A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California

Lampropeltis getula californiae - California Kingsnake:
Page 2 - Unusual and Aberrant Patterns

Click on a picture for a larger view

Pictures and information about this snake and its habitat have been put on three pages. Page 1 shows pictures of the more common banded form of the California Kingsnake, plus a range map, a description and natural history information, and links to more information. Page 2, this page, illustrates some other naturally-occuring pattern types and aberrant patterns. Page 3 shows some of the wide variety of habitats utilized by this snake.

Striped adult, coastal San Diego County	Striped adult, coastal San Diego County

Partially striped adult snake from San Diego County.

48-band juvenile , a very high band count, from coastal Los Angeles county © 2005 Brian Hubbs	Bright yellow, typical Newport-Long Beach phase California Kingsnake found in coastal Los Angeles County by Robert Edwards. Photo © Brian Hubbs	Typical Newport-Long Beach phase found by Brian Hinds in Irvine, Orange County, California. Photo © Brian Hubbs

Adult male Delta phase, Yolo County. © Gary Nafis Specimen courtesy of Rick Staub

Juvenile Delta phase, Yolo County © Rick Staub	An adult, Central Valley Black-bellied "Eiseni" Morph, Fresno County © David Tobler	Newport-Long Beach "Mud" morph, coastal Los Angeles County. (The belly is completely brown.) © Don Huffman

Adult, Yumensis phase, Pima County, Arizona © Tim Burkhardt	Adult, Yumensis phase, Imperial County © Joe Bouvier	Narrow-banded Coastal Los Angeles phase, Los Angeles County. © Don Huffman

A pale, hypomelanistic adult snake from Whitewater, Riverside County, along with a darker snake which is a more typical example of the kingsnakes from the same area. © Ross Padilla	Melanistic adult, Butte County © Brian Hubbs	Long Beach melanistic California Kingsnake from Long Beach, CA. An increasingly rare find within a shrinking urban range. Commonly called "grease kings," these snakes may cease to exist in the wild very soon if developers keep bulldozing all the remaining habitat in the urban Long Beach area. The snake was rescued from imminent slaughter by habitat destruction and photographed by Brian Hubbs. It is now part of a growing breeding colony designed to preserve this melanistic trait.

A Newport-Long Beach "Barred" morph from western Riverside County. © Ross Padilla		A juvenile Newport-Long Beach "Barred" morph from San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, discovered by Brian Hubbs and Brian Hinds, 2/19/06. Photo © Brian Hinds

A juvenile Newport-Long Beach "Scrambled Banded" morph, wild-caught in coastal Los Angeles County. The belly is all yellow with no hint of brown or black. © Josh Rosenstein		Adult "Speckled Morph", Fresno County. Specimen courtesy of Brian Hubbs © Patrick Briggs

Valley Phase adult, Fresno County © Patrick Briggs	Dark underside of adult, Madera County © Patrick Briggs	A probable cross between a California Kingsnake and a Pacific Gophersnake, found in the wild in Yolo County by Steven Hinds. Photo © 2005 Brian Hubbs

Adult, Riverside dotted morph, Riverside County. © Ross Padilla		Adult with "Zipper" pattern, Los Angeles County. © Byron De Stouet

75 percent Blotched Morph, San Diego County. © Alexus Cazares

Adult, Golden Brown Black-belly morph, Yolo County © Dave Feliz
Normal Phase Snakes and Habitats

Go to Page 1 to see pictures of the common banded phase of the California Kingsnake.	Go to Page 3 to see pictures of some of the wide variety of habitats used by California Kingsnakes.
Short Videos

A striped California Kingsnake crawls across a dirt road in the afternoon.	A disgruntled aberrant kingsnake rears up in a partially-coiled defensive posture, strikes repeatedly at the photographer, then leaps off a rock to freedom.	A distressed San Diego County California Kingsnake vibrates its tail.

Click to see a YouTube video of this snake shaking its tail defensively and making a rattling sound.	More videos of normally-patterned snakes on Page 1