Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've seen this question asked in varying forms on this board. That I understand. What I don't understand is that I've seen answers. There are a lot of people that have had one mean cal king and one calm splendita and pipe up that cal kings are mean and splendita are calm. However, out of all my kingsnakes, and out of all of these answers, I've yet to see a trend. I have about two dozen brooks kings. Some musk, some don't. Some bite, some don't. I have five cal kings. Same thing...some do, some don't. I have one nigrita. It's the nastiest kingsnake I've ever come accross but this subspecie is often portrayed as a really calm kingsnake. I have a pair of splendita. One musks but doesn't bite, the other is the opposite. See what I mean.
In my opinion, all kingsnakes are individuals and there is no way to predict temperament based on subspecies. I think that a lot of it is predetermined genetically and the rest is determined by handling and environment. What's your opinion?
-----
Martin Whalin
My Email

Quotes from guys named Carl:

"Science stops at the frontier of logic. Nature does not, she thrives on ground as yet untrodden by theory."
-Carl Jung

"It is foolish to let singleness of purpose deprive one of the joy and delectation of the many wonderful sights and sounds incidental to the quest."
-Carl Kauffeld

Individual snakes within a subspecies vary in temperment so there's no rule, just a probability of how a particular animal will act.

That said, I've found that the eastern, floridas (goini, brooksi, floridana), blacks (nigra & nigrita), deserts (spendida) tend to handle the best. Speckleds & Cal kings tend to musk & deficate & be constantly on the move when handled. Some calm down, some don't. (I still like 'em)

Easterns are my favorite. I've caught some that handled like long term captives from the time I picked them up. On the other hand, I've seen some in the field & in captivity that struck aggressively like a TX rat snake.

And of course, most kings will bite you (& try to eat you) if you smell like a snake you recently handled.

While there will always be individual differences, certainly there are trends in subspecies or locales in which MOST are generally calm as adults (babies can be nutso for any kingsnake).

Example, CB strains of Cal kings from the low desert (the nice black and whites) can be super calm, no-musk animals except when hungry. Cals from some high desert localities can be a little more nervous. Coastal Cal kings almost always musk on you. These are trends, not absolutes.

The only CB subadult or adult king that has nailed me out of pure hatred was a speckled king. Many Cal kings have chewed on my hand out of feeding response. Never been bitten by a CB Florida king, not even close, nor a nigrita nor splendita. One can't help but notice trends within their limited experiences with these animals. I think if you had at least 5 individuals of each over some years, you can draw some conclusion as to behavior that may not be absolute truth but still reasonable. My conclusion is that speckled kings hate people.
-----
Mark

" My conclusion is that speckled kings hate people."

LOL! It's my opinion that all snakes hate people.
-----
Martin Whalin
My Email

Quotes from guys named Carl:

"Science stops at the frontier of logic. Nature does not, she thrives on ground as yet untrodden by theory."
-Carl Jung

"It is foolish to let singleness of purpose deprive one of the joy and delectation of the many wonderful sights and sounds incidental to the quest."
-Carl Kauffeld