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Hello from Finland! I've bought a kingsnake baby as a Lamropeltis getula nigritus, but she is very yellow... The head is black and all scales behind it have a pale yellow center (except the back, there is a row of black saddles), and there is a reddish yellow zigzag-stripe on the belly. I've been told it's common that nigritus babies are colourfull and darken to black with age. Is this true? Do I really have a nigritus or something else? Please help me. Best regards, Jarra

And another picture. I'm confused. Some nigritus-breeders have told me it's not possible this is a nigritus, but a nigritus/splendida mix perhaps? The father is sole black and the mother black with tiny yellow and red dots on the jaw and behind the cloaca. Is this a subspecies mix as I have been told or can it really be a pure nigritus? Kati

I've seen progression photos of L g nigrita that started out very splendida looking but turned completely black. I've not seen photos of the bellies though.
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Hold on to it and watch the change, if it doesn't change, it is probably a splendida or splendida/other cross. I have splendida with bellies like that, but not so much red.
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Todd Hughes

Thank you both VERY much for the quick answers! The reddish belly is my biggest concern because I have been told there should not be any red in nigrita, only yellow dots if any. I was just informed by the breeder there are some white dots on both parents (belly) and one red on mother. - Kati

Probably just one of someones project animals that was sold and sold again. Now it is being called whatever it looks closest to. I could be wrong because I have heard some where that I was wrong for saying that happened. Nice little gem you have there though.
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don't marry the cow when the milk is free when the milk drys up it's time for a new cow

Please understand, getula nigritus is not a "good" species name. In my field experience, everywhere that getula nigritus occurs, so does normal splendida.

During the early days of breeding getula nigritus, it was rare for them to throw all black babies. Most were splendida looking then turned black to one degree or another. Some stayed with splendida patterns.

Over the years, keepers kept the individuals that threw the best black babies. This made it much easier to sell them. But there is not question, the phenotype includes both black and normal patterned splendida kings.

And yes, there are some localities that have a much higher percentage of black morphs, then other localities. I do not know of a locality that has 100% black kings.

Even if yours does not turn black, it may still throw black babies.

On the otherhand, it could indeed be a splendida, but if you know the breeder and have seen the parents and they are black, you then know your animal came from black kings. Not like your buying one off the street and are just taking someones words for it.

So the answer is yes, that could have come from blackkings. Cheers

Yes the parents are both black and there were both black and 'splendida-wannabe' -babies in the clutch. The breeder is just as interested in this topic as I am, the yellow babies were ashock for her also. We have been wondering and discussing about this a lot.

This is very interesting to me! So, is it so that these two subspecies are actually nothing but different colour morphs of a huge metapopulation with great population diversity in overlapping fields? There aren't any other differences than the colour, for example in scales or other traits I can seek for in the baby? (I apologize my bad english, also it's way past midnight here in Finland now..) If there can not be set a strict line between a "pure" nigrita and a "pure" splendida, there cannot therefore be yet any "subspecies-crossbreeds" in the true meaning? Correct me if I got this wrong. So if, and when, we want to produce true black black kings, those individuals from bloodlines or localities with yellow baby colour should be avoided because it can be permanent (and dominant?).

I'm still haunted by the idea my baby snake is quite a questionmark, and so if in the future I want to breed black nigritas I will definitely not use the yellow baby even she had turned black then. She will be a nice pet.

Thank you everyone and again, sorry for my horrible language skills. - Kati

Forgive me if I get this a little off, but phenotype is what can be expressed in one local of a snake. In this case, its absolutely normal for blackkings to have splendida looking babies. Much like there a striped wild california king, can have banded babies. They are different morphs of the same snake.

But like striped california kings, there are small localities that have a dominance of striped kings. And those areas are surrounded by banded cal kings. This is how it is for blackkings. The southwest part of splendida range is where black kings occur.

The picture I am posting is a inbetweener from an area where both black kings and splendida occur. I took this last week in nature. Cheers

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Kati, I think your English is wonderful. I believe as Frank does that nigrita is a dark population of splendida, and as others have said, dark parents can throw splendida looking babies that may or may not darken with age. I own several and some show only two white dots on the chin shields, while others show a splendida pattern through the black, but you really have to look hard or in sunlight. If the parents are dark, chances are high your baby will darken as well. Sometimes there is a greater joy in watching an animal go through a transition and turn into something totally different!

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Todd Hughes

I'm this guy's breeder and parents are black kings (with few white dots and female has one red dot). In that hatch where four black babies (with some yellow and white spots but main colour is black) and three slendida looking guys and one who had really thin yellow sripes.

So in the end is everything OK and I can use this couple again or could I use black babies or even slendida looking ones breeding in future? Or souldn't I?

Use what you want to use IMHO - but if your goal is to end up with clutches that hatch black, hold back the blackest hatchlings.

I believe that is what US breeders have done to result in MBK lines that hatch out black.

I think the hatchlings that come out with pattern and turn black as they age are more fascinating, though a wee bit more difficult to sell.
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I decided my old sig was too big.