Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone!

I have just acquired a king snake from a friend whose roommate could no longer take care of it. I have experience with snakes (I have a hog island boa that Ive had for 5 years now, a western hognose, and a florida king already), so he asked me if i wanted it. He originally told me it was a california king, so when I went over there i was naturally expecting a black and white striped snake. but it turns out, the snake is a completely solid black. No speck of white, yellow, or any other color on him.

I looked up a few things online and I am getting a lot of "Mexican black kingsnake" info, and they do look exactly like what mine does. But, I also see alot of just "black kingsnake" articles but most of those have a lot of yellow specks on them. The one I have is solid. Also, he is a small one, probably around a foot and a half long and about as big around as crayola marker. I could not find much information on if maybe the younger ones start out solid and get the yellow as they mature.

So I decided to post on here and ask! I havent visited these forums in quite some time but I know a lot of you are very knowledgable on here. If you need a pic let me know, since i was hoping a kingsnake that is solid black in description wouldnt need a pic to go with it =P

Thanks for any help!
~Melissa

It probably is a Mexican Black Kingsnake.
They are related to California Kingsnakes, I don't know if there has been a study to show how close, but I suspect fairly close given that their ranges border in some places.
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Arrrggg!
It's like Shalom, but for pirates.
- iCarly

you are finding is probably the one we sometimes call Eastern Black Kingsnake (EBK) though I think the proper common name is just Black Kingsnake.

They are I believe closer related to Eastern Kings and Speckled kings than they are to Mexican Black or California Kings.

I don't know if any solid black EBKs exist.
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Arrrggg!
It's like Shalom, but for pirates.
- iCarly