Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i'm trying to learn as much as i can about all the different Kings and Milks that are out there. learning them by their scientific names is the tough part...but then, too, learning them by their common names can be tricky, especially when so many of the snakes look so similar. i was wondering if anybody has pics of what's called a Mex-Mex. i see them at reptile shows sometimes. are they the same thing as 'knoblochi', or are they something different? i've seen 2 or 3 different names for Knoblochs, including Chihuahua Mountain King and this can be confusing. likewise, pyromelana and zonata are 2 different species, but are both Mountain Kings. maybe brushing up on my geography would help a little. Huachuca, San Pedro, Sierra, Coastal...man, that's alot to absorb! mind you, i'm not studying for a test on this(LOL!). i'm just trying to broaden my knowledge. i never knew about all these different snakes when i was a kid in the 70's. now i'm trying to catch up on all of it. also,(sorry this is so long!)which snake is easiest to keep/makes a better pet? Sinaloan, Arizona Mountain King or Knobloch? i'm thinking about acquiring one of these in the near future. any help/advice is appreciated!

thanks!
greg

Greg the Mexicana group is a great one to work with. Generally made up of:

Leonis king - mexicana thayeri

Greer's king - mexicana greeri

San Loi Potosi - Mexicana mexicana

All average about 3' as adults and readily adapt to captive conditions.

"mex-mex" is slang for Lampropeltis mexicana mexicana, the San Louis Potosi Kingsnake. It is somewhat variable in pattern as many of the western kingsnakes are. Mine looks like a kingsnake wearing a corn snake pattern - red blotches on a slate grey background.
As far as learning all the kingsnakes, there are several books out that list all the various subspecies as well as their close cousins, the milk snakes.
Good Luck,
Karl H. Betz
PS Sorry, I have no picture here with me but a search of either the common or Latin name should help. KHB

Concentrate on the proper name of any animal you are looking for. That is the acid test for most. Common names change from region to region and I like many others are a little lazy, for instance the other poster mentioned that Mex Mex is slang or the shorten version of Mexicana Mexicana. As I said I use it a lot just becuase it is shorter. Another prime example is corn snake as versus red rat snake both are Elpahe Guttata Guttata and the same snake, but in different parts of the country are used.

LOL Than about the time you learn all the proper names some durn taxonomist will up and rewrite the proper names which is why you see some disparagy in even the proper names but that is minimial. An example of this is the current break down of the floridana (Florida King)group. Which by the way I still do not buy into.

Good Luck,

John Cherry
Cherryville Farms

Cherryville Farms - Reptiles

Hi!

So called mex-mex is Lampropeltis mexicana mexicana.
Here you can see few pictures of some of my mex-mex:

Here is a pic of Lampropeltis pyromelana knoblochi baby for comparisation:

Best regards

-----
________
snakes.pl