I.D. My king?

[FIEND_FO_LYFE]

Well, ive had this girl for.. 3-4 years...
i bought her as a cali king (obviously she not)
im pretty sure she is a king cross of some type.
Ive heard many ideas of what she could be. Any ideas?

[kc261]

Speckled king maybe? I'm not very knowledgeable about kings, but that is what immediately came to mind.

Pretty snake, whatever it is.

[FIEND_FO_LYFE]

Speckled king maybe? I'm not very knowledgeable about kings, but that is what immediately came to mind.

Pretty snake, whatever it is.

Im thinking shes somthing along the lines of eastern x florida...
idk. shes just so unique.

[DutchHerp]

It's all getula, there have been quite a few changes to those subspecies lately. If you go by current subspecies however, I'd have to say floridana-ish, but it's probably a mix.

Later, Matt

[Brandon Osborne]

That animal is an Apalachicola king, also known as a blotched king or goini. They are found in a small area of the Apachicola National Forest in the Florida pan handle, near Tallahassee. Really fun snakes that can get very large.

[FIEND_FO_LYFE]

That animal is an Apalachicola king, also known as a blotched king or goini. They are found in a small area of the Apachicola National Forest in the Florida pan handle, near Tallahassee. Really fun snakes that can get very large.

Brandon! THANK YOU!
honestly, i should have figured it out. They vary in pattern and color so much, but you are correct.

[Brandon Osborne]

No problem! Beautiful king! I have a few myself and have been keeping them since around 92. One of my favorite colubrids.

[jacob985]

to me(but just my opinion) he looks like a speckled king snake. i have of 20 of them at one time they are very gentle snakes

[Brandon Osborne]

to me(but just my opinion) he looks like a speckled king snake. i have of 20 of them at one time they are very gentle snakes

The difference between the snake above and a speckled king is the individual scale pattern. While goini may appear somewhat similar to speckleds, they are distinctly different. Where speckled kings have a single center spot on every scale, goini have a cross cut spot that covers about half of the scale in yellow and the other half black.



Another interesting feature of goini is the variability of color and pattern within a single clutch of animals.

[kc261]

Thanks for sharing that great info Brandon! So all 3 of the pics you posted are goini? They are gorgeous.

I found this pic of a speckled that clearly shows the spot in the center of every scale that you mentioned:
http://www.nebherp.org/images/df/k_sk.jpg

Wish we could still see the pics of the original snake on this thread.