This section is dedicated to the various morphs that can or have been found in the wild.
Whitewater hypo
Lemke hypo Bell hypo Merker hypo Sharp hypo Brant hypo Other hypos Mocha hypo Hypo imitations Corwin hypo Blue eyed blond Lavender |
Albino
Paradox albino Hybino Scaleless Grease king Sutter Co hypermelanistic Yuma morph Tortuga hypermelanistic Conjuncta Eiseni morph Delta morph |
Golden brown
Speckled aberrant delta Mendota ghost Striped nitida Aberrant Nitida Banded Nitida Chocolate Nitida Patternless Nitida Banded Whittier Whittier mud Whittier unicolor Hypermelanistic imitations |
One thing about the California kingsnake that has made it very popular with herp enthusiasts is its polymorphism, meaning it can be found in many color and pattern combinations. Many of these morphs are genetically inherited. Some are the product of selective breeding, and some naturally occur in the wild. In order to truly understand captive produced or man made morphs from selective breeding, you must first learn about natural occurring morphs. This section will deal with natural occurring morphs, which will lay the foundation of understanding how many of the captive produced morphs came to be in this hobby. The naming of morphs has not been very well organized. Many people like to make up their own names. Some names have stuck, while others haven’t. Some morphs have more than one name and sometimes one name is used for two different morphs. I’ve chose what I feel are the most well established names for each morph and mention what other names they may go by. If you are looking for the name of a particular morph you just heard about and can’t find the name here, chances are you’ve come across one of those made up names that are not established.
Hypomelanism is a recessive trait that visually reduces melanin or dark pigment usually by about 50%. The variation of brown in normal Cal kings, is also noticeable in hypomelanistic specimens. In other words, not all hypos from a particular strain are going to be the exact shade of brown. Depending on what shade of brown a specimen would normally be, will determine how light a hypo is. Generally, hypos are light brown, but some may be medium brown if their normal form is very dark brown or black. This variation can often cause confusion as to what's hypo and what's not hypo. A hypomelanistic king will have a lighter head than a normal king that is about the same shade of brown. The pupils can be black or dark red. In nature, hypos are rare, but seem to turn up more commonly in Sacramento and El Dorado Counties in Northern California. In captivity there are several different strains and it is unknown at this time if they are compatible or not. Lots of specimens are mislabeled hypos due to their coloration. Some specimens that actually are hypo have lost their identity as to what particular strain they belong to. If you suspect you might have a hypomelanistic specimen, you must prove your suspicions through test breeding. This involves breeding your suspected hypo to the darkest brown kingsnake you can find. If the babies come out very dark brown or black, there's a good chance your snake is hypo. If the babies come out different shades of brown, hold back the darkest pair to breed together, or hold back the darkest specimen you can eventually breed back to your suspected hypo. When breeding these siblings together, or one back to its suspected hypo parent, you should get a percentage of babies that are noticeably lighter than the rest and lighter than their heterozygous parents when they were the same age. This will prove if you have a hypo or not. If you get a small clutch of eggs, its always possible the odds will not be in your favor and you will not see the recessive hypo gene expressed. This can also happen with normal sized clutches of eggs, but that is rare. If this is the case, you may have to go for a second clutch if possible or wait to pair them again the following year to hit the odds. I mention this here, because many specimens are mislabeled hypomelanistic.
I was fortunate enough to find my very own hypo in the wild that I coined the Whitewater hypo, but it wasn't until a few days later that I came to the conclusion it might be a hypo. In 2005 I frequently visited the very well known Whitewater Rd. in Riverside County CA. This area is at the very edge of the desert and contains more species than what I could find near my home closer to the coast. Throughout summer I had found many snakes while night driving this road and other near by roads. In August snake activity almost came to a stand still, but picked up in early September when hatchlings started emerging. At this time very few adults were found. On September 26-2005 it rained hard in the LA area. I knew this would be favorable for night driving Whitewater if it had rained there just as much, so that evening I left home to try my luck at Whitewater. When I got there, it was obvious it had rained good in that area. In several areas, rocks and dirt had washed out onto the road. I found several snakes that night including a Rosy boa and a baby desert phase California kingsnake. The night was going great and as I was driving along I spotted a CA kingsnake near the edge of the road. I didn't notice it until I was right up on it, so I slammed on my brakes, passing it a little, and ran back with my flashlight and camera. It was a yearling about 18" and it didn't move, so I took a picture of it to get the in situ shot and when the camera flashed I noticed this little king was brown instead of the normal black for this size. It had a nice pattern too for that area, so I decided to take it with me. I continued night driving and couldn't get my mind off it. I would stop about every half hour and just look at it wondering why it was so light compared to every small king I've ever found there. My initial thought was someone had released a light brown kingsnake from another area out there and this was one of its offspring. A few days later it finally dawned on me this king could possibly be hypomelanistic. I then posted pictures of it on Field Herp Forum asking for other herpers opinions. Some thought it could be hypo and others didn't think it was. It wasn't until 2013 when my friend Byron proved it to be a recessive trait when he hatched a clutch of eggs from a trio of hets I gave him in 2010. My clutch hatched a short time later showing the same results. Juveniles are dark brown and lighten to a medium or light medium brown. The iris is normally grey and the pupils black. The tongue is dark red instead of the normal black. Normal Cal kings from this population are a dark medium brown to almost black. The light bands can be white to a cream or yellowish color, but most are more of a whitish color. Some individuals can develop a yellowish tint to their ventrals and lower sides as they mature. Hatchlings are black, then lighten up to their adult colors as they mature.
My 2013 clutch of Whitewater hets and hypos.
This photo was taken in 2005 of the yearling wc hypo and a DOR I found on
Whitewater. Notice the variation in band count and white to yellowish.
Whitewater. Notice the variation in band count and white to yellowish.
A picture of the wc yearling under the sun.
A head shot taken as a young adult.
The gravid hypo adult. She does appear lighter due to the reflection of the
overcast sky. Always be aware kings can look a lighter shade of brown than
they actually are in pictures. Pictures can be very deceiving.
overcast sky. Always be aware kings can look a lighter shade of brown than
they actually are in pictures. Pictures can be very deceiving.
Jerry acquired this F1 locality king from Nevada in 2016 as a hatchling. Jerry suspects its hypo and I do too. It will have to be proven out, but I'm pretty sure it is. This is only the second desert phase hypo to come along. The parents were wild caught, but were released later.
Hypo
Normal
Jeff Serrao is the only breeder I know working with this morph. He bought his original hypo from the late Lloyd Lemke back in the late 80’s. Lloyd had at least two lines. He bred one from each line together and they proved to not be compatible. Lloyd also said there was the possibility of a third line in his collection. This is a standard non locality Coastal phase hypo with black pupils.
In the late 80’s, Jeff Serrao purchased a pair of these hypos from Mark Bell. Mark received them from another breeder, but it is unknown where that breeder got them from. Around 1991, Jeff bred a Bell hypo to his Lemke hypo and the genes proved to be incompatible. This morph is pretty much identical to the Lemke hypo in color and also has black pupils.
A het
2 adult males have been found in the wild by John Lauermann. One looks like an older faded adult but might still be hypo, and the other one definitely looks hypo. I've seen it in person and its a little lighter than my Whitewater hypos. The gene is about 2-3 years from being proven as of 2017.
One particular strain with a well detailed history is the Merker hypo, also known as the El Dorado Blond. Although Gerold Merker was not the first person to discover this strain, he was one of the herpers most responsible for bringing it into captivity and distributing it. Here's some history on this morph described by Eric Loza: "The story begins in the early 90's with a commercial collector named Danny Dorge, who is no longer alive. He was a very succesful collector of zonata and cal kings at the time, having been one of the few guys to collect Davis Black bellies and anerythristic multicinta. Anyway, he had captured a really freaky looking cal king from western El Dorado County and shown it to Merker. That got the gears turning and G. subsequently flipped his own wierd looking adult in the early 90's. It was a big male that later was featured on the cover of one of the trade magazines. Merker and I decided to make a project of it and try to see what was really going on in El Dorado about 1994. During 1994 and 1995, we beat the daylights out of the foothills and probably caught about 200 animals during that period. Most of these were pretty "vanilla" looking animals; dark brown with cream bands. Some were lighter, tan with cream or yellow bands. Rarely, though, we would get wierd one. I remember vividly flipping my first real hypo in May of 1994. It was a pipsqueak male and he looked like he was made of wax. Pale tan and cream with red eyes and blue irises. He went on to sire most of the Blondes I produced when I was doing that. There hasn't been a season as good as '94 and '95 since and having most of the good habitat paved over for a Walmart or cineplex hasn't helped, so I don't know if you can catch one anymore.
That being said, there are a couple of things going on genetically with these animals and I don't know that's a simple recessive trait. The phenotype itself seems to be a form of tyrosinase-positive amelanism. However, there seems to be a sex-linked factor involved, as well. Only males get that feaky speckled look to them. Females are light, but it's a uniform color. When I bred my red-eyed male to a red-eyed female, maybe 25% of the babies would be the "classical" looking hypo. The rest: Normal looking with black eyes. So, who knows? I never was interested in out crossing them, so can't comment on that.
While genetic traits like amelanism, hypomelanism, striping, pattern aberrancy, etc. are well-documented in coastal So Cal populations, the unique thing about the El Dorado County animals is that they are an inland population and disjunct from anything vaguely close to them. It would not surprise me to get all normal looking babies if somebody were to cross one of them with a coastal hypo, in other words. Probably a similar phenotype but different genetic trait."
That being said, there are a couple of things going on genetically with these animals and I don't know that's a simple recessive trait. The phenotype itself seems to be a form of tyrosinase-positive amelanism. However, there seems to be a sex-linked factor involved, as well. Only males get that feaky speckled look to them. Females are light, but it's a uniform color. When I bred my red-eyed male to a red-eyed female, maybe 25% of the babies would be the "classical" looking hypo. The rest: Normal looking with black eyes. So, who knows? I never was interested in out crossing them, so can't comment on that.
While genetic traits like amelanism, hypomelanism, striping, pattern aberrancy, etc. are well-documented in coastal So Cal populations, the unique thing about the El Dorado County animals is that they are an inland population and disjunct from anything vaguely close to them. It would not surprise me to get all normal looking babies if somebody were to cross one of them with a coastal hypo, in other words. Probably a similar phenotype but different genetic trait."
A juvenile.
A juvenile het and hypo.
By Erik Loza: "Both parents were "homozygous" for the El Dorado blue-eyed
blonde trait, yet only two of the babies (the much lighter ones) have red eyes.
You tell me...."
blonde trait, yet only two of the babies (the much lighter ones) have red eyes.
You tell me...."
A quote from Zach on KS: "Here are pics of the pair of hypos I just picked up
from Gerald Merker. He was an awesome guy to deal with. The strange yellow
color doesn't come through well in the pics, they almost have a greenish tinge
to them."
from Gerald Merker. He was an awesome guy to deal with. The strange yellow
color doesn't come through well in the pics, they almost have a greenish tinge
to them."
Adult
Aaron bout this hypo strait from Gerald Merker when he was still selling them.
Aaron has/had a pair and said he couldn't see the red/ruby color in the eyes.
A quote from Aaron: "On my monitor it looks bone white but that is not the
case. It's actually kind of a weird off yellow color that almost looks greenish."
Aaron has/had a pair and said he couldn't see the red/ruby color in the eyes.
A quote from Aaron: "On my monitor it looks bone white but that is not the
case. It's actually kind of a weird off yellow color that almost looks greenish."
Quoted from Erik Loza's post on KS: "This attached photo is of the prettiest
El Dorado Blonde I ever collected, May, '95, beneath a piece of plywood.
Please notice the blue eyes. Only males get the freaky speckled look.
Females will have the blue eyes, light color, and red irises, but the weird
mottling seems to be a gender-related thing."
El Dorado Blonde I ever collected, May, '95, beneath a piece of plywood.
Please notice the blue eyes. Only males get the freaky speckled look.
Females will have the blue eyes, light color, and red irises, but the weird
mottling seems to be a gender-related thing."
Some scanned photos of the original male that developed this granite like pattern.
Here's an individual from Yolo Co. that might be expressing the same
hypomelanistic gene.
hypomelanistic gene.
In 2011, Chris Sharp found an adult male hypomelanistic morph in Madera County. Chris describes the pupils as ruby red in good lighting, but tough to see. He also collected a banded female the same year. They were bred the following year and the normal banded proved to be het for both Eiseni and hypomelanism. The hypo proved to be het for Eiseni! With this pair, Chris was able to produce a hypomelanistic Eiseni morph. Chris also states that so far the males are lighter than the females. These may actually be the same gene as the Merker hypos.
This morph was first produced at Reptiles by Mack from a pair of desert phase Cal kings. Later Bill Brant at the Gourmet Rodent purchased them and worked with this line to make them available. These have been marketed as anerythristic Cal kings. Several other breeders and my self don't believe this is an anerythristic morph, so I have decided to keep it simple and call it the Brant hypo. As juveniles they are very dark brown to a medium brown, but lighten up considerably into adulthood. They lighten up much more than any hypo I know of. Males are said to lighten up more than females. The iris is very dark and the pupils are a dark ruby red. They also exhibit a gray sheen over their scales like a hypo Pueblan Milk snake. Many of the early specimens have random light colored speckling in the dark areas.
This post was taken from kingsnake.com. I don't get how the hets had yellow, when this morph popped out of desert phase kings.
A newly hatched Brant hypo by Tom Stevens.
A very dark individual.
This individual has an aberrant SD striped pattern.
The Brant hypo has made it as far as China and is being sold as an anerythristic
Cal king.
Cal king.
3 juvenile hypos in comparison. Top left is a Brant hypo. Bottom left is a Whitewater hypo. The light brown one in the middle is a Corwin hypo and the far right one is normal.
There are lots of kings labeled hypo, that may not be hypo. The two individuals below are described as a normal and a hypo. The hypo probably is a true recessive hypo, but the line it came from is unknown. Unfortunately there are a lot of Cal kings sold as hypo with no history on the morph.
This was labeled a San Diego hypo.
Here's a nice pair of hypos from Reptmart. Its unclear what line these belong to.
This king was purchased as a blue eyed blond morph, but is obviously not one.
The Merker hypo was also known as a BEB at one time, so I'm thinking this could
possibly be a Merker hypo.
The Merker hypo was also known as a BEB at one time, so I'm thinking this could
possibly be a Merker hypo.
A possible hypo from Merced County CA. Notice the light centered scales, which is really odd. They are not consistent with the speckling seen on the speckled morph.
From Northern Los Angeles Co. John is in the process of proving this hypo out.
Along the coast in Southern California you may occasionally find a very light colored adult king. These seem to be most common in Carlsbad. Maybe they are just really faded or maybe they are hypomelanistic. Whatever they are, they are very unique. This first individual was said to have lightened up to this color after 4 years.
From the hills of Carlsbad.
Often there are double and triple hets that will appear hypo. This could be just a couple members of the clutch or the entire clutch. This doesn't seem to happen to single heterozygous snakes. This is another reason why non proven hypo looking kings must be proven to be called hypo.
Here is a group of triple hets. These are het for hypermelanistic, lavender, and albino. Any time you have hets that include albino and lavender, its possible they will display this lavender/hypo type coloring. Usually, hets will look completely normal. the nitida pattern is also being expressed in two of these individuals. Hypermelanism expressed in multi hets is discussed at the bottom of the page. These are from a Blizzard X Lavender crossing.
Here are some more unusual hets that look hypo. Kerby says these were the only
kings in their clutch that looked hypo, and he said these hypo looking hets are
usually males. This first one is double het (Ghost X Lavender).
kings in their clutch that looked hypo, and he said these hypo looking hets are
usually males. This first one is double het (Ghost X Lavender).
Double het (Lavender X Hypo)
Its unsure exactly what this is. Could be a hypo looking double het or some
kind of hypo. Either way, its very interesting looking. The eyes are a deep
ruby red.
kind of hypo. Either way, its very interesting looking. The eyes are a deep
ruby red.
These are double het Palomar ghost X Blue eyed blond. They are the lightest
colored multi hets I've seen.
colored multi hets I've seen.
This is a possible triple het produced by a pair of triple hets (Palomar ghost,
Corwin hypo and albino).
Corwin hypo and albino).
This morph has historically been known as the John Ruiz lavender. This morph is darker than the typical lavender albino. Juveniles are dark lavender to light brown and end up a light brown as adults with dark ruby red eyes. This strain seems to be very rare in captivity. In fact, Kerby Ross is the only breeder I know working with this morph. Over the years he’s marketed this form as a hypo and that name has become pretty well established, so I decided to rename it after the breeder that was responsible for bringing this morph into captivity.
In the late 70's, reptile enthusiast Bill Corwin had a friend that wanted to see some snake eggs hatch. Bill decided to give him a clutch of eggs from a pair of Cal kings he found in the Agoura Hills area, but asked to get pick of the litter. His friend agreed and took the eggs. One day Bill gets a call and his friend notifies him the clutch is starting to hatch and one of the kings that's piping is a lot lighter than the others. Bill didn't think much of it until his friend told him it had red eyes. Two hypos ended up hatching from that clutch and both were males. Bill kept one and his friend kept the other. Later down the line, Bill's friends sold his hypo to John Ruiz, who in turn made this morph available to the public.
On a side note, Bill Corwin has seen pictures of this strain and believes they are darker than the ones he had in the 70's. Possibly they have darkened up from all the years of out crossing that has taken place since the 70's. Maybe the identity of the JD lavender albino and Corwin hypo was switched somewhere down the line. I know of one breeder that believes that’s the case. Because the majority of people I’ve talked to believe the history is right on these two morphs, I decided to go with it.
In the late 70's, reptile enthusiast Bill Corwin had a friend that wanted to see some snake eggs hatch. Bill decided to give him a clutch of eggs from a pair of Cal kings he found in the Agoura Hills area, but asked to get pick of the litter. His friend agreed and took the eggs. One day Bill gets a call and his friend notifies him the clutch is starting to hatch and one of the kings that's piping is a lot lighter than the others. Bill didn't think much of it until his friend told him it had red eyes. Two hypos ended up hatching from that clutch and both were males. Bill kept one and his friend kept the other. Later down the line, Bill's friends sold his hypo to John Ruiz, who in turn made this morph available to the public.
On a side note, Bill Corwin has seen pictures of this strain and believes they are darker than the ones he had in the 70's. Possibly they have darkened up from all the years of out crossing that has taken place since the 70's. Maybe the identity of the JD lavender albino and Corwin hypo was switched somewhere down the line. I know of one breeder that believes that’s the case. Because the majority of people I’ve talked to believe the history is right on these two morphs, I decided to go with it.
Kerby bought this as the John Ruiz lavender strain. He felt they appeared more hypomelanistic, so he started marketing them as that and it has caught on. No one I know calls this the John Ruiz lavender anymore, so I decided to name this morph the Corwin hypo after the original collector.
Here's what Kerby had to say on KS: "I picked this male up at the Tucson Reptile Show from a guy who bought this as a baby from Great Valley Serpetarium (Bill Gillingham). It is an adult now. I went to GVS's web site and there is a picture of one JUST LIKE THIS ONE and he calls them Lavender. I also called and talked to Bill and he calls them Lavender, and at one time had both Lavender strains (JR & JD). He said he bred them together and got normals that were double hets and bred them back and produced some cals that displayed both Lavender strains at the same time. Now I have a pair of Lavenders that look NOTHING like this. A friend of mine said that the pictured cal king here looks like an older Blue-Eyed Blonde???? (Kerby is referring to the picture of the adult below) I believe there are a lot more hypomelanistic genes out there that do not pair up."
Here's what Kerby had to say on KS: "I picked this male up at the Tucson Reptile Show from a guy who bought this as a baby from Great Valley Serpetarium (Bill Gillingham). It is an adult now. I went to GVS's web site and there is a picture of one JUST LIKE THIS ONE and he calls them Lavender. I also called and talked to Bill and he calls them Lavender, and at one time had both Lavender strains (JR & JD). He said he bred them together and got normals that were double hets and bred them back and produced some cals that displayed both Lavender strains at the same time. Now I have a pair of Lavenders that look NOTHING like this. A friend of mine said that the pictured cal king here looks like an older Blue-Eyed Blonde???? (Kerby is referring to the picture of the adult below) I believe there are a lot more hypomelanistic genes out there that do not pair up."
This was being sold as a lavender from Reptile Rapture. Its probably a Corwin
hypo. This is just one example of why changing names of a morph is not a
good idea. This morph will still carry the lavender name depending on who you
get it from. I think the ID of this strain (JR strain) has mostly been lost, so now
you have these and the JD lavender strain just being labeled as lavenders.
hypo. This is just one example of why changing names of a morph is not a
good idea. This morph will still carry the lavender name depending on who you
get it from. I think the ID of this strain (JR strain) has mostly been lost, so now
you have these and the JD lavender strain just being labeled as lavenders.
Kerby's original male.
The tyrosinase positive albino or T+ albino for short, is considered by most a form of albinism. It differs from a normal albino, which can be referred to as a T- albino, by producing a very small amount of melanin. This causes the eyes to be a darker shade of red than a regular albino. The term hypomelanistic means reduced pigment and that’s exactly what a T+ albino is. Because these two terms are in use, I decided to continue using them and categorize certain morphs under them, that I felt was more fitting. For example, the lavender albino, which still looks very much like an albino as a juvenile and adult, is labeled as a T+ albino. The Corwin hypo looks a lot like a lavender albino as a juvenile, but changes to a light medium brown as an adult, so I classified it as a hypomelanistic morph.
This morph is a T+ albino and very similar in coloration to the Lavender albino. Juveniles start out with solid ruby red eyes. As they mature into adulthood, the iris of the eye develops a bluish coloration. Most adults are very light brown and not as lavender looking as the Lavender albino. They can still be confused for the same morph though, as there is always individual variation. Tim Gebhard of Vivid Reptiles, was responsible for bring this morph into captivity. Here is the story of the Blue eyed blond written by Tim Gebhard.
During mid April, 1991, I collected an unusual California Coastal Kingsnake on the edge of the City of San Marcos, San Diego County near a rural area called the Elfin Forest. This animal was found under a nondescript, weathered piece of cardboard that measured about 20 by 24 inches. The area where this animal was found was literally in the path of an armada of bulldozers intent on scraping the hills bare for yet another huge expanse of tract housing. This snake was so shockingly different from any other coastal kingsnake morph that I had ever seen, that for a moment, I had that weird sense of being disconnected from reality. But it was real—very real indeed. A large, adult, banded male in very good physical condition. Perhaps the light coloration made them show up more but it seemed that this male had an unusually high number of triangular pigmentation scars typical of bite marks from large, southern alligator lizards. After getting over my initial shock I examined the animal in detail. The background color was that of heavily creamed coffee with a silky, light sheen floating on the surface like a sugar glaze. The light bands were solid, relatively broad and of a brilliant lemon yellow. Perhaps most startling feature of all—in the natural light this male had gorgeous, deep blue eyes. The eyes really stood out against the light pigmentation of the head and body. This Elfin Forest male became the founder of the Blue-eyed Blond lines at Vivid Reptiles. He was bred to females collected from the same location, both banded and striped morphs.
The Blue-eyed Blond trait is a form of hypomelanism and genetically performs as a simple recessive gene. In my personal experience, coastal San Diego County has yielded numerous animals with what appear to be hypomelanistic tendencies. The degree of “lightness” varies and seems to become more prevalent as one approaches the coast, especially east of Interstate 5. As light as some of these animals are, they still do not have the Blue-eyed Blond coloration. My breeding of normal, light toned San Diego California Kingsnakes indicated that the “light” phenotypes of these animals did not result from a simple recessive and probably involved multiple genes. Over the years that I was producing Blue-eyed Blonds I found that numerous hobbyists were buying one Blue-eyed Blond and pairing it with light toned coastal kingsnakes or to Lavenders, Ruby Eyed and other light, hypo or partial albino mates. These pairings always produced normal, chocolate colored offspring—much to the dismay of the would be entrepreneurial breeders. The recessive gene responsible for the Blue-eyed Blond is evidently very specific and, to the best of my knowledge, not shared with any other known hypomelanistic coastal kingsnake populations. One interesting feature of note with the Blue-eyed Blonds was that the hatchlings are born with the red eyes typical of an albino. After a few sheds the eyes began to darken, turn silver and, as the animal approached adulthood, they began to acquire the deep, cornflower blue coloration of their namesake. Another unusual feature of the Blue-eyed Blonds is that there is tonal variation in both the background color and the yellow. This indicates that the "Blond Gene" occurs with what would normally be dark colored individuals and light colored individuals and lets some of the tonal intensity show through in the hypo version. Both light and dark California Kingsnakes occur in this area so this is not surprising. The effect of this tonal variation made the animals much more interesting than simple, across the board hypomelanism. In the time since I ceased working with the Blue-eyed Blonds I have had many specimens of supposed Blue-eyed Blonds brought to my attention and most, if not all, have not been Blue-eyed Blonds but simply light toned normals. Apparently the name has been adopted by some collectors to label any California Kingsnakes with lighter than usual coloration. Since I ceased working with this beautiful kingsnake, the Blue-eyed Blonds have become very hard to obtain in the original form. This is surprising as this animal is not difficult breed. I suspect the problem is a result of the indiscriminate use of the name to describe and market animals that are not Blue-eyed Blonds. Hopefully the strain can be rescued before it disappears as so many other unique strains have over the years.
During mid April, 1991, I collected an unusual California Coastal Kingsnake on the edge of the City of San Marcos, San Diego County near a rural area called the Elfin Forest. This animal was found under a nondescript, weathered piece of cardboard that measured about 20 by 24 inches. The area where this animal was found was literally in the path of an armada of bulldozers intent on scraping the hills bare for yet another huge expanse of tract housing. This snake was so shockingly different from any other coastal kingsnake morph that I had ever seen, that for a moment, I had that weird sense of being disconnected from reality. But it was real—very real indeed. A large, adult, banded male in very good physical condition. Perhaps the light coloration made them show up more but it seemed that this male had an unusually high number of triangular pigmentation scars typical of bite marks from large, southern alligator lizards. After getting over my initial shock I examined the animal in detail. The background color was that of heavily creamed coffee with a silky, light sheen floating on the surface like a sugar glaze. The light bands were solid, relatively broad and of a brilliant lemon yellow. Perhaps most startling feature of all—in the natural light this male had gorgeous, deep blue eyes. The eyes really stood out against the light pigmentation of the head and body. This Elfin Forest male became the founder of the Blue-eyed Blond lines at Vivid Reptiles. He was bred to females collected from the same location, both banded and striped morphs.
The Blue-eyed Blond trait is a form of hypomelanism and genetically performs as a simple recessive gene. In my personal experience, coastal San Diego County has yielded numerous animals with what appear to be hypomelanistic tendencies. The degree of “lightness” varies and seems to become more prevalent as one approaches the coast, especially east of Interstate 5. As light as some of these animals are, they still do not have the Blue-eyed Blond coloration. My breeding of normal, light toned San Diego California Kingsnakes indicated that the “light” phenotypes of these animals did not result from a simple recessive and probably involved multiple genes. Over the years that I was producing Blue-eyed Blonds I found that numerous hobbyists were buying one Blue-eyed Blond and pairing it with light toned coastal kingsnakes or to Lavenders, Ruby Eyed and other light, hypo or partial albino mates. These pairings always produced normal, chocolate colored offspring—much to the dismay of the would be entrepreneurial breeders. The recessive gene responsible for the Blue-eyed Blond is evidently very specific and, to the best of my knowledge, not shared with any other known hypomelanistic coastal kingsnake populations. One interesting feature of note with the Blue-eyed Blonds was that the hatchlings are born with the red eyes typical of an albino. After a few sheds the eyes began to darken, turn silver and, as the animal approached adulthood, they began to acquire the deep, cornflower blue coloration of their namesake. Another unusual feature of the Blue-eyed Blonds is that there is tonal variation in both the background color and the yellow. This indicates that the "Blond Gene" occurs with what would normally be dark colored individuals and light colored individuals and lets some of the tonal intensity show through in the hypo version. Both light and dark California Kingsnakes occur in this area so this is not surprising. The effect of this tonal variation made the animals much more interesting than simple, across the board hypomelanism. In the time since I ceased working with the Blue-eyed Blonds I have had many specimens of supposed Blue-eyed Blonds brought to my attention and most, if not all, have not been Blue-eyed Blonds but simply light toned normals. Apparently the name has been adopted by some collectors to label any California Kingsnakes with lighter than usual coloration. Since I ceased working with this beautiful kingsnake, the Blue-eyed Blonds have become very hard to obtain in the original form. This is surprising as this animal is not difficult breed. I suspect the problem is a result of the indiscriminate use of the name to describe and market animals that are not Blue-eyed Blonds. Hopefully the strain can be rescued before it disappears as so many other unique strains have over the years.
Besides being BEB, this snake is expressing 3 traits, banded, Newport and San Diego striped.
A pair of 2.5 year old BEB's.
A Reverse wide stripe BEB.
Here is a quote from Terry: "Here's a 2004 female, Coastal blue-
eyed blonde from Vivid. Seems like a type of hypo gene to me."
eyed blonde from Vivid. Seems like a type of hypo gene to me."
This morph is considered a T+ albino. Its also known as the ruby eyed lavender or historically as the Jack Dyre lavender. These are generally light lavender as babies and adults with ruby red pupils. The iris is normally bluish or gray. They are often hard to distinguish from typical albinos in photographs, unless there is a good shot of the eyes. The history of this morph goes back to 1978 when Jack Dyre received a wild caught albino Cal king from La Habra Heights in Los Angeles County California. That snake was then bred to a John Ruiz line San Diego banded albino Cal king. The outcome of that breeding was all albino offspring. One of those males was raised and bred back to Jacks albino from La Habra Heights. The results included ruby eyed lavenders that ranged from lavender to dark pink. Apparently the La Habra heights albino was also het for T positive albinism or was a double homozygous snake expressing albino and T positive albino at the same time. This has become one of the more popular Cal king morphs. Recently another strain of lavender was found to be incompatible with this strain, but that snake was since sold off. It did not appear to be a blue eyed blond according to Mike Fedzen.
I've heard from two different breeders that they will get dark eyed and light eyed
lavenders in the same clutch. This is possibly the albino and lavender gene
going on here.
lavenders in the same clutch. This is possibly the albino and lavender gene
going on here.
This individual was born considerably darker than its fellow lavender sibling.
Another dark lavender
Another dark lavender
A Lavender Mosaic.
A good photo showing the eye color of a lavender morph.
This lavender is also displaying a form of hypermelanism known as the Long
Beach hypermelanistic morph.
Beach hypermelanistic morph.
Here's a lavender striped aberrant known as a highway morph. From Tower
Hill Serpents.
Hill Serpents.
Another lavender striped aberrant known as the Dotted morph. This one also
from Tower Hill Serpents.
from Tower Hill Serpents.
Here's a good picture showing the variation in color from one individual to another.
At first I thought the darker one might be a BEB or something, but Mike assured
me Randy Wright produced these and bred them for years as lavenders. Mike
has bred them and got all lavenders too.
At first I thought the darker one might be a BEB or something, but Mike assured
me Randy Wright produced these and bred them for years as lavenders. Mike
has bred them and got all lavenders too.
I read somewhere when the lavender gene was introduced into the desert
phase, the lavenders were dark purple. I'm not sure if that's true, but this
Cal king was labeled a lavender and pretty much fits that description.
phase, the lavenders were dark purple. I'm not sure if that's true, but this
Cal king was labeled a lavender and pretty much fits that description.
The lavender above was collected in the Antelope Valley in Southern CA. A
year before, Jorden's dad found a freshly hit DOR in the same area. The adult
female above lived about 10 years in captivity. Jorden collected the individual
bellow from the same area in hopes of securing this gene again. The extreme
amount of yellow pattern on the head of the lavender may suggest there is
San Diego influence.
year before, Jorden's dad found a freshly hit DOR in the same area. The adult
female above lived about 10 years in captivity. Jorden collected the individual
bellow from the same area in hopes of securing this gene again. The extreme
amount of yellow pattern on the head of the lavender may suggest there is
San Diego influence.
The Blue eyed blond, Lavender, and Corwin hypo are very similar in color. Here is a comparison shot for those who need help identifying what they have. Some blue eyed blonds may be a bit closer to lavender than this individual here. In this first photo the lavender is on the left, the blue eyed blond in the middle and the Corwin hypo a striped specimen on the right. The very bottom photo shows a Corwin hypo with a stripe on the tail and a blue eyed blond.
The albino or amelanistic morph completely lacks any melanin (dark pigment) in its skin. The dark colors are replaced by a pinkish lavender color in babies. This color slowly changes to more of a whitish or very light lavender color as it matures. The eyes are pink all their lives. Babies appear translucent and in the right lighting, you can see some of their insides and even prey items they've eaten.
A hand full of albino's have been found in the wild over the years. The earliest story I could find was by Frank Retes. Sometime around 1970 a striped albino was found in Balboa Park in San Diego County. The San Diego Zoo acquired this specimen, but a new curator traded it off for a Mangrove snake and some other type Frank can't recall. Frank then believes this snake was sold to Barney and Jim Brockett. At the time, Frank worked at the Hermosa Beach wild animal and reptile exchange. He met a fella there by the name of Ted Davis. Ted ended up buying that snake for $300, which was unheard of for a native snake at the time. Ted bred it once and produced 3 heterozygous albinos, which are normal colored kings that carry the albino gene. In 1974 Ted gave that albino along with the three hets to Frank. Frank describes the albino as being very old and aging quickly. In 1975 Frank bred that albino to the three hets along with several different morphs he was working with at the time. These morphs included, a 50/50 California City Black and white, recessive hypermelanistic, Newport and San Diego striped, which are among the ones he can recall. This wild caught albino was retired into the hands of Ross Adcock, also of San Diego, here he had it until it died. Frank said it never bred again and lived to approximately 35 years of age.
It is unclear how many wild caught albinos have made it into captivity, but there is definitely more than one strain in herpeteculture today. At least one of those strains is not inherently compatible with the other strains. So, there is always a chance you can breed two albinos together and get all normal colored babies that are double het for both strains. As far as I know, both strains are identical.
A hand full of albino's have been found in the wild over the years. The earliest story I could find was by Frank Retes. Sometime around 1970 a striped albino was found in Balboa Park in San Diego County. The San Diego Zoo acquired this specimen, but a new curator traded it off for a Mangrove snake and some other type Frank can't recall. Frank then believes this snake was sold to Barney and Jim Brockett. At the time, Frank worked at the Hermosa Beach wild animal and reptile exchange. He met a fella there by the name of Ted Davis. Ted ended up buying that snake for $300, which was unheard of for a native snake at the time. Ted bred it once and produced 3 heterozygous albinos, which are normal colored kings that carry the albino gene. In 1974 Ted gave that albino along with the three hets to Frank. Frank describes the albino as being very old and aging quickly. In 1975 Frank bred that albino to the three hets along with several different morphs he was working with at the time. These morphs included, a 50/50 California City Black and white, recessive hypermelanistic, Newport and San Diego striped, which are among the ones he can recall. This wild caught albino was retired into the hands of Ross Adcock, also of San Diego, here he had it until it died. Frank said it never bred again and lived to approximately 35 years of age.
It is unclear how many wild caught albinos have made it into captivity, but there is definitely more than one strain in herpeteculture today. At least one of those strains is not inherently compatible with the other strains. So, there is always a chance you can breed two albinos together and get all normal colored babies that are double het for both strains. As far as I know, both strains are identical.
A high white/almost reversed striped desert phase albino.
A nearly 50/50 desert phase albino.
A high white albino.
A high white/almost revered white albino.
Twins
A coastal phase albino produced in England.
A coastal phase albino.
This albino has a very cool pattern. I've never seen one this broken up. Its like a
reverse zipper pattern.
reverse zipper pattern.
Aberrant Coastal phase albino from Tails'n more.
A reversed dotted coastal phase albino. From West Coast Jungle.
The blotched and wavy striped patterns are rare, but this clutch has a lot of that
going on.
going on.
Here are some adult striped aberrant Cal kings. Notice how the pink skin in
juveniles turns white as adult.
juveniles turns white as adult.
A nice adult albino photo provided by: Joyful Hedgehogs
I've been told this is never passed down in a normal genetic fashion, but more of a random thing. Reece Morgan has offspring he plans to breed back to the paradox to find out for sure. I don't know who this first one belongs too.
Only the 3rd specimen I've seen.
Kerby Ross was never able to test breed this snake, but he believes it was an albino and Corwin hypo double homozygote. This double recessive is often referred to as a hybino. Because there are several different strains of hypo, the strain of hypo will have to be added to the name or given a different name all together. In my opinion, these suspected hybinos will have to be test bred to be 100% sure of what they are. The lighter of the two albinos is believed to be the hybino.
This next group of photos is of the same snake and photographed by Daniel Bryan.
Hypermelanism is an increase of melanin, which is the dark pigment. In California kingsnakes, the increased amount of melanin is visible in the light areas only. It has nothing to do with the shade of brown, like how hypomelanism works. There are two types of hypermelanistic morphs and they are affected by hypermelanism in two different ways.
This is a natural occurring morph found only in Los Angeles and Orange County California. They seem to be more common in the Long Beach area and can be quite uncommon in other areas. They are highly variable with the amount of melanin found in the light bands. Their head patterns are often greatly reduced due to the increased amount of melanin. Some almost have a completely brown or black head. Most individuals have very narrow light bands. They can have a normal checkered belly pattern or a darker than normal checkered belly with the increase of melanin reducing the light pigment. This gradually becomes more noticeable on the last half of the ventrals. I’ve noticed some localities to contain individuals with more melanin than others. Melanin in the light areas increases as the snake matures into adulthood. Some adults will often be two toned in the light bands with yellow on top and white on the lower sides and belly. This same sort of thing shows up on some normal coastal phase kings. Males are almost always darker looking than females. Darker meaning more melanin in the light areas. Females often look more like normal kings except they have a darker than normal head pattern. I suspect these females are hypermelanistic, but it is possible it is a sex linked trait found only in males. There is at least one report of a fully hypermelanistic female. One female that I found as a juvenile had all white bands that gradually turned yellow on the top and upper sides. The belly became tan and developed an orange hue to it, which disappeared by the time the snake was around 6 years old. The light markings on the face have remained white and it has slowly developed a light brown color in the yellow areas, making the light bands on the upper part of the snake, less distinct. This not common, but I have noticed it on other Cal kings found within the range of the Long Beach hypermelanistic morph. Brian Hubbs and Brian Hinds found a Barred morph in Orange County with this same coloring.
An old oil field in Long Beach, which has always been easy to access, has become a very popular spot to local snake hunters. It was set up with boards years ago and through word of mouth has become very well known. L.B hypermelanistic kings are very common there and its where I found my first one in January of 2006. Hypermelanistic kings from this field have been given the name Grease kings, and they are now apart of many collections. Some herpers believe the Grease king is its own distinct morph. There are plans on turning this field into a park in the near future, so it is very likely Grease kings will cease to exist in the wild if their remaining natural habitat is destroyed.
It is hard to say exactly how this trait is inherited, because most breedings that happen in captivity are done with locality animals that all appear hypermelanistic. I would describe this as a dominant trait in most instances.
An old oil field in Long Beach, which has always been easy to access, has become a very popular spot to local snake hunters. It was set up with boards years ago and through word of mouth has become very well known. L.B hypermelanistic kings are very common there and its where I found my first one in January of 2006. Hypermelanistic kings from this field have been given the name Grease kings, and they are now apart of many collections. Some herpers believe the Grease king is its own distinct morph. There are plans on turning this field into a park in the near future, so it is very likely Grease kings will cease to exist in the wild if their remaining natural habitat is destroyed.
It is hard to say exactly how this trait is inherited, because most breedings that happen in captivity are done with locality animals that all appear hypermelanistic. I would describe this as a dominant trait in most instances.
A very dark individual.
A very dark individual found in Covina by Brian Hubbs.
F2 Grease kings along with their 2017 clutch. Normally the darkest Grease
kings will be males, but its odd how dark these two males are compared to
the others. results like this would almost suggest the parents are heterozygous,
but I'm not sure how this gene works.
kings will be males, but its odd how dark these two males are compared to
the others. results like this would almost suggest the parents are heterozygous,
but I'm not sure how this gene works.
In 2007 John Stephenson’s son, Bryce, flipped this interesting juvenile Cal king in Sutter County. It looks very similar to the Long Beach hypermelanistic morph. Another similarity is that its light bands look translucent, that is also often the case with juveniles of the L.B. hypermelanistic morph. John is hoping to find another in the same area.
A similar specimen from Sacramento County. Jerry says this is the only one
he's ever found like it.
he's ever found like it.
A second individual found in Sacramento Co., and this one is really dark.
In 1919 this morph was described by Blanchard as Lampropeltis getulus yumensis, The Desert Milk Snake. It is now considered a hypermelanistic morph of the California kingsnake, but some feel its an intergrade with the Mexican Black kingsnake. Since MBK’s have a Desert kingsnake pattern as juveniles, it seems like the pattern on this morph should be affected as well if it was an intergrade. If you go by the new taxonomic classification of this species, its definitely a morph.
Yuma kings are similar to the Long Beach hypermelanistic kings and can easily be confused for one another without locality data unless the Yuma morph has white bands. They are black to dark brown with yellowish to white thin bands. Head patterns are dark and the light colored scales within the light bands have dark pigment around the edges. This dark pigment often bleeds into the light scales creating a very dark look overall and can increase over time. Some specimens may be almost solid black or dark brown above. Belly patterns can be normal checkered to very dark with the checkered pattern almost completely covered by dark pigment just like the Long Beach hypermelanistic morph. Most if not all the kingsnakes found within the range of the Yuma morph, have a degree of hypermelanism, unlike the L.B. hypermelanistic morph. It is unknown to me whether this is an inheritable trait or not. Most keepers only breed these to each other and they are found in limited numbers in captivity. Their range starts in Imperial Co. California and on East through southern Arizona where it naturally intergrades with the Desert kingsnake and Mexican Black kingsnake in the Southeastern part of the state. It is also found in adjacent Mexico.
Yuma kings are similar to the Long Beach hypermelanistic kings and can easily be confused for one another without locality data unless the Yuma morph has white bands. They are black to dark brown with yellowish to white thin bands. Head patterns are dark and the light colored scales within the light bands have dark pigment around the edges. This dark pigment often bleeds into the light scales creating a very dark look overall and can increase over time. Some specimens may be almost solid black or dark brown above. Belly patterns can be normal checkered to very dark with the checkered pattern almost completely covered by dark pigment just like the Long Beach hypermelanistic morph. Most if not all the kingsnakes found within the range of the Yuma morph, have a degree of hypermelanism, unlike the L.B. hypermelanistic morph. It is unknown to me whether this is an inheritable trait or not. Most keepers only breed these to each other and they are found in limited numbers in captivity. Their range starts in Imperial Co. California and on East through southern Arizona where it naturally intergrades with the Desert kingsnake and Mexican Black kingsnake in the Southeastern part of the state. It is also found in adjacent Mexico.
Yuma AZ
Yuma AZ
Yuma AZ
From the west phoenix area
Imperial County CA
Imperial County CA
From Calipatria, Imperial Co. CA
From the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, Imperial Co.
Holtville, Imperial Co.
Female Holtville
Male Holtville
This morph is identical to a dark Yuma morph, except its found hundreds of miles south on one island.
This morph was described by Cope in 1861 as the San Lucan Milksnake, Lampropeltis boylii conjuncta. Scientists early on noted scalation differences between conjuncta and boylii. Boylii was the scientific name used for the banded CA kingsnake. They also noted conjuncta as being smaller, more slender and to have a more elongated head. This morph exhibits a form of hypermelanism similar, but usually to a lesser degree than the Yuma and Long Beach hypermelanistic morphs. Juveniles start out with no dark pigment in the light bands. Some individuals will have more black on the belly than others. This is caused when the white bands don’t reach the center of the belly. How far they reach toward the center of the belly, determines how dark the belly looks. This is evident in hatchlings and doesn’t appear to be sexed linked. From the few examples I’ve seen, the darker areas of the belly are on the last half of the snake. As the snake matures, dark pigment starts to form on the outer edges of the light scales and the light pigment in the head pattern may slowly reduce. Many individuals have an increased amount of light pattern on their heads, like some San Diego banded kings. This may be due to locality. Specimens from the La Paz area and down south seem to the most white pattern on their heads. Some adults develop a dirty grey or brown look to the upper part of their light bands, which is probably a hypermelanistic effect. Juveniles are black and white and normally end up very dark brown and white as adults. The width of the white bands ranges from normal to very thin. In old literature, this morph has been described as being found from Near La Paz to the very southern tip of Baja CA. It has also been found in Mirraflores, where Nitida occurs. I’m assuming because of that, it may also be found throughout Nitida’s range. Dave Long found a specimen in San Ignacio that looks exactly like a conjuncta. Paul Lynum also reports thin banded kings ranging over a hundred miles north of the formally described conjuncta range. Thin banded kings are associated with hypermelanistic morphs of this type, so I believe these specimens could possibly be the same morph that makes it as far north as San Ignacio. Why they were not recognized as conjuncta is a mystery to me. They share the same main characteristic of dark pigment that develops between the light scales as they mature into adulthood. Their head patterns are similar but a little different. Southern conjuncta that are found from La Paz to San Lucas, have head patterns just like a lot of individuals in San Diego County.
This specimen was found near San Ignacio in 2003 well outside conjunctas range
that was formally described. I believe this falls within conjuncta description and
they range as far north as San Ignacio.
that was formally described. I believe this falls within conjuncta description and
they range as far north as San Ignacio.
These next several photos are captive bred kings described as conjuncta from
Bahia de Los Angeles. As you can see, their head patterns are very similar to
the San Ignacio specimen. In these photos you can clearly see how juveniles
start out with no dark markings between the light scales.
Bahia de Los Angeles. As you can see, their head patterns are very similar to
the San Ignacio specimen. In these photos you can clearly see how juveniles
start out with no dark markings between the light scales.
Some specimens can develop a dirty look to their light bands. This is also
common in Los Angeles County.
common in Los Angeles County.
Some captive bred conjuncta from the 1990's.
These next 5 pictures are preserved museum specimens collected in the late
1800's in San Lucas Baja CA. Their brown is faded due to them being
preserved for so long.
1800's in San Lucas Baja CA. Their brown is faded due to them being
preserved for so long.
This is the classic conjuncta look. These next several specimens were found
near La Paz. I think all these pictures are of 3 conjuncta.
near La Paz. I think all these pictures are of 3 conjuncta.
DOR juvenile conjuncta
Here is probably the nicest conjuncta I've seen. This individual was found near Las Cruces February 2012.
This is a fascinating group of hypermelanistic morphs found in three different populations separated by hundreds of miles, yet they all share the same recessive trait. For simplicity, I’m describing this as a single recessive trait but it may be more complicated than that. Like the Palomar ghost morph, color and pattern is affected. It is unlikely a single gene can control both color and pattern, therefore there is a good chance there is a color gene and a pattern gene located very close together on the same chromosome and passed along together. The Delta and Nitida morphs were proven by Kerby Ross to be compatible when bred together in captivity. As far as I know, the Whittier morph hasn’t been proven to be compatible with either morph, but there is no doubt in my mind it is. There are some slight differences in pattern between the three with Nitida being a little more unusual. Hypermelanism is displayed in these morphs by masking about 85% of the normal light pigment with a shade of brown, but this percentage can vary from one individual to the next. The shade of brown can vary from one individual to another. All have a nearly solid dark belly. Often there is light pigment on the outer edges of the ventral scales creating a stripe the runs from the neck to the tail on the lower sides of the snake. Sometimes these stripes can be broken.
The Central Valley in Northern California is home to a very unique pair of morphs or maybe its one morph depending on the way you look at it. Both share the same pattern types, but only the Delta morph fully expresses the hypermelanistic trait. Like the Whittier and Nitida, this is the same recessive hypermelanistic gene. The Delta is normally medium brown to dark brown. The light pigment is masked by pewter, tan or brownish markings. The Eiseni morph ranges from dark brown to black. The lighter markings are cream to yellow. It often shows hypermelanism in its head only. Both morphs have a dark belly pattern. Some may have the belly pattern that resembles a normal king from their head and down several inches or so. This may sometimes be seen with the Nitida and Whittier morphs, but rarely or maybe there is just not a large enough sampling. Both forms can be completely banded or banded with some aberrant markings or striping. They can also have all the aberrant markings previously seen in the other hypermelanistic morphs or be almost completely striped. Many aberrant individuals have bands after their head and near the tail. One individual photoed by Erik Loza had a wide stripe, but that’s the only one I’ve ever seen. I know of no nearly patternless forms with these two morphs.
The Delta morph is commonly known as the Davis king or Davis morph. The Eiseni is also known as the Mendota king or Mendota morph. Davis and Mendota are two cities found in the central valley where these morphs were more popularly known to be from. These two morphs are found mostly in their own range. Deltas in the north and Eiseni in the south. The two seem to meet and blend in Stanislaus and Merced County. The Delta morph is found as far north as Colusa County. The Eiseni as far south as Fresno County. What appears to be Delta morphs, have turned up within the range of Eiseni, even at its most southern part of the range. It is unknown why this happens. Local herpers have suggested these are hypermelanistic Eiseni morphs. I’m not aware of any Eiseni morphs turning up in the Delta range.
There have been mixed results when breeding the Delta and Eiseni together. John Stephenson paired them and hatched a bunch of normal banded Cal kings. This would indicate the offspring were double hets and the two genes were not compatible. On the other hand Chad Lane bred the two together and the genes did prove compatible for him. Its very unlikely both of the kings he used were het for one another, because both were from lineage that originated well inside the range for either morph. Future breeding projects will give us a clearer picture. As of now these are being bred in captivity in limited numbers. Fewer of them are actual locality snakes. Long time locality breeder Gary Keasler actually hatched an albino Eiseni morph in 2013 from pure locality breeders.
Author Brian Hubbs has identified and named several pattern types that are known to turn up in the wild. This first list of names all belong to the Eiseni group, despite the word Eiseni not being in the name of some.
The Delta morph is commonly known as the Davis king or Davis morph. The Eiseni is also known as the Mendota king or Mendota morph. Davis and Mendota are two cities found in the central valley where these morphs were more popularly known to be from. These two morphs are found mostly in their own range. Deltas in the north and Eiseni in the south. The two seem to meet and blend in Stanislaus and Merced County. The Delta morph is found as far north as Colusa County. The Eiseni as far south as Fresno County. What appears to be Delta morphs, have turned up within the range of Eiseni, even at its most southern part of the range. It is unknown why this happens. Local herpers have suggested these are hypermelanistic Eiseni morphs. I’m not aware of any Eiseni morphs turning up in the Delta range.
There have been mixed results when breeding the Delta and Eiseni together. John Stephenson paired them and hatched a bunch of normal banded Cal kings. This would indicate the offspring were double hets and the two genes were not compatible. On the other hand Chad Lane bred the two together and the genes did prove compatible for him. Its very unlikely both of the kings he used were het for one another, because both were from lineage that originated well inside the range for either morph. Future breeding projects will give us a clearer picture. As of now these are being bred in captivity in limited numbers. Fewer of them are actual locality snakes. Long time locality breeder Gary Keasler actually hatched an albino Eiseni morph in 2013 from pure locality breeders.
Author Brian Hubbs has identified and named several pattern types that are known to turn up in the wild. This first list of names all belong to the Eiseni group, despite the word Eiseni not being in the name of some.
Eiseni morph
A mostly aberrant and striped pattern with little banding.
A mostly aberrant and striped pattern with little banding.
San Joaquin banded aberrant morph
Mostly banded with some aberrant markings.
Mostly banded with some aberrant markings.
San Joaquin banded black-belly morph
Completely banded with light markings connecting on the lower sides bordering the belly.
Completely banded with light markings connecting on the lower sides bordering the belly.
Speckled Eiseni morph
Just like the Eiseni morph, but with speckling on the sides.
Just like the Eiseni morph, but with speckling on the sides.
Delta morph
A mostly striped and aberrant pattern with little banding.
A mostly striped and aberrant pattern with little banding.
Delta banded aberrant morph
Mostly banded with some aberrant markings.
Mostly banded with some aberrant markings.
Delta banded black-belly morph
Completely banded with light markings connecting on the lower sides bordering the belly.
Completely banded with light markings connecting on the lower sides bordering the belly.
Speckled Delta morph
Just like the Delta morph, but with speckling on the sides.
Just like the Delta morph, but with speckling on the sides.
Delta wide striped morph
This is only known by one f1 specimen that was owned by Erik Loza years ago.
This morph is definitely possible in the wild and is just a matter of time before
another pops up.
This is only known by one f1 specimen that was owned by Erik Loza years ago.
This morph is definitely possible in the wild and is just a matter of time before
another pops up.
This is a banded kingsnake found within the Delta range. The light markings are masked with a light brown color mostly on the upper part of the snake. The belly isn’t solid brown like most Delta morphs, but it is mostly brown. This morph is described as being in between a Delt morph and a normal banded kingsnake. John Stephanson bred a Male Delta to a female Golden brown and got 6 Delta and 2 Golden brown. Maybe it is a Delta expressing the gene to a smaller degree.
In 2007, this single individual was found by John Stephenson in Sutter County. It highly resembles a Speckled Delta morph, except the head pattern is completely normal and the belly isn’t so solid. When bred to a Delta and Golden brown morph, all the babies came out normal banded. Further breedings are needed to determine what this morph actually is.
Around 1987, Gary Keasler collected a gravid banded black belly from the Mendota area. That female laid 7 or 8 eggs. All hatched out as banded black bellies except for one, which was a male Mendota ghost. He raised that male and bred it to other normal looking females from the same area. He then raised those offspring and bred them together and also bred some to the original male Mendota ghost. He got many ghosts that year proving it was a simple recessive gene. Few have been produced until just the past couple of years where they have been made more available. As far as I know, all Mendota ghosts in captivity originated from the male Gary produced. This is a very rare morph in the wild.
The pattern consists of light centered scales on the sides, which gives it a washed out look. From what I've seen, they can either be banded or can have a broken stripe down the back. They can also have a combination of both characteristics. Its also possible they can have a complete stripe and maybe other patterns found in the Eiseni and Delta morphs. The belly is always nearly white. One thing very strange is in juveniles, its easy to see where the black belly pattern is completely lacking. Those areas on the ventral scales look completely void of any pigment.
The Mendota ghost has also recently been called the Ghost Eiseni morph, but I chose to go with the name it was originally given.
The pattern consists of light centered scales on the sides, which gives it a washed out look. From what I've seen, they can either be banded or can have a broken stripe down the back. They can also have a combination of both characteristics. Its also possible they can have a complete stripe and maybe other patterns found in the Eiseni and Delta morphs. The belly is always nearly white. One thing very strange is in juveniles, its easy to see where the black belly pattern is completely lacking. Those areas on the ventral scales look completely void of any pigment.
The Mendota ghost has also recently been called the Ghost Eiseni morph, but I chose to go with the name it was originally given.
The banded version.
First described by Cope in 1887 as Ophibolus californiae. Eight years later it was described by Van Denburgh as the Lower California Milk Snake, Lampropeltis nitida. In captivity, this morph dates back to the early 80’s with the late Lloyd Lemke probably being the first breeder to make these available to the public. Very little is known about this morph in the wild other than it is found along side with conjuncta from just south of La Paz to the southern tip of Baja California.
Until now, Nitida has only been known by its striped specimens, but there are other pattern types. Nitida is a highly variable morph, both in pattern and degree of hypermelanism displayed. There are four basic pattern classes, banded, striped, aberrant and patternless. Juveniles seem to always be black. Adults can range from medium brown to very dark brown.
Until now, Nitida has only been known by its striped specimens, but there are other pattern types. Nitida is a highly variable morph, both in pattern and degree of hypermelanism displayed. There are four basic pattern classes, banded, striped, aberrant and patternless. Juveniles seem to always be black. Adults can range from medium brown to very dark brown.
This is the basic Nitida everyone knows. Most specimens in captivity have a clean complete stripe down their back. The stripe can also be more narrow in some places than others. Several breaks in the stripe can be expected as well. The stripe can range from light brown to dark brown, cinnamon and gray. These colors apply to all Nitida pattern types. Some individuals have clean sides and others with a lot of aberrant type patterning on the sides. Sometimes there may even be a very broken 2nd and 3rd stripe high up on the sides.
This individual has a reduced stripe.
This form can have a very broken stripe or a wavy stripe with dots and dashes mixed throughout. Some specimens may have bands and partial bands mixed with some striping. There may be pattern on the sides or very little to no pattern. The reverse striped pattern found in the Whittier morph seems to be possible in nitida as well. In fact, I believe all three hypermelanistic populations are capable of the same pattern traits. Aberrants are said to be the most commonly found pattern type in the wild.
A DOR found in the wild by Miraflores.
This dead preserved specimen has faded over time. It was collected May 1911 in
Miraflores. Notice how the belly isn't very solid brown.
Miraflores. Notice how the belly isn't very solid brown.
There is a bit of confusion about these. Some, like Hubbs, refer to these as conjuncta, but these are just the banded version of nitida. All other recessive hypermelanistic morphs have the banded version and the striped/aberrant version. There is no available information where the very dark (chocolate morph) form originated, so it is speculation on my part that they are a very dark form of the banded Nitida. The reasons behind this are: 1) No dark forms have been found, as far as I know, in the other two hypermelanistic populations. There is a reduced pattern morph in Los Angeles, but it is just a reduced pattern or a vanishing pattern. 2) The very dark form has an almost solid colored head, which is seen in some Nitida, but not so much in the other hypermelanistic morphs. 3) There are some very dark colored specimens in Markel's 1990 book on Kingsnakes & Milk snakes, that are referred to as Nitida. These extra dark forms are known as the Chocolate morph to Cal king keepers.
Found in the wild
Unlike the normal colored Nitida, this form has dark brown masking the light bands. These are commonly known as chocolates. As they mature, their markings become less distinguishable and may become nearly patternless. Even as juveniles, their pattern is nearly missing on the upper part of the snake. Its mostly noticeable on the lower sides. This is a very dark form of hypermelanism. There is no definitive proof, that I'm aware of, this form originated from Baja. I've been told they were known as conjuncta at one point. Markel's book on kingsnakes and milksnakes shows a couple nitida that are very dark, but they are not the best of pictures. There are no forms of hypermelanism this dark known from the Delta and Whittier range. There is a line of chocolates said to be locality from near USC, but I looked into this claim and the story doesn't match up.
This individual has an obvious nitida pattern.
You can just barley make out the striped pattern on this juvenile nitida.
These are also called the chocolate morph, but have no visible pattern. They are born with no pattern, so they are completely patternless. I'm assuming these also originated from Baja.
In Richard Z. Zweifel’s 1981 write up “Genetics of color pattern polymorphism in the California kingsnake”, he refers to this morph as the Whittier morph. Zweifel named this morph after the city of Whittier due to the first individuals being found there. Zweifel only had two specimens and both were banded males. He never mentioned any other pattern types, so I’m assuming only the banded version was known back then. There are 4 known pattern classes in this group, banded, aberrant, unicolor and reverse wide striped. All are known to occur only in Coastal Los Angeles County. All forms are very rare in the wild, even in areas where Cal kings are very common. Urban development obviously plays a big part in the rarity of this morph. The Whittier morph has a tan to light brown coloration that masks the yellow and white pigment. The ground color can be medium brown to dark brown.
This morph was first mentioned in Richard G. Zweifel’s paper: Color Pattern Morphs of the kingsnake (Lampropeltis getulus) in Southern California, in 1981. He had two banded specimens he referred to as the Whittier morph. He conducted breeding experiments with these snakes that must have taken several years before the paper was written, which would date this morph back into at least some time in the 1970’s. In the 1980’s Michael Fuller found this morph on the site of Trump National Golf Club in Palos Verdes CA before it was built. Since then, I know of no others that have been found in the wild. Long time Cal king breeder, Gary Keasler, was the first to produce this morph in captivity back in 2013. Gary had been breeding the Whittier mud morph and produced a hatchling with a barred and banded pattern that was a borderline Whittier banded and Whittier mud morph. He raised that juvenile up and bred it back to a Whittier mud morph. That breeding resulted in the first three banded Whittiers to be produced in captivity. Banded Whittiers always seem to have some sort of aberrant markings on the sides in certain places causing the bands to break up a little. They can also have slight traces of striping.
This form was first discovered around the 1960’s or 70’s and was known as the LAX black king. Years later, Don Huffman found a chocolate brown female around the year 2000. He found another female the following year, but never turn up any more after that. Through word of mouth this locale became very popular and well known, but it wasn’t for at least another 10 years before two more examples were found there. In the early 2000’s, Don collected a normal banded male from the same locale and bred it to one of his Whittier mud females. This resulted in a clutch containing 2 Whittier muds with the rest being banded. The banded male must have been heterozygous. He gave one of those babies to a well known Cal king breeder Gary Keasler. A few years later in 2009, he gave me the remaining sibling. This morph has now been bred and reproduced for several years and has made it into the hands of many keepers to enjoy. I’m even starting to see them in the classifieds.
The pattern on this morph is highly variable. It can have a degree of striping along with bars, dots, dashes, and a wavy stripe. Some individuals may have several bands after the head before turning aberrant. The belly is almost solid brown and the aberrant markings are tan to light brown. There seems to always be aberrant type patterning on the sides. White or yellow often shows through the light brown markings on the lower sides more than anywhere else. I saw one specimen with a stripe slightly offset to the side. Duel pinstriping can also occur randomly running lengthwise on the upper part of the snake separated by 4 scale rows creating a reverse striped effect. Some individuals will only show traces of one pin stripe.
The pattern on this morph is highly variable. It can have a degree of striping along with bars, dots, dashes, and a wavy stripe. Some individuals may have several bands after the head before turning aberrant. The belly is almost solid brown and the aberrant markings are tan to light brown. There seems to always be aberrant type patterning on the sides. White or yellow often shows through the light brown markings on the lower sides more than anywhere else. I saw one specimen with a stripe slightly offset to the side. Duel pinstriping can also occur randomly running lengthwise on the upper part of the snake separated by 4 scale rows creating a reverse striped effect. Some individuals will only show traces of one pin stripe.
A captive born I had with banding on the neck.
One of the original wild caught females.
A captive born individual.
The next 3 photos are of the same wild caught individual.
A captive born displaying a nice yellow color.
This example is as close to a reverse striped pattern I've seen in any hypermel Cal king. This is definitely one of the coolest Whittier's ever found.
Here is the best example I've seen (and probably the best it can get) of this pattern type I'm calling the Barred Whittier morph. Dallas and Andrew found this snake during one of the rainiest Aprils I've seen. Other pattern types are possible in the wild, like highway and dotted, but no good examples, I know of, have been found yet. This 2020 find just goes to show there is still enough habitat in LA County to make some very good finds.
A single specimen is known to have been found by some kids in the hills near East LA and was later acquired by the late John Holmes. Brian Hubbs photographed this individual and named it the Unicolor morph. A solid brown king was found in San Juan Capistrano in Orange County. It may have also been a unicolor Whittier morph. This morph is best described by having a very reduced aberrant pattern. It is mostly solid brown above with a reduced pattern on the sides. The overall pattern that is visible, shows that it is a part of the Whittier complex.
Although these snakes are visually hypermelanistic, they are not homozygous genetic morphs. Some multi hets that have hypermelanism as one of the genes they are het for, will sometimes express the darkness in the light areas associated with hypermelanism and can also express the aberrant hypermelanistic pattern. Some multi hets can also express a hypomelanistic look.
A few things I've noticed that is different with the multi hets that look hypermelanistic, is the white pigment in between the upper and lower labial (lip) scales, which is often seen in Grease kings and Yuma morphs, but not in recessive hypermelanistic morphs. The vertebral stripe may be abnormally thin, and the belly will not be solid brown or black.
A few things I've noticed that is different with the multi hets that look hypermelanistic, is the white pigment in between the upper and lower labial (lip) scales, which is often seen in Grease kings and Yuma morphs, but not in recessive hypermelanistic morphs. The vertebral stripe may be abnormally thin, and the belly will not be solid brown or black.
This individual is a triple het (P. ghost, albino, hypermelanistic)
Here's a triple het (hypermel, P. ghost, albino) expressing the hypermelanistic
pattern and darkness.
pattern and darkness.
Another good example. These snakes are often sold as hypermelanistic.
I'm unsure if the pattern is the result of the SD striped gene, but it appears so to me.