Finding the green on a Ruthven's King

[DragnDrop]

Supposedly Ruthven kings have a 'barely discernible' lime green edging on all the bands. The green has been described as anything from pale green, light green, lime and a few other shades, but all write-ups I've read say the green is barely visible. I've checked over my Ruthven's and can't for the life of me see even one bit of green edging. Just how hard is it to see, is there a trick to make it more visible? When he ate the other day, I watched the bulge closely as his dinner passed inside, hoping that the extended scales might show some green, but there wasn't any sign of it.

Is it mandatory for the green to be there for him to be a Ruthven's? I'm under the impression is has to be present, but maybe I'm wrong. Any ideas how I could go about figuring out what he really is if he isn't one? There are so many look-alikes that I've seen in pictures, I'd probably have to find some detailed write-ups on scale counts or who-knows-whats.
I'm more curious about ID than worried about it, he's a great snake no matter what he is.

[crimsonking]

I wouldn't worry about seeing any green coloration. It may or may not be there or even visible at all. Knd of like thecolors you see when looking at a completely black snake or rainbow boa. In some books as you say, there's mention of it and I've tried to see it in mine, but came away unsure.
:Mark

[DragnDrop]

Thanks, Mark.
For now I was just wondering about it out of curiosity. Since I have no breeding plans (he's the only snake right now), I'm not all that worried about ID. It did occur to me though to make sure what he is, in case I do happen to find a possible mate. If and when I might decide to get into snake breeding, I'd like to make sure I have two of the same species. There are so many that look like Ruthven's it seems hard to tell them apart from general descriptions I've read.

[crimsonking]

One thing I've noticed in normal ruthveni is that the "white" bands turn quite "gray" as they mature. I have a pic of one of my normals at: www.crimsonking.funtigo.com maybe that would help.
:Mark

try a look under full sunlight.