California Kingsnake

🌍 Overview

The California kingsnake is a non-venomous colubrid found throughout the western United States and northwestern Mexico. "King" snakes earned their name from killing and eating other snakes, rattlesnakes included, and their blood serum neutralizes a good deal of pit viper venom. That resistance is strong, not total, and it varies between kingsnake species and populations. A powerful constrictor, it takes almost anything it can overpower, from rodents and lizards to eggs, birds and other snakes. It is active by day in cool weather and shifts to dawn, dusk and night when it is hot. Pattern varies from black and white bands to brown and cream, and some populations are striped instead of banded. Hardy and easy to care for, it is a popular beginner species.

📋 Quick Facts

📜 History

The California kingsnake is one of the most popular pet snakes, kept for its easy care, its range of colors and its calm temperament, and almost every pet today is captive-bred. That breeding has a tangle in it. In the wild the species intergrades with the desert kingsnake and the Mexican black kingsnake in Arizona, and in captivity it has been crossed with the corn snake to make the "jungle corn", a hybrid of two different genera that is fertile. At home it is protected by paperwork: California sets limits on wild collection and requires a propagation permit to breed and sell the species inside the state, so a California seller should be able to name the permit.

🤩 Fun Facts