Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am moving to South Eastern New Mexico (Roswell area)in November or December,What kind of King snakes are in that area and will that also fall in the range of the Trans Pecos rat snake? Thanks in advance for any help....

Around Roswell you will find Desert Kingsnakes, and New Mexico Milks. Roswell is too far north to see Trans Pecos Ratsnakes. They only enter the extreme southeast corner of the state by the Guadalupe Mtns.

Greg

Come on down to Chaparral, NM.... right by El Paso, TX. Desert Kings and Trans-Pecos are found in this area as well. I've had two Desert Kings come in my front door, and a friend of mine catches Trans-Pecos in El Paso and in the Franklin Mountains all the time.

MissHisssss

Desert Kings and NM Milks should be there, although the milksnakes are spottily distributed at best. Gray-banded Kings are very rare up in the northern parts of their range (Guadalupe Mts) and are protected in NM anyway. You could live their for 50 years and never see one, even if you looked.

Trans-pecos rats are reasonably common in New Mexico, but they don't get up as far as Roswell (wrong habitat). They are pretty common snakes in areas of the Guadalupe mountains, in my limited experience. June and September are good months for them.

You will also be in a decent areas for one of my favorites - the Western Hognosed Snake. As easy to keep as any kingsnake, with a lot more charm and personality!

Either way, you are moving to a great herping area. There are neat herps in the immediate area, and in less than 100 miles south, you get into Chihuahuan desert herps. A few hours west puts you in the range of AZ Mtn Kings as well.
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Chris Harrison