Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi I have been looking at a gray banded and a brooks kingsnake,can anyone tell me which would make a better pet snake.

Brooksi... I've had two gray bands and they both had poor feeding habits... all my Brooksi have great feeding response and the grow B 4 your eyes... you won't be disappointed with a Brooksi

~ZF

Great bunch of snakes, cool pics Tom Stevens

Thanx...

Coming from you Tom that's a major complement.... you have some amazing looking Brooksi

~Zf

Both can make great pets. Both are very calm as adults. The brooksi get larger/thicker. I find the natural history of the graybands interesting, and I like that they are not as commonly found in their habitat (doesn't mean they are rare in their habitat, but they are darn secretive.) Only you can decide what you find interesting.
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Mark G

Common kings including Brooksi make a great first snake. They usually never have a feeding problem......
On the other hand, I have never, ever been bitten by a greyband (alterna). Nor have I ever had one musk or be flighty. An alterna that is well started will give you no problems...Don't let bad feeding stories about alterna scare you away from them.
I have had problem feeder common kings as well.
So, It is up to you what you want. Purchase a well started snake from a reputable breeder and you can't go wrong.
John Lassiter

As a beginner snake the brooksi hands down.

If greybands were not so pretty they would be a worthless snake because of their eating habits. Most neonates hatch out very small and only take lizards. Lizard scenting is almost always the norm until you can get them switched over to mice. Some never do or at best prefer smaller mice.

Again, these opinions reflect on what a good "beginner" snake is.

Hold on now Gray Bands from good lines are good feeders. Almost any of the colubrids can be problem feeders besides the Pits (and even some of them). Common kings are definitely easier but you gotta realize that alot of snake lines have been breed for many generations to get the feed response you see today. That is a stupid statement until you think about it.
Corns are a good example. A WC gravid female drops her eggs for you and what do you get. A bunch of hatchlings that won't feed. Happens all the time. Go a step further and look at the problem feeders in the corn lines. Amels??? Hell no they have been bred for 50 years. Blood reds?? Yes they are a new line from WC animals from Brevard Co. Fl(I think). Only been bred for the last ten years or so. Thats a handful of generations. Miami phase while not a genetic morph is one that sees alot of "fresh blood" come into the lines from WC animals and they are known for being bad feeders
Now most of your gray band are the same as far as lineage goes. Longer lines of CB animals have better feed response, but the number of Alterna lines that have reached F6??? are very few. Those that have and have had breedings geared to feed response as well as whatever second trait are usually good feeders. John at Suncoast Herp has a great non-locale line that feeds well. The problem occurs when guys force feed their babies until they eat on their own and then breed said babies because they are trying to keep locale. You are helping the poor feeding trait in your line of alterna. Granted another problem is they are lizard feeders most their lives in the wild but good feeders can be singled out and breed.
While you are definately right about brooks being a good starter (one of the best) I just hate to see the bad feeder rep in Alterna being pushed. I stayed away from them for so long because of that rep and when I finally got some (from a good breeder) that where well started I got great animals. My female has produced 2 clutches and out of 19 babies I had 4 bad feeders in 2 years. I know if it had been a Getula it would have been none but it is not as bad as the herp world makes it sound. Matter of fact i have had better luck with my alterna than Keith has had with his Jersey kings. Who by the way I believe are no more than F2s if that. Which goes back to my point that some WC animals need to be bred for feed response.
Later Jason
P.s. Keith your Jerseys are killer even if they are a pain in the butt

For many years I stayed away from Graybands because of all the poor feeding hype. This year I finally decided to give them a try and all 6 of my babies eat like champs! I regret not keeping them sooner. Buy a well started Grayband from a reputable breeder and you'll very happy with them. Brooksi are great too but remember the larger snake eats a heck of a lot more. Size does matter!
Bill G

You must have been posting this while I was writing above or I didn't see your post. Well said man and right on with the Alterna they are great animals.
Later Jason

Well said Jason the pair I got from you have never turned down a meal.Jeremy Hall

Good to hear!!! Have you got any pics??? How big are they now???
I love these guys. I started out with a pair just to try and now I have 2.4. I had 3.7 if you count babies but when I moved I had a problem. The first night in my new apartment I found out that I had no heat control the hard way. I shut the door to my snake room with all my snakes in it and passed out from all the driving (Fl to Chicago). In the morning I found my snake room at about 115 -120 degrees and about $4,000 in dead snakes. Talk about a rude awakening. I am still pissed. Not about the money I lost as much as the really nice snake I lost. Anyway glad yours are doing well. I want to see some pics.
Later Jason

Sorry to hear that Jason that really sucks.Iwill try and post some pics this weekend over on the grayband page.They have put a little size on them.They are eating large f/t pinkies every 6-7 days.Jeremy

I love lampropeltis in general, and have some getula, triangulum, pyromelana, and alterna.
Since you mentioned better pet, I'd have to say, the Gray Band.
Although, I love my Brooks, she is a little "pissy" She hisses and strikes, but never bites!
The gray band is almost "kitten tame" and I think makes a better "pet". Here's a pic!