Desert Kingsnake

Featuring a black or brown body with light-colored speckles all over it, the desert kingsnake may look intimidating, but it has earned a reputation for being non-venomous and non-aggressive. This snake won’t attack if it is afraid. Instead, it’ll roll over and play dead, hoping the threat will leave it alone.

5 Amazing Desert Kingsnake Facts

• While these snakes will eat a wide variety of rodents and lizards in their diet, they will also eat rattlesnakes if the opportunity arises.
• The desert kingsnake lays eggs after fertilization between March and June. Clutch sizes range from 5-12 eggs, and the snake will sometimes bury them up to 1 foot underground to keep the shells from drying out.
• They can only be found in the wild in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, preferring a temperature of 83-87 degrees Fahrenheit.
• In captivity, they need to be fed at least 1-2 mice weekly to satisfy their appetite.
• Though their scientific name comes from their “splendid” colors, they are also bred as albino snakes.

Where to Find Desert Kingsnakes

These snakes may have seemingly steady numbers, but they aren’t found in very many locations. They only live in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico in the United States. Though these states are close to the border, there are no reports of it in Mexico. They prefer a rural habitat, seeking out areas near water, despite the fact that these states are notorious for their desert environments.

If you keep the desert kingsnake as a pet, its daytime temperature should be 83-87 degrees Fahrenheit. At night, the temperature should not fall below 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

Scientific Name

The desert kingsnake has the scientific name Lampropeltis splendida. The name is Greek in origin. “Lampropeltis” essentially means “radiant small shields,” while “splendida” is meant to be a description of their splendid colors.

This snake is part of the Reptilia class and the Colubridae family.

Evolution and History

The desert kingsnake belongs to the largest family of snakes in the world, the Colubridae, which dates back 33 to 23 million years ago, to the Cenozoic era when the first fossils were found. The most variations of the species were seen during the Miocene era, 25 to 5 million years ago It is believed that these snakes originated in what is now Asia, then migrated to Europe, and eventually made their way to North America.

Types of Kingsnakes

The desert kingsnake belongs to the genus Lampropeltis which contains 26 species of snakes and 45 recognized subspecies. Some of these 26 snakes are:

• Scarlet Kingsnake
• Speckled Kingsnake
• Common Kingsnake
• California Kingsnake
• Gray-banded Kingsnake
• Mole Kingsnake
• Milk Snake
• California Mountain Kingsnake
• Ecuadorian Milk Snake
• Short-tailed Snake

Population and Conservation Status

Researchers estimate the total population of desert kingsnakes to be over 10,000 in the United States. The conservation status is “Least Concern,” and the population is stable.

Appearance and Description

The colors of these snakes are black and yellow. While the main body has a glossy black or sometimes brown hue, the speckles along it are some shade of white or yellow. The flecks of contracting color match the pale scales along the lower side of the kingsnake, though the abdomen is predominantly black in both full-grown snakes and juveniles. They have 23-25 rows of smooth dorsal scales, and they typically reach lengths of 3-4 feet in size.

Though albino desert kingsnakes exist, they are primarily bred for the pet trade, only reaching 12-14 inches in total size when they are sold.

How to identify a desert kingsnake:

• 3-4 feet long at the full-grown size.
• Up to 25 rows of dorsal scales with smooth texture.
• Black or brown body with speckles of white or yellow throughout.

How Dangerous Are They?

Though these snakes may seem intimidating, they are not dangerous to humans at all. They have a carnivorous diet, but they aren’t venomous. If you end up seeing one, they won’t likely attack when provoked. Instead, they will become motionless and turn onto their backs in an effort to appear dead. When the threat has passed, they resume their daily routine.

Behavior and Humans

The docile and friendly nature of desert kingsnakes makes them excellent pets, and they are easy to find with local breeders in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. They aren’t harmful to humans, and they often bond deeply with their keepers when they are handled properly and fed a healthy diet. Some desert kingsnakes even cozy up to their keeper as a way to get warmer.