Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A friend of mine found this snake in his yard today. It was very cold, he told me it didnt look like any native snake he had ever seen so I went and checked it out. its about 2 1/2 feet long and if I can get the pic to upload you will see what it looks like. I think its a Florida king but just want to see what everyone else thinks

here is another pic of it

Lampropeltis getulus splendida

Johan

>>A friend of mine found this snake in his yard today. It was very cold, he told me it didnt look like any native snake he had ever seen so I went and checked it out. its about 2 1/2 feet long and if I can get the pic to upload you will see what it looks like. I think its a Florida king but just want to see what everyone else thinks
>>
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Chris Harrison

...he was beginning to realize he was the creature of a god that appreciated the discomfort of his worshippers - W. Somerset Maugham

n/t
My Online Snake Lifelist (photos, trips, etc)

Thanks guys, after looking at some of my old pics of the Florida kings I had, I knew it was a desert king "Splendida". well looks like I got another critter to feed

Note the small spotting and darker appearance. A pure splendita would show larger (brighter) spots. I'm guessing the veneer is solid black.
Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

In the heart of their range (west Texas, Eastern NM) this is what splendida look like.

I lived for a number of years in El Paso, TX and caught a lot of splendida that looked just like this. I have also caught splendida/nigrita intergrades in S. AZ and they typically don't have the evenness to the lateral spotting.

These west Texas snakes are the nicest splendida, IMHO.
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Chris Harrison

...he was beginning to realize he was the creature of a god that appreciated the discomfort of his worshippers - W. Somerset Maugham

Years ago when all the black kings we got were w/c I would on occasion see litters that produced some individuals similar to this. The higher number of light spots and the uniformity of it,is what suggested intergrade to me. The center range Splenditas I am familiar with have fewer, larger and brighter (though uniform) spotting. Of course I do not have access to central Texas having only been down there collecting once (in the early eighties). It's not my back yard...unlike Florida. When in doubt, go with the local expert.
Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

well I gave it to a friend, he is gonna loan it out for breeding to someone else. they say its a Splendida too