Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,
I'm new to kingsnakes & am interested in the high white/highway striped/ black & white phases. My question is, does the black stay black as they age, or do they end up as adults looking kindof brown & white?
Robin
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Robins Critters
1.0 Corn snake Jack Skellington
1.1 Hog Island Boas Harley & Isaboa
0.1 Albino Sonoran Gopher Snake Jasmine
1.3 Leopard Geckos Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
0.1.1 Crested Geckos Peek & Boo
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo
0.0.2 Eastern Box Turtles Squirtle & Yurtle
0.1 Pacman Frog Buffy the Cricket Slayer
0.0.1 Sulawesi Red Toad Mr. Toad
0.2 Tiger Salamanders Tiger & Sally
1.1.3 Firebelly Newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Olivia Newton John & Thandie Newton
1.1 Cats Gus & Mena

If the snake is a desert phase (jet black and pure white) it will stay that way. If it is a coastal phase (brown and off white / yellow) then they will usually get lighter as they age. Careful because some coastal phase babies can be pretty dark as hachlings.

Thank you! That's exactly what I was wondering.
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Robins Critters
1.0 Corn snake Jack Skellington
1.1 Hog Island Boas Harley & Isaboa
0.1 Albino Sonoran Gopher Snake Jasmine
1.3 Leopard Geckos Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
0.1.1 Crested Geckos Peek & Boo
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo
0.0.2 Eastern Box Turtles Squirtle & Yurtle
0.1 Pacman Frog Buffy the Cricket Slayer
0.0.1 Sulawesi Red Toad Mr. Toad
0.2 Tiger Salamanders Tiger & Sally
1.1.3 Firebelly Newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Olivia Newton John & Thandie Newton
1.1 Cats Gus & Mena

Some of the desert-phase black&whites will turn a chocolate brown color as adults. Those are my favorites, because the white is often very stark.

As snakes age, the skin/scales thicken. This dulls the overall appearance somewhat. Ever see a pic of a 5 year old albino nelsoni? Less bright than a yearling.

What happens with Cal kings is that the skin between the scales will be more visible in the adults. The skin is darker than the white scale color, so the white bands appear sort of peppered.

There is no skin contrast with the dark scales, so the black or brown always looks very uniform.

In any case, the black/white contrast in Cal kings is striking. The banded B&Ws remain my favorite phase of Cal kings.

Very few if any cal kings have black on them when adults (5 plus years). They may appear to be black in your snake room or under house lighting, but take the "black" cal king out in the sun and you will find it to be a very dark brown.

Kerby...

I guess it's kind of relative. I think the black color thing is why I like Gaigeae so much ,they are BLACK. Even if you look at a lot of the nice Kingsnakes on Keiths Resouce site many are medium brown to dark chocalate. Some are indeed BLACK, but not as many as you'd think/like. Check it out for yourself. Most MBKs are very dark chocalate when put near good light.I like the very dark(black) Desert Kings with the bright white. I just hate as they get older a lot develope that ugly yellow tinge at the base of the band. I've noticed that Nigra,while not as nicely patterned as easterns generally are usually BLACKER than a lot of other kings.Theres no doubt though that B/W Cal. Kings are striking. IMHO Bob.

my older cal kings are black but if you put a black marker next to them they are brown! your "minds eye" can play tricks on you!
see on the second pic how on the left of the head she looks very white(the scales are compressed and overlapping) then on the bend to the right the scales are expanded and you can see the brown in her color. if you take her outside in the natural light see looks brown like that. this is just one example that i can speak of. i am sure there are people out there who have black patterned adults...

jason

Jason. As long as you like it that's all that counts. Very nice looking snake.

nm