Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I caught this beautiful eastern king snake yesterday.
I am pretty sure it is a male.
It is in perfect condition. No scars, no bad scales, no external parasites, absoulutely beautiful.
It is also just as tame as if it had been in captivity it's whole life.
I will give it a few days to get used to it's new surroundings then see if it wants to eat.

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Jimmy (draybar)

Nice king. Im curious of what state you caught him in. Ive caught quite a few of them in NJ, but havent seen any for a number of years now. Good luck with him.

>>Nice king. Im curious of what state you caught him in. Ive caught quite a few of them in NJ, but havent seen any for a number of years now. Good luck with him.

I am in southeast Tennessee. I live in a suburb of Chattanooga.
All of the ones I have seen latley have been DOR.
We have a about 5 acres of land, a creek and a 10 acre pond next to the shop I work at.
I usually walk around the area, during lunch, hoping to find snakes. I found a baby black rat earlier in the year and nothing else until this king yesterday.
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Jimmy (draybar)

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Looks like it has a lot of L. g. nigra in it. Good luck.
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Tim

>>I caught this beautiful eastern king snake yesterday.
>>I am pretty sure it is a male.
>>It is in perfect condition. No scars, no bad scales, no external parasites, absoulutely beautiful.
>>It is also just as tame as if it had been in captivity it's whole life.
>>I will give it a few days to get used to it's new surroundings then see if it wants to eat.
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>>Jimmy (draybar)
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Chris Harrison

I have seen these my entire life and just always associated the "rings" with eastern.
Got any pictures of black and easterns to compare?
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Jimmy (draybar)

According to Conant and Collins, you're in the nigra range but very close to getula. Thats what I'd call a black king with a LOT of eastern influence but you're still about 50 miles from true eastern territory.

Van

Thanks for the info.
Either black or eastern (apparently black) he is a beautiful snake and will be staying here.
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Jimmy (draybar)

There are only a few places in the area where black kings and easterns come together that they actually intergrade (NC. AL for example and in NC. Georgia). In most other parts or the range, they apparently don't (just like Eastern Milks and Scarlet Kings). Generally the reason is habitat as these snakes don't occur commonly in the higher mountains that separate the east from the black king range.

Blaney (1977) looked at a number of snakes from around Chattanooga and regarded them all as nigra. He didn't see evidence of intergradation until he looked at snakes from closer to Atlanta.

Black Kings often have yellow crossbars even forming a light chain pattern. An Eastern King usually has a broader chain, and they are bigger. Their is also a slight difference in headshape between the two taxa, in my experience. Easterns have a big body and broad head like a FL King, whereas Black Kings are slenderer with a narrower head like a Speckled King.

I would regard your snake as falling within the range of patterns seen in the Black King.
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Chris Harrison

Bee-u-ti-ful king snake! Great find!

Bee-u-ti-ful king snake! Great find!