Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,
I was wondering if someone can give me an idea on what the normal price on King Snakes are? I want to get a king snake so I checked out one of my local pet shops that deal with reptiles. They had some king snakes there(50/50's is what the guy called em,black and white bands)and they were going for 70 dollars. I was wondering if this was about right? I paid 35 for my hatchling yellow rat snake so is 70 the norm for a King?

It varies,depending on species/subspecies, size/age, pattern, coloration, whether shipping is included, etc. I suggest that you scan through the colubrid classifieds and the breeder pages from the link up top. That will give you not only a general idea, but an idea of the specific type of king you're looking for. From what I saw there, they range from as low as $20-25 up to nearly $200 per snake. Unique or unusual specimens may even be higher.
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MichaelB

If these "50/50" cal kings were exceptional, the $70 price tag is quite reasonable. However, a pet store animal is generally a throw back from someone's selective breeding program, and therefore one can't expect the best. However, if they are jet black and bright white, cleanly banded (few aberrancies), and white bands are same width or slightly less than black, then they're top notch (in my opinion at least).... I'd pay $70 for such specimens.

Of course, you might do much better by waiting for a large reptile show.

The guy who runs the reptile section in the pet store breeds his own. They have 'PERFECT' bands of white and black around the snake. When I say perfect I mean perfect. So that would be the right price then? I'll be going to pick him up later on in the week.

I have certain criteria with respect to cal kings.... the issue is subjective with me... however, if they are "perfectly" banded as you say, with a lot of white (white bands as wide as or same width as black- not greater than), and the black is truly black and white truly white.... then I'd pick them up and I would even pay more than $70..... but that's just me.

Yes. The black/white bands are equal in size down the whole snakes body. There were a few other 50/50's that didn't have a equal pattern but for the most part they were all very nicely banded. I am heading over there this weekend to buy one!