Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was looking on the internet and couldnt really find anything but was wondering what exactly is the difference between a corn, king, and rat snake? They all look identical to me maybe a slight difference in color or size but is that it?

they are in different families... kings are called kings b/c they can eat other snakes including cobras.... corns are a type of rat snake.... i hope that kinda helps, but i'm sure you'll get better answers
~kin
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~Sober Serpents~
www.freewebs.com/soberserpents
Corns, Creamsicles, A Black Rat, Thayeri, Cal Kings, A Jungle Corn(Just A Pet), A Ball Python, A Bearded dragon, Leopard Geckos, Green Anoles, a Snapping turtle, and a white cheeked mud turtle

>>... kings are called kings b/c they can eat other snakes including cobras....

I'm thinking maybe you meant Coralsnakes, not Cobras?

J/K

John D
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I am so not lesdysxic!

0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
1.1 Eastern Kingsnakes

i meant copperheads.... i was on cloud 9... my corn was laying eggs... sorry
~kin
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~Sober Serpents~
www.freewebs.com/soberserpents
Corns, Creamsicles, A Black Rat, Thayeri, Cal Kings, A Jungle Corn(Just A Pet), A Ball Python, A Bearded dragon, Leopard Geckos, Green Anoles, a Snapping turtle, and a white cheeked mud turtle

Just like there's no difference between a Porche and a Chevrolet,.....they're all just cars.

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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Yeah, like a collie and a bull mastiff... >_
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan) (Deceased )
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

good pic. say, does that one feller actually have drool comin down his chin? TEE HEE

Why, yes,..you're right!,....I noticed that too, as a matter of fact, I think the entire front of his shirt's absolutely covered in drool!..LOL!

BTW, the original poster to this silly thread, probably wouldn't have EVER noticed the drool coming from that intelligent looking young man either..LOL!

best regards, ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Well I see that the insults have started already now I remember why I dont use this forum anymore. Sorry for asking a question on a forum god forbid I do that. I was trying to do some research but if people like you are the ones that own kings and corns I want nothing to do with them. (this is NOT directed towards everyone that replied I am thankful for those replies) And for your information I did see the drool but I didnt really think that it was funny, also if it was such a silly thread why are your posting on it.

I honestly thought you were making a sarcastic post when you said that you couldn't see much of a difference in the snakes you mentioned,....so I took the liberty of making a funny sarcastic reply in response to it,.........only I guess it didn't go over to well, huh?

Sometimes it's hard to tell what a person actually means just by the text,......for example, all the posters here know I like to joke around, and have some light-hearted fun once in a while, that's all.

Please don't let my sarcastic humor get in the way of you owning one, or several of these pretty animals. All Corn, King, Ratsnake owners aren't really horrible people like myself, ...honest!......I truly apologize!........please continue the research.

best regards, ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Okay, so we need to include this warning message on all of Doug's future posts:

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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan) (Deceased )
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

So, Doug, how's that therapy going? If they commit you, can I havce your snakes?

Kingsnakes (which includes Milksnakes) and Ratsnakes (which includes Corns) are in the same family, Colubridae, but placed in different genera due to differences in head scalation I believe. They are all very closely related and are capable of producing fertile hybrids with each other, regardless of which species/genus they belong to.
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- Natalie
(San Francisco Bay Area)

1.0 Banded California King
1.0 Mexican Black King
1.0 Goini Kingsnake
1.0 Bay of LA Rosy Boa
0.1 San Ignacio Rosy Boa
0.1 Ortiz Rosy Boa
2.3 Kenyan Sand Boas
0.1 Saharan Sand Boa
1.2 Rubber Boas
0.1 Pickering's Gartersnake

Thank you very much thats all I was asking and dmong or whatever has to start insulting me. Oh well children what can I say. Thanks.

Dmong...humm..de mong...DEMON ?!! He's evil, I thought him posting a pic of me and mom on the innernet was kinda cruel too..BTW, Doug, you nasty imp, mom don't chew tobacky anymore, so the "drooling" comment was out of line also.
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Richard Evans

no not THAT one

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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan) (Deceased )
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

Where do you find those images? They're hilarious!

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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan) (Deceased )
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

In addition to head scalation there are several other differences. Body shape; kings and milks are more cylindrical, rats more square. This is a reflection of micro habitat selection in the wild with kings and milks being primarily ground dwelling burrowers whereas rats and corns do burrow they also climb trees alot more than kings. There are also differences in dietary preferences and activity patterns in the wild. There are other differences and there are also many similarities but overall, in the wild these sometimes subtle differences generally prevent breeding between kings and rats so they are in different genra(Genus) but similar enough to be in the same family(Colubridae).
I suggest learning a little about taxonomy(scientific naming) and study the various families, genus, species and subspecies. Hope this helps.

Doug wasn't insulting you. He was making an attempt at sarcastic humor. He does that a lot, and it's easy to mistake it for an insult if you don't know him. I'm sure the others didn't mean anything offensive by what they said either. As always, people on this forum are always up for a good joke.

If you'll notice on some threads where Doug posts a lot of pictures, we all pick on him because he does such a good job of photographing his snakes.

I've posted my fair share of (in my opinion) stupid questions and have always gotten helpful responses. Don't stop posting on this forum just because you thought someone was rude.

Orocosos

Look, Doug apologized, what else do you want? We all joke around a lot here and if your skin isn't a little thick, you may get your feelings hurt. It's up to you to take the next step, get over it, sheesh! There are lots of good people on here and all are welcome to contribute, even those who ask questions that can easily be answered by doing a little research on their own. Not meant to rile you, just wanted to let you know no harm, no foul.
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Todd Hughes

We already apologized to each other a long time ago by email the second it came up. All is good in snake land.

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Difference in corn and rat is just the name, corn snakes are also known as Red Rat Snake. The difference in the Rats and the Kings is:

head elaphe-distinct, lampro-not distinct
anal elaphe-divided, lampro-entire
ventrals e.-angulate, l.-not angulate
scales e.-smooth/weakly keeled, l.-smooth
scale rows e.-25-33, l.-17-27
upper labials e.-8-11, l.-7
lower labials e.-11-16, l.-9-11
postoculars e.-2 l.-2-3
temporals e.-variable, l.-usually 2 3 4
maxillary teeth e.-equal smooth, l.-subequal, 12-20

also lampro eat primarily snakes, including their own species and native venomous species, which they have a resistance, but not immunity to the venom of. elaphe feed primarily on mice and rats. elaphe are much more arboreal and are often found high in trees (i've found them at 40 feet), while lampro can climb, they are generally more terrestrial.