Mexican Kingsnake (Lampropeltis mexicana mexicana)

Mexican Kingsnake
Photograph by Frank Wouters. Some rights reserved. (view image details)

MEXICAN KINGSNAKE FACTS

Description
The Mexican Milk Snake is variable in color. It is usually mottled gray or brown with black or red (or black and red) saddle shaped markings bordered with white. The head usually has a dark V-shaped or inverted Y-shaped marking . The underside is mottled gray to brown, and sometimes has a dark brown or reddish blotch before the tail. They are generally nocturnal, and shelter during the heat of the day.

Other Names
San Luis Potosi Kingsnake

Size
length to 190cm

Environment
semi-arid brush areas with sandy soils.

Food
rodents, lizards, and sometimes other snakes.

Breeding
Lays 4-10 eggs which hatch after about 55-60 days. Newborn snakes are around 15cm -17cm long.

Range
north eastern Mexico in Coahuila, Tamaulipas and Nuevo León. Also found in south western Texas.

Notes
The Mexican Milk Snake adapts well to captivity and makes an attractive pet snake. They are usually quite docile, and not prone to biting or excreting musk.

Classification

Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata (Serpentes)
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Lampropeltis
Species:	mexicana mexicana
Common Name:	Mexican Kingsnake

Relatives in same Genus
  Gray-banded Kingsnake (L. alterna)
  Prairie Kingsnake (L. calligaster calligaster)
  Mole Kingsnake (L. calligaster rhombomaculata)
  California Kingsnake (L. getula californiae)
  Florida Kingsnake (L. getula floridana)
  Eastern Kingsnake (L. getula getula)
  Speckled Kingsnake (L. getula holbrooki)
  Desert Kingsnake (L. getula splendida)
  Mexican Milk Snake (L. triangulum annulata)
  Pueblan Milk Snake (L. triangulum campbelli)
  Scarlet Kingsnake (L. triangulum elapsoides)
  Honduran Milk Snake (L. triangulum hondurensis)
  Nelson's Milk Snake (L. triangulum nelsoni)
  Sinaloan Milk Snake (L. triangulum sinaloae)
  Red Milk Snake (L. triangulum syspila)
  Milk Snake (L. triangulum triangulum)
  San Diego Mountain Kingsnake (L. zonata pulchra)

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