"King"
Eastern Kingsnake
"King"
Eastern Kingsnake
Members of the genusLampropeltis are collectively known as kingsnakes and milksnakes. These are shiny snakes with smooth scales and single anal plates. Their typical coloration is black or dark brown with white or yellowish spots or stripes on their scales. The size and arrangement of these spots is diagnostic in separating the subspecies. The eastern kingsnake also goes by the names "chain snake", "thunder snake" and "swamp wamper".
Kingsnakes and milksnakes are distributed in North, Central and South America and have one of the largest distributions of any genus of snake in the world.
Habitat is chiefly terrestrial, but it shows a distinct liking for streambanks and borders of swamps, possibly because water snakes and turtle eggs, two important foods are abundant there. Kingsnakes swim readily and are very secretive, often found under boards, logs or debris. When first encountered in the wild, kingsnakes may hiss and vibrate their tails violently to rattle any surrounding leaf litter and make a large startling noise.
Hatchlings tend to accept small lizards and graduate onto mice and other rodents. Kingsnakes are powerful constrictors and their tendency to consume other serpents, including venomous ones is well known. Since they can become cannibalistic if given an opportunity, they should be kept singularly. Kingsnakes also eat birds, small rodents and eggs--of both birds and turtles. Kingsnakes are remarkably adapted to being immune to the venous of native North American snakes.
Some snakes simply suffocate their captured prey by squeezing them with their jaws, but a snake's long, muscular body is ideally suited for applying pressure on a prey animal. Constriction has been defined as the immobilization of prey by the exertion of pressure by two or more points of the snake's body. Constriction does not crush the prey animal but rather prevents it from breathing and suffocates it. In the case of very small animals with a high metabolic rate and the need of an uninterrupted supply of oxygen, death may be very quick. In larger, stronger animals, however, it may be quite slow. It is also relatively slow in cold-blooded prey, such as lizards. Such animals, however, often become torpid and are swallowed alive. Some snakes use one or two body loops to press their prey against the ground or against the inside of a burrow if below ground. Others wind or wrap around their prey.
Partly as an adaptation to permit the swallowing of large food items whole, the snake's skull has been increasingly modified for greater elasticity. In many evolutionarily advanced snakes the only solid portion of the skull is the brain case, the upper skull consisting broadly of the brain case in the rear; small protective bones around the eyes and snout in front; and four rather long tooth-bearing bones below. All four tooth-bearing bones are loosely attached to the skull by elastic ligaments and are independently movable. The bones of the snout are also movable and allow the snake to bend its snout upward.
Each side of the lower jaw bears a row of teeth on the forward-positioned dentary bone, and each half of the lower jaw is slightly movable along the line formed between the dentary bone and the rear segments of the jaw. Further, the two halves of the lower jaw are not rigidly fused where they meet in front; rather, they are united only by elastic ligaments that permit the two halves to be rotated or moved apart.
Snakes have powerful digestive enzymes (specialized proteins) to break down the hair, feathers, bones, and other parts of their prey. As part of the digestive system, the salivary glands of the mouth also produce powerful enzymes. If saliva containing these enzymes enters the wounds of a prey animal, it not only begins the digestive process but also may cause such serious tissue damage that the prey dies. Such toxic elements have been found in the saliva of many nonpoisonous snakes, and they are generally introduced into the prey's wounds by repeated bitings by the snake. Less than one-third of the 2,500 to 3,000 snake species are classified as venomous, and fewer than 300 species may be fatal to humans. In the United States more than twice as many people are killed each year by bee, wasp, and scorpion stings as by snakebites. It is also more likely to die being struck by lightning than of a snakebite in the US. It should be noted, however, that the presence of toxic elements in the saliva of many so-called nonpoisonous snakes makes it difficult to make a sharp distinction between venomous and nonvenomous types
Kingsnakes come into sexual maturity after their third year, and breeding occurs in the spring, with eggs being layed about a month later. Females lay a clutch of about seven eggs with a gestation of 60-65 days at approximately 82oF. Hatchlings are about 23 to 30 cm. Markings of juvenilles are similar to the adults.
Up to 25 years
As with most wild animals, the numbers of kingsnakes is decreasing due to loss of habitat.
Conant, Roger. Peterson Field Guides: Reptiles and Amphibians of
Eastern/Central North America.
Mattison, Chris. A-Z of Snake Keeping. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 1991
Mattison, Chris. The Care of Reptiles and Amphibians in Captivity.
Bradford, 1992