotched, but the mode of inheritance needs to be examined further to state this with any accuracy.

My animals are from Milos, Greece.

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