[ask] california kingsnake

[kenn777]

which is the best pattern? stripe? ring? or mixed? coz i saw one mixed has lower price than the stripe... does it work that way? wat about the dorsal part? is it better if it is plain? or checkered? and 1 more thing... does cali kingsnakes have silky/smooth skin? thx...

[drache]

to my knowledge, the "classic" pattern is whitish with wide dark brown or black saddles
Common Kingsnake (DesertUSA)
they feel smooth, I guess like some kinds of silk, more like polished soft metal (gold) though

[kenn777]

i found two kinds at a pet store... 1 is a black cali kingsnake w/ white stripe, and is also black cali kingsnake with white stripe and rings.. which one is better? the mixed costs less... is that true?

[Loren]

It is simply a matter of personal preference- nearly all cal kings fall into the same general price bracket these days. Striped may cost alittle more than banded(bandeds can be very cheap priced), and albino may cost alittle more than striped. Then theres all the abberant patterned ones(strange patterns made by crossing striped with banded), and the albino abberant patterned ones. They might cost alittle more too.
Basically its what you like best. They are all the same species, same subspecies. The price is whatever the store asked. that may vary from 1 store to another. I dont know if there is a real set market price for all the cal king morphs. You could look at the kingsnake.com classifieds and search the kingsnake section to see what most people are asking, but remember petstore prices will often be much higher but you wont pay 50 bucks shipping.

[kenn777]

It is simply a matter of personal preference- nearly all cal kings fall into the same general price bracket these days. Striped may cost alittle more than banded(bandeds can be very cheap priced), and albino may cost alittle more than striped. Then theres all the abberant patterned ones(strange patterns made by crossing striped with banded), and the albino abberant patterned ones. They might cost alittle more too.
Basically its what you like best. They are all the same species, same subspecies. The price is whatever the store asked. that may vary from 1 store to another. I dont know if there is a real set market price for all the cal king morphs. You could look at the kingsnake.com classifieds and search the kingsnake section to see what most people are asking, but remember petstore prices will often be much higher but you wont pay 50 bucks shipping.

thx.. i appreciate the ans...

[flakgunner]

hey,
we own a Chocolate colored "Stripped" Cal. King,it was purchased at a reptile show,quite cheap,but it was 10.00 more than the common banded ones,it was 14 in. when bought,and is now close to 27 in.,also purchased at the same time was a Outer Banks King 15 in., and a Florida King 15 in.(July '06),the Outer Banks is 45 in.,and the Florida is 36in.
Our Cal.King has been a tough one to figure out,it is not a regular feeder,where the other ones will eat once/twice per week,the Cal. will go a month +,without eating,one feeding he may take thawed out mouse ,then the next time,wont even think about it,and will end up toss in a live one,and even then,won't take it.once in a while he may take a white mouse,but other times,crawls away,but will toss in a dark colored mouse and he'll grab that like lighting.Threw out my 35 yrs. of caring for snakes.I've found that Cal.Kings are not the easiest,and some what baffling to keep,at times.
you can find pics of mine ,here in my photo album,in the "other reptiles" album.

Joe