Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Jonesy, the latest addition to my menagerie, is obviously a getula, but a Florida King, Brooksi, or a peninsula intergrade? Or will I just have to wait till (s)he grows up? The pic doesn't do justice to the red lateral splotches between the dorsal saddles. (S)he is now 14 inches long, a 2003 neonate. (The exact ssp is just a matter of curiosity on my part; I don't plan on breeding him/her, but look forward to watching the little cutie grow up!)

Looks like a Florida.

Its a Lampropeltis getula floridana. I would guess a Brooksi phase in looking at it but time will tell. Northern range Floridana remain very dark with some lightening of the interspaces between the crossbars. So again I will say thats a Brooksi(l.g.floridana).

Keith

Ok...Depending on who you talk to...That is a Florida king. Some dealers would call that a Brooks, I would not. With out going into the arguement of what is a Brooks or...is a Florida king a legitimate ssp. or just the penninsula intergrade Connant mentions in his (prior to update) field guide. I would not call that a Brooks because the bands(even at that size)would not be that bold or wide spaced. Also there is more red on a good Brooks. There is a population of high yellow Floridas that are as pale as Brooks but lack the high band count that the "True Brooks" have (which is the reason for the near patternless look) near Lake Okeechobee and I have seen snakes from there go into the market as Brooks as recently as a month ago. I can remember a pale Florida that I caught in Davie Florida that I sold and then found the same snake being sold as a Brooks upstate. So your best bet is to call it a Florida.
Frank

l.g.floridana,,unpopular to the "brooksi" keepers,which btw is not even a valid ssp of getula,just a variant of floridana,,like w/cornsnakes motley,oketee,etc,etc,still just a corn just as that lil guy/gal is still just a l.g.floridana,,,nice lookin though,,,,,
thomas davis

Though some might call it a Brooks. Brook's kings in the pet trade are a joke for the most part, calling them Brook's should indicate that they originated from southern Dade County, but now it seems to mean any captive produced Florida kingsnake.

Thanks, all! I bought it as a Florida King. The pic is misleading in that the lateral splotches are much redder than they appear. I wouldn't call it a Brooks myself, unless it lightens up considerably as it grows. That's half the fun of having one of these little guys - watching them grow up and seeing how they turn out!
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MichaelB

The above posts really tell a sad story...What we call a Brooks King used to have a definite range and distinctive look. You could go to Brooks canal and find the real thing. I have watched the natural range shrink to almost nothing due to over developement more than anything else. Now a lot of bogus snakes are being called Brooks. There are still a lot of legitimate examples out there...but also a lot of snakes being passed off to make more money for the people who misrepresent them. Brooks are not a Florida king that has maybe more red and grows to be mainly yellow...and Hypo brooks don't exactly match what used to be caught...However you wish to define a Brooks, three things were distinctive. The shorter snout, the (yes)pale white to lemon color...and most important, an extremely high band count (78 or more) that gave the illusion of patternlesness. There is a tendency when a ssp becomes rare in nature to question it's validity. Brooks were described long before DNA and were thrown into question when their habitat was turned into civilization....pretty sad.
Frank