Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I just acquired an adult Prairie Kingsnake from a friend. Hands down, this is the BIGGEST Prairie King I've EVER seen, and even could be bigger than some really big Eastern Kings I've seen in the past. I measured the snake tonight [no strectching of snake or string used to measure], and it came out to a whopping 64 inches! In the 'Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of the Eastern United States', Conant and Collins quote a record size of 56 inches. Wow! This snake is a beast! I'll post photos tomorrow so I don't get accused of telling big fish stories.
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Matt Campbell

Big animals, little animals, plants - right down to the sea itself. We need them, not just for their own sake, but because all this has to be here for everybody forever. Only one thing is certain: if we are to preserve our environment and save this priceless wildlife we need much, much more knowledge.
Harry Butler from 'In the Wild With Harry Butler' 1977

If I'm not mistaken that exceeds the current record that was set by Phil Peak and Will Bird that was published in a journal last year. You might want to ask one of them, as they do a lot of state research in KY on all of the Lampropeltis.

I know that 64" is one huge king, no matter what the species!

Sounds like you have quite an impressive snake! As Matt mentioned we documented what is the longest calligaster known last year. That snake was 56.25", so it exceeds the previous known recorded length for that species by only a quarter inch. When we found the snake we actually thought it was bigger than it turned out to be. We made a quick measurement with a tape in the field and came up with around 60". We felt that was notable so we collected the snake and took it to the Louisville Zoo where the vets knocked it out so we could get a measurement under lab conditions with the snake offering no resistence. There efforts were made to get a true measurement without stretching the snake. To our surprise the snake was not as long as we thought it would be, but it was a record length still. If I am not mistaken, official record lengths only apply to free ranging wild snakes that were found in the field. I do believe there are larger prairie kings out there both in the field and in captivity. Look forward to seeing pics of your new snake! The prairie king has long been one of our favorites. Phil

Here's the proof. The tape is locked at exactly 64 inches. Sorry, but the snake simply wouldn't stretch out along the tape no matter how much I pleaded. You might notice the bump near the tail - clearly an old injury I'd guess, or maybe a spinal kink. I believe this was a wild-caught snake - I'm still waiting for word on the exact origin. I can say I'm really glad to have it in my collection. It's a very mellow snake although it did tail-rattle some during this photo shoot.

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Matt Campbell

Big animals, little animals, plants - right down to the sea itself. We need them, not just for their own sake, but because all this has to be here for everybody forever. Only one thing is certain: if we are to preserve our environment and save this priceless wildlife we need much, much more knowledge.
Harry Butler from 'In the Wild With Harry Butler' 1977

Close up.

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Matt Campbell

Big animals, little animals, plants - right down to the sea itself. We need them, not just for their own sake, but because all this has to be here for everybody forever. Only one thing is certain: if we are to preserve our environment and save this priceless wildlife we need much, much more knowledge.
Harry Butler from 'In the Wild With Harry Butler' 1977

man thats cool,,,and here phil thought he had it at 1/4inch,,oilwell phil,i would not doubt if that was a southern animal(from texas)regardless its fine,,,,,,,thomas

Because it is a 54 inch runt that is way shy of the current record despite the fact that it has been gorged on a zoo diet by a bunch of them CAJUNS!(LOL) You Texas boys better get out there and get to work to beat the fine Kentucky record. From what I understand you guys can go snake hunting for prairie kings this time of year, so you better get off the internet and get to it!(LOL) Good luck! There is another record Phil and I plan to bring home to Kentucky this year, but you Texas fellas have no need to get your panties in a wad because we won't be taking the next one from you! Wish us luck and we'll provide the photos later this season! Will Bird

My bad, a 64 inch runt!

CHALLANJE! I heard 'dat! Good to hear from you Will! Don't make us come up there and pull a nigra outta yo' butt! LoL! We will be hittin' the field soon for real, just need a tech a rain! Great pic Phil posted of your sally. What n the hell IS that?
Todd Hughes

No, No!! That's not what I meant at all! No need to come to KY for there will be no Texas records here! Nice shots of the kings. Thanks! The Salamander was a Jefferson's that a group of us found in a vernal pool a few days ago. After taking about thirty pictures of it I realized it had a bad eye, so I had to turn it around to catch his good side! (LOL) Ah well, good luck finding giant snakes in Texas. We sure will be busting our chops here in Kentucky real soon! Will

P.S. Here is a Tiger Phil and I found last year.

man that is great. i hope you plan on working with that.

Whoa! Thats one hoss of a prairie king. I look forward to hearing more about it. Was it wild caught? If so from what region? How long has it been in captivity? Thanks for posting. Phil

WOW, Do tell the approximate locale. At least the state. I, like Thomas am rooting for Texas, LOL! What a whopper!
Todd Hughes

LOL! Todd. I can certainly understand your sentiments. Fattened specimens in cages need not apply for entry into the Peterson field guide though. You boys in Texas are going to have to get out there and beat the bushes if you want to update the record before the next field guide comes out. We all know they are out there. Our job is to find them haha! Good luck in Texas this year. Do you guys see many good sized calligaster in your area? We see quite a few males each year well over 4'. Phil

I received the snake from my colleague and sometimes part-time boss, Rob Carmichael who runs the Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm in Lake Forest, Illinois. Rob told me the snake was a Hurricane Katrina refugee that came from Audubon Zoo in New Orleans and that's basically all the info that came with it from Audubon. I might be able to dig around and try to contact someone at Audubon to see where and when it was collected, but for all I know [and working at a zoo myself], it could have been an animal that Audubon acquired from another institution thus making the paper trail even more convoluted. I'm inclined though to go along with Phil's assesment and say that it's a fantastic specimen, but until we find a wild one larger than the current record this captive specimen is merely no more than a curiosity.
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Matt Campbell

Big animals, little animals, plants - right down to the sea itself. We need them, not just for their own sake, but because all this has to be here for everybody forever. Only one thing is certain: if we are to preserve our environment and save this priceless wildlife we need much, much more knowledge.
Harry Butler from 'In the Wild With Harry Butler' 1977

Thanks for the update Matt. One thing is for sure though, that is one heck of a snake! Congrats on a fine acquisition. Phil

Very nice statement Matt. Very respectful and far from the norm around here. Nice to see and as everybody else has and will say KILLER SNAKE.

Later Jason

Jason,

Thanks. The Prairie King was one of several Kings I picked up over the weekend. I recently decided to change the focus of my collection to all native American species of herps. In response to my queries about looking for natives my friend Rob and his brother Chris came through in spades. I received this weekend, the Prairie, a Speckled, a Juno Road locale Gray-banded, and a trio of Arizona Mountain Kings. I also took home a Texas Rat with an amazing amount of red coloration - very nice! Add to that the kings I already own - a Florida, two '05 Easterns, an '05 California (normal black and white banded), and an '05 Mole. All of the sudden my collection went King-heavy. I now have more Kings than any other genus of snake, but hey that's cool with me - kings are fantastic snakes.
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Matt Campbell

Big animals, little animals, plants - right down to the sea itself. We need them, not just for their own sake, but because all this has to be here for everybody forever. Only one thing is certain: if we are to preserve our environment and save this priceless wildlife we need much, much more knowledge.
Harry Butler from 'In the Wild With Harry Butler' 1977

Keep goin', Matt! We got a long way to go to catch up with Jetzen! LOL!
Todd Hughes

Not in my neck of the woods. About 70 miles n.e. I saw a d.o.r. juvy and last year about the start of fall I saw a normal sized(45" D.O.R. They live too north for me! Hey Forky, what's the lowdown from the Alamo City?
Todd Hughes

and that was many moons ago. flipping season is almost over already here, time to go nocturnal. If we don't get some rain soon we may just dry up and blow away!

Forky

Hey Joe,

Are you having the same drought in TX that we are in AZ? Any rain anywhere in alterna-ville?

Hope all is good. Hugh

I was out at the ranch a couple days ago and it was very depressing. Crunchy might be a good word.

I'm heading a little further west for spring break so I'll report back what I see, but I'm pretty sure it's the same scenario all the way from San Antonio to western Arizona.

Feast or famine!

Forky

140 days with no measureable rain here....

I'll still be over soon to beat my head against the Texas dirt. Beats workin'!!!!!

Later Joe. hugh

LOL! Rain or shine! Hope we get some soon, even the S.P. rats are thirsty!
Todd Hughes

True dat!
Todd Hughes

Dang thats a nice looking splendida. Is it as black and white as it looks? Phil

IF for some reason you don't get it, let me know.

Steve

Yessir! I hopes to find him a galpal for the hookup! I will be out looking for an equivalant female and see if I can produce this color phase. I like the real black and yellows too and the brown and yellows are neat in their own right!
Todd Hughes

Now that's what I'm talking about. That is a great addition Matt. I love Prairie Kings.
Caligastor are very under rated kings. They're not flashy. They're not loaded with bright colors, but then again I've always been a fan of the earthtone colored snakes. What they lack in colors, they more then make up for it in how they handle. Very docile, not too large, but do have decent girth in relation to their length. And they have one heck of a appetite/feeding response to boot. Every bit as strong as my getula kings. Atleast mine does. Looking forward to more pics of him Matt.

Steve