Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know that many juveniles have these, and even adults can retain some spots or speckles, but I've had 2 prior specimens. Even as juveniles, each of them was mostly black, with a small, white patch under the chin that took me 6 months to see.

My new MBK is about 13 inches long, likely a 2004 hatchling. Head is polished black, neck is black, banding starts just behind neck. He has ultra-fine, brown bands that end in regular patterns of speckles, especially his upper half. I wondered briefly if it was a Conjuncta, or an intergrade with a Splendida.

The supplier, who has been around since 1977, says that they only breed true Nigritas. If so, mine would be considered of lesser quality by many; but I like the "chocolate tiger" look and speckles. I hope that he retains some speckles along the bottom, like a Black King from the KY/TN region.

Anyone else have experience with juveniles of high banding & speckles? Ever wonder just how much Splendida blood is in MBKs?

I know how much splendida blood is in them, 100% they are the same snake.

A mexican Black king is a melanistic splendida. Some parts of the population have all one pattern or the other, other parts have more of one then the other, etc, etc,. Like some many kingsnakes do.

For instance, there are true MBK's along the arizona border south of tucson. They are about 5% to 10% of the population, as you move farther south, they attain a much higher percentage. Like I mentioned above, there are areas that most individuals are black.

Also black kings occur all the way to Tucson, only these can be black individuals of banded kings or black individuals of abberrants(intergrades, which is the most common)

I guess my only advice is, do not take strong convictions of colors, patterns, and kingsnakes, when it comes to names and such. Good luck FR

Wow Frank, I never knew that. That is very interesting. Do you know why the melanistic version would receive its' own name? Any input on Splendida-Holbrooki integrades? Meaning was there ever a name given to them? Also,,,,do you know if there's such thing as nice looking high contrast Splendida that are indeed het for Melanistic??? Thanks for the info Tom Stevens

Keeping in mind that this is the Common Kingsnake, a highly variable animal, but that the 9 recognized subspecies do have their unique traits, including possibly scalation & diet.

I'm also reminded of the "Cal King" category which so generously sweeps in 2 Baja species with distinct coloration & pattern.

Your assertion that these are a melanistic Splendida may be correct; or even a Cousin that has since developed from that source. I also realize that there is an intergrade zone, as there seems to be with all species. I would expect the Intergrades to have blended traits of both species, however, like our Anglo-Saxon/Celt hybrid so common in America.

However: Nigritas seem to have 2 unique traits that Splendidas lack. 1) Wedge-shaped snout; 2) wider body. Cal Kings & Splendidas generally have a more pointed snout. Cal Kings in particular have an almost Cobra-like, marauding facial look. Splendidas generally seem to have much more yellow or white on the head.

Why do you suppose that Nigritas are distinctly different in this way? (And why the heck is a snake in the hottest desert in North America black? Seems like a better advantage for Zonatas!)

I keep pondering with the Philosophers...

First splendida occur from a tiny bit south of here(Tucson) To the northern parts of the Yucatan Pen. They occur from sea level near the tamilipan (sorry for the spelling) to over 7000 feet in Nenuo Leon. I caught a black tharyi ten feet from a normal everyday Splendida. I have found them in Comstock texas(really big and weird ones), near blairs and alterna. I have found them thru out west texas and southern New Mex. And of course across half of southern ariz.

But, they do not occur in our hot deserts. In fact, they seem to perfer a little elevation(in Ariz) and concentrate around high grasslands and praires.

What I am getting at is, they are kingsnakes and surely have different head shapes, etc etc etc etc from area to area. With the black types somehow right in the middle of them. Kinda reminds me of striped kings.

Now FYI, many desert diurnal snakes are black, as many highly nocturnal snakes are lite colored. Wow, isn't that odd?

Heres the deal, black absorbs or better yet, does not reflect color. So yes, a black snake can heat up very quickly in the sun. But, this is the part 95% of people forget, black skin does not contain a one way valve. It also allows heat to escape quickly. Bingo, it allows black animals to cool more efficiently in the shade.

Since you anthro'ed your post, let me ask why are equatorial peoples dark skinned, wide nosed and curly haired?? They occur in the hotter or hottest climates in the world. I think you already know, they are designed to emitt heat and cool faster.

A little story, I was in northern central australia, at a tiny roadhouse in the middle of nowhere. I looked across the road and saw a bunch of aboriginals sitting out in a field. There was no trees or bushes, they were just sitting there. I asked the barkeep, what are they doing there? He said, "They live there mate" I looked at him and said, HUH? yea mate, thats where they live alright. I asked, why don't they go over to those trees by the billibong, he said, they have no need to mate. IT was about 110F out.

So consider, black has one ability to do two things, its transfers heat, in and out. Thanks FR

Checking your theory about MBKs being a melanistic Splendida, and trying to determine whether scalation is unique per subspecies, I consulted the Species Info section of Kingsnake.com. It indicates distinct differences in two areas of scalation, Ventral & Sub-caudal.

Niger

Hatchlings: 7 - 8 in.
Adults: 36 - 48 in.

Dorsal: 21
Ventral: 198 - 217 *
Sub-caudal: 39 - 55 *
lnfralabial: 9 - 10
Supralabial: 7
Analplate: Single

Californiae

Hatchlings: 7 - 9 in.
Adults: 36 - 60

Dorsal: 23 - 25 rows
Ventral: 213 - 255 *
Sub-caudal: 44 -63 *
lnfralabial: 9 - 10
Supralabial: 7 - 8
Analplate: Single

Splendida

Hatchlings: 7 - 10 in.
Adults: 36 - 45 in.

Dorsal: 23-25
Ventral: 199 - 237 *
Sub-caudal: 40 - 62 *
lnfralabial: 9 - 10
Supralabial: 7 - 8
Analplate: Single

Nigrita

Hatchlings: 7 - 8 in.
Adults: 36 - 45 in.

Dorsal: 23 - 25 rows
Ventral: 213 - 225 *
Sub-caudal: 47 - 56 *
lnfralabial: 9 - 10
Supralabial: 7 - 8
Analplate: Single

Am I naive to hope that scalation count will usually clarify subspecies, or intergrades?

The only naivity is not taking into consideration, how many individuals and from what parts of their range they came form.

As you saw the scale counts overlap. So what area did these animals come from. A texas desert king, and a mex, black king, How about what would the scale count be in ones from the same area?????? This is a huge question. As I strongly feel you would have huge differences from pure splendida from comstock to tucson. How would a tamalipian splendida compare to these? or one from 7000 feet elevation?

So looking a scale counts like ones on KS only allow confusion. when asking a specific question. If you want a specific answer, you need to use locality examples.

Another small story, Many years ago, I did some work with mex. montane kingsnakes. As a test, I would bring back sheds from many kingsnakes and have our U of A herpers key them out. We ran into one problem, they couldn't. There was too much overlap, in fact in one canyon we found Milksnake tharys and mexican milks, the University could not tell them apart from the sheds. But you sure could holding the snakes. FR

I envy you for living in Tucson, one of the Herp capitals of the world. I'm tentatively planning a relocation to Las Vegas soon; hope to have many more herping & desert exporation opportunities in the days & nights of tomorrow.

I'm loving my Desert Black Kingsnake (MBK) juvenile with his tiger stripes and speckles. Kinda hope that some of the lower speckles remain as an adult as a unique identifier, but I could be surprised to find a coal-black specimen by his 3rd year. As we know, this is one of the world's creatures with the most variable colors & patterns. Will be interesting to see his coloration as an adult!

Enjoy your weekend.

Frank, interesting as all get out. Could you try and answer some of Tom's questions regarding splendida/holbrooki? We have a mutual interest there! The splendida from Corpus Christi and the south Texas area seem to have a great bit of holbrooki influence in them. I'm studying areas from Calhoun county and Nueces county on the Mustang Island. Also, one of our mutual friends has a few from surrounding counties. We love to compare notes and aren't clannish, it is just easier to compare locality animals with people from your locale! Really would like to hear some more about the splendidas! Wonderful kings!
Thanks,
Todd Hughes