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What is the difference between a Florida king and a Brooks kingsnake? I was thinking of getting a pair after I saw a nice adult Florida king at a zoo recently. I'll attach a pic of the snake that I saw. Thanks for your help!

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Sincerely, Jason
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www.NortheastSnakes.com
NortheastSnakes@aol.com

well brooksi is a name given to an appearance in Fl. kings brooksi are generally lighter than the average Fl. king

this would be reffered to as a FL. king

While this a brooksi

But they both hatched out the same Clutch

i think there are various looks to a "brooksi" here are a few

Hope that helps

~ZF

"Brooksi" was the subspecies name assigned to the light-colored/indistinctly patterned kingsnakes of extreme southern Florida, in Monroe and Dade counties. This subspecies name was dropped because the snakes fitting the description of "brooksi" were already described as "floridana". Since then, some hobbyists/dealers have "expanded" the definition of "brooksi" to included any light colored florida kings, regardless of whether they fit the full description/locale. The light colored/sulfur kings from near Tampa shouldn't be called brooksi. It seems that any FL king morph will also be called a brooksi. I wouldn't consider that lavender albino you have there a brooksi, just a lavender albino FL king.

Correct. The 'brooksi' kingsnake has a distinctive pattern in addition to an overall pale coloration. This fact seems to be lost among breeders these days as I often see line bred Florida kings that are very pale being offered as 'True Brooksi'. But these bogus animals have very large pale blotches on their flanks and pattern that is well defined. Their pale crossbars are also very often big and fat---something brooksi never have.
The brooksi, to me, is more identifiable as having a mosiac or speckled pattern especially on the the sides. Even young animals have the pattern becoming fragmented early in life.
I have caught numerous brooksi though (from up to 15 miles South of Florida City) that were not particularly pale but they had the pattern that set them apart from a typical Florida king, Peninisula king---or whatever they are called now.

Also, Tampa animals can be very pale and distinctive but they look nothing like Brook's kings as they have very bold and well defined pattern.

I was beginning to think the real definition had been totally obliterated by the masses. The term "brooksi was scientifically sunk not redefined.
... and it doesn't seem reasonable to me that a snake who has one-eighth or less of it's ancestry from South Florida should be called brooksi. I'm sure most breeders are just repeating what they were told when they bought their snakes and aren't intending to deceive anyone.
I notice a particular breeder using the term "yellow phase" floridana instead of brooksi.

THANK YOU!!,
About a week ago I posted asking if anyone had REAL Brooks and got no replies. I listed the locale of the "Brooks canal" South of Florida City. Anyone who has collected them there knows how different they are from these new mutation "Brooks" kings. There are some beautiful light colored animals from the lake and around Tampa, etc, but they are not like the animals from the aforementioned locale. Thanks for knowing the difference and now I ask again, is anyone working with the S. Dade animals now?
P.S. they're heads are smaller than lake kings, too.
Jim McLean

Everyone who has ever found W/C brooksi (myself included)has commented on their seemingly small heads. But it something that is hard to explain or quantify.
The "Brooks Canal" that so many collectors hit was actually a series of three canals that all merged into the AeroJet Canal (C111)down near the Monroe County border. I found the most kings on the easternmost canal way south of where the canals were easily accessable.
Unfortunately, the Army Corps of Engineers leveled the dikes to these canals (except the Aerojet), thus destroying the habitat for kings, a few years ago. My best canal no longer exists and the whole area is now under a few feet of water.
Also, the light colored Tampa kings looked like regular lake kings in pattern. The real difference is that they appear to have been bleached and are often very pale or faded looking.
Brook's kings on the other hand, always have a 'bright' look to them even if they are a darker specimen. And again, brooksi have that wierd mosaic pattern to them.

One of the things I have always used as a marker is a high band count. I almost never see anyone say that anymore. I realize that many Okechobee (cane field areas) kings have a high band count too, but to me a "brooksi" would have to have both a light sandy/creamy color(as adult)along with a high band count. Of course the "best" would be light enough to make the bands difficult to see. I rarely see a snake with both anymore..very rarely.
Problem is, even I call most of them "FL kings" when I should be calling them "peneisula intergrades". That moniker isn't used as much as it should be in part because it's a mouthful and in part because of it's "negative" connotations. It's almost like you're saying "I have hybrids" or something to some people and they just don't like it.
That said, when the hypo gene was added into the mix, many times a reduction/degeneration of the bands seems to have come with it. Ever notice the aberrancies of the pattern in really red hypos? So much for band counts.....
It is my opinion that whatever "morphs" were not man made (Cal king crosses, etc.) came from the peninsula intergrade snakes and many of those were found around the Lake.
There are aberrancies and morphs throughout the population I guess, but I think most have been originally seen in the p.i. snakes.
Just my thoughts at a very early hour.. Don't put too much stock into my opinions...HA!
:Mark

I have never seen a lavender that looked "brooksi" yet the hets look to have a high band count. What do you think?

Het for lavender (Steve Osborne stock but probably originally from Tim Ricks strain)the lavs don't look anything like this nor does the pattern seem to emulate this het.

Here is a sulfur snow and sometimes the sulfur line comes out with a high band count and some siblings come out blotched.

I've read some of the replies and I'm still a bit confused. The below snake is exactly what I'm looking for (speckling with yellow) HOWEVER, I still have a question or two...
Do they all look banded as hatchlings? (if so, is there any way to tell if they'll turn out like the below snake?) Is there anyway to tell?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v716/ZFelicien2/DSC00413.jpg
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Sincerely, Jason
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www.NortheastSnakes.com
NortheastSnakes@aol.com