Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been told both. How do you tell the difference?

Thanks

Look like a nice chocolate brown Eastern Kingsnake (Lampropeltis g. getula) The Cal king (L.g.californiae) Does'nt have the pattern exhibited, they have solid rings around the body.

After some discussion, i retract my statement. I agree with the ID, cal king for sure.

The guy I bought it from said it was a desert king but when I started looking at pics it looked like a chocolate California to me. Some of the snakes listed as Eastern and California are basically identical as far as I can tell (then again I don't know much about kings). I appreciate it anyway.

Well, we can both agree that its definately not a desert king.

Looks like a Cal King to me also.That thng looks huge! How long is that King? Robert.

The pic is deceptive. He's actually only about 3'. He bred with a black speckled king who just laid a clutch of 12 eggs.

Easterns have very different head pattern than a cal king. It is hard to describe in words, but easterns have a shorter, more conical head and a wide neck. Cal Kings have a longer head that is as wide as the neck, generally.

Also, most easterns have a "chain-like" pattern whereas cal kings are obviously banded.

Easterns also get bigger on average. A few large captive cal kings will reach 5-6 feet. Most easterns regularly achieve this size.
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Chris Harrison

It's a Eastern Kingsnake, ditto to first message. Eastern Kings can get up to 36-48 inches... my friend Al caught one 5 foot...

Brandon