Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all, someone contacted me with this photo - I'm guessing a Kingsnake but I'm not a colubrid person! Thanks for the help!

Around 8 inches long, killed by a cat in a house.

Christy

Check link below.
Snakes of Tennessee

Yep.. thats a eastern black kingsnake....

zach..

Yep.. thats a eastern black kingsnake

So what exactly is an eastern black kingsnake?? Do you mean a cross between getula and nigra, or is there an eastern variant of the nigra?? Im confused, help me out here. To me it looks like your everyday Black king snake, Lampropeltis getula nigra.
Brian

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RATS
2.0 Corn snakes "Warpath" & "Thunderbird" (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Reaper and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Great plains rat snake "Reign Fire" (TX locale)
1.0 Grey rat snake "Punisher" (White oak phase)(Dwight Good stock)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

Most ppl around here and in Tennesse refer to them as the eastern black king snake.. but yes black kingsnake... have you ever seen the field guide to reptiles of the smokey mountains? it refers to the black kings that occur there as eastern black kingsnakes..

Oh my bad.. I thought you was being smart with me.. i apologize.. but no im sorry its just ur everyday black kingsnake..just refering to eastern black king as the book that i have read..

Oh my bad.. I thought you was being smart with me.. i apologize.. but no im sorry its just ur everyday black kingsnake..just refering to eastern black king as the book that i have read..

Just trying to see what you meant by eastern black king. I know there is no "eastern black king", and just thought you meant an intergrade. Gotta be careful with the naming of snakes, just didnt want the person with the animal telling someone it was anything its not.
Happy Herping
Brian
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RATS
2.0 Corn snakes "Warpath" & "Thunderbird" (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Reaper and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Great plains rat snake "Reign Fire" (TX locale)
1.0 Grey rat snake "Punisher" (White oak phase)(Dwight Good stock)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

That's a good point. I've found myself saying Eastern Black Kingsnake when in reality it should just be Black Kingsnake (Nigra) Maybe that's more of a habit with me since I keep Mexican Black Kings and think of one as a Western Race of Black king, and the other as Eastern. That's why latin names are always the best way for identification.

Steve

Well im not wrong for naming it an eastern black kingsnake.. I have seen a few field guides that state it...but most ppl just say black king for short..but im not talking about the eastern king from the south though..or an intergrade..

With all due respect, there is no such snake as an eastern black king snake. The common name of Lampropeltis getula nigra is Black king snake. This is why it is always better to use the latin name along with the common name to alleviate confusion.

So many different names are floating around out there for many snakes, and this compounds the confusion. The L g nigrita, Mexican black king is another good example. People also call it the black desert king and western black king. But this can also lead to even more confusion, because of the L g splendida, Desert king snake. This is why it is impoprtant to learn the correct common name along with the latin name.

Its not your fault if you have a field guide and it gives you false information. I have a few field guides and books that also have snakes mislabled. Some field guides just arent worth the paper they are printed on.

The best one I have is Snakes of North America, Eastern and Central regions written by Alan Tennant

Happy herping
Brian

>>Well im not wrong for naming it an eastern black kingsnake.. I have seen a few field guides that state it...but most ppl just say black king for short..but im not talking about the eastern king from the south though..or an intergrade..

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RATS
2.0 Corn snakes "Warpath" & "Thunderbird" (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Reaper and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Great plains rat snake "Reign Fire" (TX locale)
1.0 Grey rat snake "Punisher" (White oak phase)(Dwight Good stock)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

Yeah I understand you,, I refer to them as black kings most of the time.. And like you have stated I have seen more field guides refer to them as black kings also.. like perterson guides and audobon..

Also, with all due respect, there is no authority for common names. Therefore no correct or incorrect ones; although, some are more commonly used than others. Funny thing is the two organizations competing for that role list different things. CNAH (Collins et. al.) list L. g. nigra - Black Kingsnake - (Yarrow, 1882), and SSAR (Crother et. al.) list L. g. nigra (Yarrow, 1882)—Eastern Black Kingsnake.

True, however it just makes more sense to use the most acceptable common names to ease confusion. I like to use the latin name along with the common name to keep from confusing people.

Some field guides are pretty messed up. I have seen the L g nigra listed as a L g niger, even on some web sites. So I know to someone trying to learn the proper names, both common and latin, it can be confusing.
Brian

>>Also, with all due respect, there is no authority for common names. Therefore no correct or incorrect ones; although, some are more commonly used than others. Funny thing is the two organizations competing for that role list different things. CNAH (Collins et. al.) list L. g. nigra - Black Kingsnake - (Yarrow, 1882), and SSAR (Crother et. al.) list L. g. nigra (Yarrow, 1882)—Eastern Black Kingsnake.
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RATS
2.0 Corn snakes "Warpath" & "Thunderbird" (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Reaper and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Great plains rat snake "Reign Fire" (TX locale)
1.0 Grey rat snake "Punisher" (White oak phase)(Dwight Good stock)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

>>Hi all, someone contacted me with this photo - I'm guessing a Kingsnake but I'm not a colubrid person! Thanks for the help!
>>
>>Around 8 inches long, killed by a cat in a house.
>>
>>Christy
>>2329=945=63;=XROQDF>2323:8:769893ot1lsi" alt="Image">
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RATS
2.0 Corn snakes "Warpath" & "Thunderbird" (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Reaper and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Great plains rat snake "Reign Fire" (TX locale)
1.0 Grey rat snake "Punisher" (White oak phase)(Dwight Good stock)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

Idk if we just have different names for the same snake but i think it looks like an eastern chain king...Lampropeltis Getula Getula.
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Be excellent to each other...and Party on dude!

But L g getula, Eastern king snake, doesnt range into TN. I thought the only getula's in TN were the nigra and holbrooki.
Brian

>>Idk if we just have different names for the same snake but i think it looks like an eastern chain king...Lampropeltis Getula Getula.
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>>Be excellent to each other...and Party on dude!
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RATS
2.0 Corn snakes "Warpath" & "Thunderbird" (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Reaper and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Great plains rat snake "Reign Fire" (TX locale)
1.0 Grey rat snake "Punisher" (White oak phase)(Dwight Good stock)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

Well... Eastern kings are found in Tennessee close to the NC border.. in the east.. so could be a eastern intergrade but , its probally just a black kingsnake..

I have always wondered if Easterns ranged into TN, or if the population is a natural intergrade of the getula X nigra. This is why I asked if this is why the snake in question was called an eastern black.
We have a population of natural intergrade milks (triangulum X syspila) here in KY where the ranges overlap.
Brian

>>Well... Eastern kings are found in Tennessee close to the NC border.. in the east.. so could be a eastern intergrade but , its probally just a black kingsnake..
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RATS
2.0 Corn snakes "Warpath" & "Thunderbird" (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Reaper and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Great plains rat snake "Reign Fire" (TX locale)
1.0 Grey rat snake "Punisher" (White oak phase)(Dwight Good stock)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

It looks like an Eastern Chain to me are they the same snake just different names?
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