A locality king is a snake that was either caught at a particular locality, or was born from lineage that originated at a particular locality. A snake that is born from a pair of wild caught parents is considered an f1, which basically means first generation born in captivity. A snake can only be considered an f1 if both parents are wild caught. When you breed f1’s together, their offspring are considered f2. This just continues down the line, but normally doesn’t make it very far with locality animals. In fact I only ever hear about f1 or f2 California kingsnakes.
A locality has a broad definition when it comes to snakes and how the individual herper defines it. A locale can be narrowed down to a particular field or road. Sometimes an entire county is described as a locale, but normally these are not very large counties. Often times, the reason why counties are used as a locale by herpers, is because they don’t want to be very specific about the location. Most herpers keep their spots a secret the best they can. I see nothing wrong with labeling large areas as locales as long as the person labeling it knows for a fact the kings in that entire area are basically all the same or their range of variation in color and pattern is the same.
IMO, a locality king isn’t locality just because someone says it is, you have to trust that source. I see a lot of people asking what locality is this Rosy boa, like that’s all it takes to identify it. The motivation to lie or accept someone’s opinion (ID) is there, because the snake is worth more if it’s locality or looked at something better than generic. I think the Rosy boa community has a bigger problem with this, but I think it also exists in this community as well. How particular are you guys about your locality kings? Me, I’ll make exceptions for the Scissors wide striped, because of their looks, but I have no faith in that line being locality pure any more. But for everything else, I’m pretty picky about who I get my stuff from. I like to get f1 stock from “known” fieldhelpers or from fellas I know are very particular about their locality stock and trust they have looked into it and are using their better judgement. There’s no way to be completely sure, but I don’t like to buy from adds that are from people I’ve never heard of. I guess I just don’t trust people easily.
Locality Cal kings are not nearly as popular as non locality kings. Rarely do you find locality kings for sale, with Scissors crossing being the exception. Listed here are some of the more popular localities.
A locality has a broad definition when it comes to snakes and how the individual herper defines it. A locale can be narrowed down to a particular field or road. Sometimes an entire county is described as a locale, but normally these are not very large counties. Often times, the reason why counties are used as a locale by herpers, is because they don’t want to be very specific about the location. Most herpers keep their spots a secret the best they can. I see nothing wrong with labeling large areas as locales as long as the person labeling it knows for a fact the kings in that entire area are basically all the same or their range of variation in color and pattern is the same.
IMO, a locality king isn’t locality just because someone says it is, you have to trust that source. I see a lot of people asking what locality is this Rosy boa, like that’s all it takes to identify it. The motivation to lie or accept someone’s opinion (ID) is there, because the snake is worth more if it’s locality or looked at something better than generic. I think the Rosy boa community has a bigger problem with this, but I think it also exists in this community as well. How particular are you guys about your locality kings? Me, I’ll make exceptions for the Scissors wide striped, because of their looks, but I have no faith in that line being locality pure any more. But for everything else, I’m pretty picky about who I get my stuff from. I like to get f1 stock from “known” fieldhelpers or from fellas I know are very particular about their locality stock and trust they have looked into it and are using their better judgement. There’s no way to be completely sure, but I don’t like to buy from adds that are from people I’ve never heard of. I guess I just don’t trust people easily.
Locality Cal kings are not nearly as popular as non locality kings. Rarely do you find locality kings for sale, with Scissors crossing being the exception. Listed here are some of the more popular localities.
A pair of 29 Palms produced by Randy Wright.
Offspring from the above pair.
These next two photos are a pair of 29 Palms produced by Glenn Lewis.
Male is wild caught, female is f1
Produced from the pair above.
This pair was given to me by GP and produced from the pair above.
Wild caught
Wild caught
Found June 2015 outside someones house in the night.
All I really know about this locality is Randy Limburg collected a banded at this locale along with one striped. I'm assuming striped are not very common here. Highway morphs have been found on Sage road, which is not very far from Aguanga.
A wild caught Aguanga Cal king found by Brian Hinds
A DOR I found at Aguanga. I pass this locale every time I go to Scissors.
2016 Clutch
An odd dwarf. These types normally die. Its like they are half the snake, because
they have half the band count, which is determined in the dot count.
they have half the band count, which is determined in the dot count.
2017 Clutch
This is a natural occurring morph found in Eastern Kern County California in the vicinity of California City. This morph is found along side with normal banded kings. Good examples will have nearly all of their dark bands ending around the lower side. In between those dark bands will be a small dark blotch on the lower side and touching the belly. In many locales you can find some specimens that will have a few bands, maybe only on one side, that end at the belly and have a blotch in between them that starts on the lower side and goes onto the belly. This is basically just the dark band becoming offset on the lower sides. In this area around CA City, it is more common and some individuals may have every band offset. Normally just behind the neck is where the bands offset at the highest point on the upper sides. If the bands continue to offset, you will notice the point where they offset gets lower on the sides the closer they get to the tail. What’s interesting about that is you see the same thing with SD striped kings and Newports that have high spotting, side striping or other markings on the sides. Those markings start off high right after the neck and gradually move down lower on the sides the closer to the tail they get.
This morph is generally found in the desert, but some individuals do not have the classic desert phase coloring. Sometimes the white is more of a cream or yellowish color. Most specimens I’ve seen do appear to be desert phase. One individual that was found almost looked like a reverse large dotted king. It also looked very similar, if not identical, to some Cal king X Desert king intergrades in SW Arizona. The genetics of this trait are unknown. This morph was the main ingredient in making the majority of 50/50’s in this hobby. We do know Frank Retes used an individual of this morph to help start the high whites and banana morphs. These are all wild caught unless stated otherwise.
This morph is generally found in the desert, but some individuals do not have the classic desert phase coloring. Sometimes the white is more of a cream or yellowish color. Most specimens I’ve seen do appear to be desert phase. One individual that was found almost looked like a reverse large dotted king. It also looked very similar, if not identical, to some Cal king X Desert king intergrades in SW Arizona. The genetics of this trait are unknown. This morph was the main ingredient in making the majority of 50/50’s in this hobby. We do know Frank Retes used an individual of this morph to help start the high whites and banana morphs. These are all wild caught unless stated otherwise.
This speciman may have been hypomelanistic. This specimen also shows how much yellow is present on some specimens.
A breeding pair of Jawbone 50/50's.
An extremely nice individual.
Same individual as the one above. Notice the natural color change from black
to brown.
to brown.
An old slide of Frank's "California City king" breeding with a Whittier mud found
near LAX.
near LAX.
These next individuals were produced by John L.
This individual produced by John is also sporting the high band count.
Around 1988, construction workers employed by long time Cal king enthusiast Gary Keasler, moved a piece of liner at their job site located near Avenue 52 and Washington street in La Quinta California. Underneath they found a young black and white broken striped kingsnake. They called Gary, knowing he was into snakes, and described to him what they had found. Gary said, do you mean rings that wrap around the snake? They said no, stripes running lengthwise. About 20 minutes later, Gary arrived at the construction site to see the snake for himself and sure enough it was a broken striped CA kingsnake. Gary took the snake and later acquired a wild caught banded male from the area of Avenue 52 and Monroe Street. Those became the founding parents for this line.
Most La Quinta striped kings I’ve seen are identical in pattern to Coastal phase striped kings from Western Riverside County. There can be spotting on the sides, or solid white areas with dark aberrant markings, usually accompanied by a 2nd and 3rd stripe on the upper sides that can be solid to spotted looking. The main stripe that runs down the back is usually quite broken and may contain dots. Some individuals have a highway morph pattern.
I questioned the validity of the La Quinta striped find when I first heard about it, and others have as well. The San Jacinto Mountains lay between La Quinta and the eastern part of the SD striped kingsnake’s range. I have not heard of any reports of striped kingsnakes being found in the San Jacinto Mountains. Maybe their distribution there is spotty or maybe they occurred there at one time. The lack of field herping in those mountains along with the possibility of the striped morph being uncommon there, could be another reason why they have not been reported there. I originally felt maybe the original La Quinta striped king was an escaped or released pet. Now that I’ve heard the story first hand by Gary Keasler and have been able to examine the details, I lean toward the original animal being a legitimate natural occurring specimen for a number of reasons. If you look at the area it was found now, it is heavily developed, but in Google earth’s 1996 satellite images of the area, it was very undeveloped and I’m sure even more so in 1988. The pattern is consistent with Western Riverside County kings. After several years, the original specimen developed a yellowish and cream coloration to the white areas. This is known to happen to desert phase kings that are just outside the range of the coastal phase. La Quinta happens to be located near the eastern part of the coastal phase range.
This locality line is not common in collections, because most keepers are more into the designer morphs. It is yet another strain that is destined to be lost if not enough keepers keep it going.
Most La Quinta striped kings I’ve seen are identical in pattern to Coastal phase striped kings from Western Riverside County. There can be spotting on the sides, or solid white areas with dark aberrant markings, usually accompanied by a 2nd and 3rd stripe on the upper sides that can be solid to spotted looking. The main stripe that runs down the back is usually quite broken and may contain dots. Some individuals have a highway morph pattern.
I questioned the validity of the La Quinta striped find when I first heard about it, and others have as well. The San Jacinto Mountains lay between La Quinta and the eastern part of the SD striped kingsnake’s range. I have not heard of any reports of striped kingsnakes being found in the San Jacinto Mountains. Maybe their distribution there is spotty or maybe they occurred there at one time. The lack of field herping in those mountains along with the possibility of the striped morph being uncommon there, could be another reason why they have not been reported there. I originally felt maybe the original La Quinta striped king was an escaped or released pet. Now that I’ve heard the story first hand by Gary Keasler and have been able to examine the details, I lean toward the original animal being a legitimate natural occurring specimen for a number of reasons. If you look at the area it was found now, it is heavily developed, but in Google earth’s 1996 satellite images of the area, it was very undeveloped and I’m sure even more so in 1988. The pattern is consistent with Western Riverside County kings. After several years, the original specimen developed a yellowish and cream coloration to the white areas. This is known to happen to desert phase kings that are just outside the range of the coastal phase. La Quinta happens to be located near the eastern part of the coastal phase range.
This locality line is not common in collections, because most keepers are more into the designer morphs. It is yet another strain that is destined to be lost if not enough keepers keep it going.
I visited Gary's house and got a picture of the original La Quinta king. It has since developed a yellowish color into adulthood, which is common for desert phase kings near the coastal zone like this locality is. This is the only photo I've seen of this snake anywhere.
In 2016 this Vanishing striped individual was hatched from the original male.
This is the first time I've seen this from the SD striped trait.
This is the first time I've seen this from the SD striped trait.
This individual has an almost mosaic pattern and is a sibling of the vanishing
stripe specimen above.
stripe specimen above.
In 2017, Peter Jolles hatched two perfectly patterned Reversed striped Cal kings
from his La Quinta kings. This is definitely the most exciting thing I've seen in Cal
kings since the Joker morph. Now we know where the Reverse striped originates,
from the SD striped gene. I think these are still able to come from Newports as well.
from his La Quinta kings. This is definitely the most exciting thing I've seen in Cal
kings since the Joker morph. Now we know where the Reverse striped originates,
from the SD striped gene. I think these are still able to come from Newports as well.
This locality, for the most part, has been lost to development. The first photo here was taken in the late 1980's. For the first time in 2018, wide striped and 50/50 banded individuals have become available. These are the best examples this locality could ever produce and definitely not the norm for this area. Normal striped and normal banded Coastal phase kings are what you could expect here, but some nice aberrants come from this area too. True locality Palomar ghosts are in the works and should be available in the next few years.
This locality is located in Anza Borrego where hwy 78 meets S2. Desert phase SD striped kings can be found in a few more areas, but they have been collected from this locale and have become very popular in the pet trade. Not all Scissors Crossing kings are 100% locality. Some people have mislabeled black and white striped kings as Scissors Crossing kings, because they match the description. The dorsal stripe can be white to off white with a normally cream or yellowish belly that typically has very little to no dark pigment. Juveniles are normally black, then lighten up to various shades of dark brown as adults. Individuals from this line have been used to create wide striped with the help of selective breeding. (See the Scissors crossing wide striped morph) Striped kings are rarely found at this locale. In captivity, banded specimens are rarely kept.
One of two male banded kings I found at Scissors on June 5th 2016.
My first Scissors Crossing striper I found June 4th 2016.
Some random wide stripes thrown from the pair above. This didn't happen from
breedings that took place before and after this.
breedings that took place before and after this.
Here's a couple of photos taken by Tim Turmezie of a couple of aberrants that
turned up during his Scissors crossing striped breedings. Photos provided by
David Flanagan
turned up during his Scissors crossing striped breedings. Photos provided by
David Flanagan
Long time locality Cal king breeder Shannon Brown provided me with some history on this morph. In 1992 Shannon visited Tim Turmezie’s home in Tehachapi. At that time Tim was already working with locale Scissors crossing kings in hopes of widening their stripes through selective breeding. Shannon believes Tim had f2 or f3’s at the time. Tim’s stock had been collected by Limburgh and Keasler in the early to mid 80’s. Tim said through selective breeding, he was producing offspring that were one scale wider in the stripe every generation. One generation is basically every 3 years. Shannon lost touch with him for several years until 2007 when he went back to Tim’s house and bought some of his breeders. At that time he had f5 and f6 animals that were, in Shannon’s words, insane.
I have found that in nature some Cal kings will be born with slightly wider than normal striping. It’s these individuals that are used for selective breeding to get really wide stripes. As an example Linda Wolfe bred a pair of Scissors striped kings for three years. On the third year she got a few in the clutch that had stripes that were wider than normal.
For some odd reason, these are not very popular in the pet trade. Its hard to find breeders that sell these. U.K. Cal king breeder Neil little works with this line and has produced some really nice wide striped and aberrant wide striped morphs.
I have found that in nature some Cal kings will be born with slightly wider than normal striping. It’s these individuals that are used for selective breeding to get really wide stripes. As an example Linda Wolfe bred a pair of Scissors striped kings for three years. On the third year she got a few in the clutch that had stripes that were wider than normal.
For some odd reason, these are not very popular in the pet trade. Its hard to find breeders that sell these. U.K. Cal king breeder Neil little works with this line and has produced some really nice wide striped and aberrant wide striped morphs.
The babies above were produced from this pair below. Every once in a while,
he would get a banded.
he would get a banded.
A banded produced from the pair above.
Another very nice wide striped chocolate Cal king from Tim Turmezie. David
informed me he has bought several from Tim and some kings do turn a
chocolate brown. This stock originated at Scissors Crossing where chocolate
and very dark brown kings are the normal phenotype.
informed me he has bought several from Tim and some kings do turn a
chocolate brown. This stock originated at Scissors Crossing where chocolate
and very dark brown kings are the normal phenotype.
Don Shores' Scissors wide stripe line.
A nice aberrant produced by Neil's wide striped line.
Another aberrant from Neil Little. This one is siblings with the aberrant above.
quotes from the ks forum
"Just like the Wide Stripers from Don Shores don't breed true but can produce some nice offspring!"
"I bred 2 wide stripers this year and they produced one true wide stripe out of six eggs."
"I bred 2 wide stripers this year and they produced one true wide stripe out of six eggs."