A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California

California Kingsnake - Lampropeltis californiae

(Blainville, 1835)

(= Lampropeltis getula californiae)

Click on a picture for a larger view

Description • Taxonomy • Species Description • Scientific Name • Alt. Names • Similar Herps • References • Conservation Status

Red: Range in California

Click on the map for a topographical view

Map with California County Names

Page 2 : Naturally-Occurring Aberrant Morphs

Page 3: Habitat

Southwest Page

Baja California Page

Pictures and information about this species and its habitat have been put on three pages:

Page 1, this page, includes pictures of the more common banded form of the California Kingsnake, a range map, a species description and natural history information, references, and links to more information.

Page 2 illustrates naturally-occurring aberrant morph California Kingsnakes.

Page 3 shows some of the wide variety of habitats utilized by this snake.

Brown and cream adult, Santa Clara County © James Rowe

Black and cream sub-adult,
Kings County

Brown and cream adult, Yuba County

Black and white desert phase adult,
Inyo County desert

Black and cream adult, San Diego County mountains

Black and cream adult,
eastern Alameda County

Black and cream adult, Inyo County

Dark brown and cream adult,
coastal San Luis Obispo County

Black and cream adult, Inyo County

Dark brown and pale yellow adult, Yuba County

Black and white desert phase adult, San Diego County desert

Black and white desert phase adult,
Inyo County

Brown and cream adult, Lake County

Black and cream adult,
Big Sur, Monterey County

Dark brown and pale yellow adult, Alameda County

Pale brown and yellow banded morph adult, Orange County. © Ivan Vershynin

A slightly faded Brown and Cream banded morph from the
Santa Clara County mountains © Holly Lane

A brown and cream banded morph adult from the
Diablo Range in Santa Clara County © Holly Lane

Santa Clara County adult seen everting its vent in a defensive display.
© Yuval Helfman

Adult, desert phase, Riverside County desert © Jeremiah Easter

Adult, Alameda County © Mark Gary
When encountered in th field, most wild California Kingsnakes don't often become defensive by assuming a threatening posture and striking, as this one did.

Black and cream adult, El Dorado County © Richard Porter

Black and cream adult,
Southern Monterey County
© Benjamin German

Adult, Shasta County
© Luke Talltree

Black and cream adult, Santa Cruz County © Zachary Lim

Adult, Kern County desert © Ryan Sikola

Adult, Santa Cruz County
© Jared Heald

Adult swimming across stream,
Orange County © Nicholas Hess

Adult, Solano County
© Lou Silva

Adult, Marin County © Andre Giraldi

Adult, San Benito County
© Yuval Helfman

Banded adult with pinkish brown and creamy yellow coloration from
Santa Barbara County © Max Roberts

Black and white adult, Shasta County

Black and white adult,
Riverside County © Brody Trent

Adult from the Los Angeles County coast with a high number of bands (40) © Don Sterba

Desert-phase adult, Riverside County © Emile Bado

Adult in habitat, Ventura County
© Max Roberts

Brown and yellow adult, Ventura County
© Max Roberts

Adult with pale yellow bands,
Orange County © Brian Nann

A California Kingsnake swims in a pond where it was harassed by a pair of red-winged blackbirds, probably because they feared it was looking for a nest to raid.
© Daphne Kapolka

Adult from the Western side of the Santa Cruz Mountains, San Mateo County
© Faris K

Brown and white adult, Sacramento County © Zachary Cava

Adult, Sacramento County
© Zachary Cava

Adult, Gabilan Range, Monterey County
© Benjamin German

"Desert Phase" high-contrast black and white adult, Kern County
© Zeev Nitzan Ginsburg

Adult in habitat, San Luis Obispo County © Joel Germond

The everted hemipenes of a male California Kingsnake. © Patrick Briggs

Adult in defensive pose with everted
vent, Big Sur, Monterey County. The snake also released a foul-smelling odor.

California Kingsnake tracks on a dusty road in San Diego County.

Juveniles

Juvenile in habitat, Alameda County
© Faris K

Juvenile, Los Angeles County
© Huck Triggs

Dark brown and cream juvenile, western Riverside County

Partially-scaleless banded juvenile, found by Lauren Powell in San Diego County © Dan Wells
Notice the atypical skin with raised bumps instead of smooth scales.

Mating Season Behavior

These two adult California Kingsnakes were found on a back porch at the end of April in San Diego County. I'm not sure exactly what they are doing, but I believe that they are a male and a female in courtship behavior preliminary to copulation. They don't appear to be two males in combat because they are not wrestling each other very aggressively, but that is also possible. (If you know for sure what the behavior indicates, let me know.)

These three short videos show the same two snakes depicted in the stills above.

This picture shows what appear to be two males in combat in May in San Diego County. © Sean Kelly. (It's from a YouTube video which has been removed.)

This mating pair was observed on May 8th in a backyard in Sacramento County. © Kim Rowe

California Kingsnakes Feeding and Predation

A striped phase California Kingsnake eating a juvenile Southern Pacific Rattlesnake in San Diego County. © Kimberly Deutsch

Sacramento County adult eating a juvenile Northern Pacific Rattlesnake.
© Michele Coughlin

This striped California Kingsnake is eating a San Diego Alligator Lizard in San Diego County. © Liz Samperi

California Kingsnakes are powerful predators capable of eating other snakes almost as large as they are. Here you can see one eating a Gophersnake.
© Patrick Briggs

Adult eating a lizard, Santa Catalina Island. © Nathan Smith

Stacy Holt with Death Valley National Park sent me the above six photos which were taken on 8/28/13 by National Park Service Employees Drew Kaiser and Shannon Mazzei. Drew and Shannon saw the snakes struggling at around 11 AM in near Towne Pass. A California Kingsnake was wrapped tightly around a Panamint Rattlesnake and the snakes were barely moving. Disturbed by the onlookers, the kingsnake retreated under a nearby bush. The rattlesnake was dead by that time, and appears to be biting itself, but was described as biting onto the kingsnake before it died. The kingsnake probably returned to swallow the rattlesnake after the people left.
You can see other interesting wildlife sightings on the Death Valley National Park Facebook Page.

Contra Costa County adult killing a Pacific Gophersnake for dinner. © Tim Dayton

This California Kingsnake was discovered eating a juvenile Southern Pacific Rattlesnake in the Los Padres Mountains, Santa Barbara County © Benjamin Bruno

This California Kingsnake was observed battling a California Alligator Lizard on a hiking trail in Santa Clara County. The alligator lizard clamped its jaws down on the snake's tail and held on tight even after it died. The snake had to pull and thrash about for more than 20 minutes before the lizard let go of the badly-damaged tail, finally allowing the snake to swallow it. © Wim de Groot

A California Kingsnake has captured a San Diego Alligator Lizard in San Luis Obispo County and is constricting the lizard in its coils. © Grigory Heaton

Naturally-Occurring Aberrant Morphs and Habitat

Go to Page 2 to see some other naturally-occurring aberrant morphs of California Kingsnakes.

Go to Page 3 to see pictures of some of the wide variety of habitats inhabited by California Kingsnakes.

Short Videos of Banded Kingsnakes

(Videos of Striped and Aberrant Kingsnakes Here)

A very large banded kingsnake crawls off a road and up onto a rock face in a Kern County desert canyon at night.

A kingsnake crawls very quickly across the Colorado desert at night in San Diego County.

A beautiful banded adult California Kingsnake crosses a road at night in Alameda County, reminding me that my favorite thing about an encounter with a snake is watching it crawl away.

A distressed San Diego County California Kingsnake vibrates its tail.

Click on the picture above to watch a YouTube video of a defensive California Kingsnake, sent to me by Paivi Kangas.

Description

Not Dangerous - This snake does not have venom that can cause death or serious illness or injury in most humans.

Commonly described as "harmless" or "not poisonous" to indicate that its bite is not dangerous, but "not venomous" is more accurate. (A poisonous snake can hurt you if you eat it. A venomous snake can hurt you if it bites you.)

Size

California Kingsnakes seldom exceed 48 inches. (122 cm). Most commonly found at 2.5 - 3.5 feet in length (76 - 107 cm).
Hatchlings are about 12 inches long (30.5 cm).

Appearance

Smooth, shiny, unkeeled scales.
The head is barely wider than the neck.

Color and Pattern

Highly variable in appearance.
Most commonly seen with alternating bands of black or brown and white or light yellow, including the underside, where the light bands become wider.

Many unusual color phases have been bred in captivity, including albinos, and sold in the pet trade. Sometimes these aberrant snakes escape or are intentionally released into the wild.

In his book, "Common Kingsnakes, A Natural History of Lampropeltis getula" 2009, Brian Hubbs includes a list of more than 30 prominent aberrant color patterns found in California Kingsnakes. The map shown to the left shows the approximate location for all of these morphs combined in southern California, with the "Delta" and "Eiseni" morphs shown to the north in the central valleys. For much more detailed information about these morphs than I show here, including maps showing some known locations for many of these morphs, consult the book. You can see pictures of some of them, and a map of where they occur, on my Aberrant Morphs page.

A striped phase with a white or light yellow stripe on the back occurs in coastal southern California.
An unbanded phase with a dark belly and lateral striping occurs in the northern San Joaquin Valley and southern Sacramento Valley.
A dark banded phase with a dark underside occurs in coastal Los Angeles County, some with a high number of bands.
A desert phase occurs with dark black bands and narrow bright white bands.
Some variants have much dark speckling in the light bands, others with much light speckling in the dark bands.

Life History and Behavior

Activity

Active during daylight in cooler weather and at night, dawn, and dusk when temperatures are high.

Defense

When disturbed, generally not aggressive, but sometimes vibrates the tail quickly, hisses, and rolls into a ball, hiding the head and showing the vent with it's lining exposed.

Immune to rattlesnake venom, which is neutralized by proteins in the kingsnake's blood.

Diet and Feeding

Eats a wide variety of prey, including rodents and other small mammals, lizards, lizard eggs, snakes (including rattlesnakes), snake eggs, turtle eggs and hatchlings, frogs, salamanders, birds, bird eggs and chicks, and large invertebrates.
A powerful constrictor, coiling tightly around its prey.

Reproduction

Snakes reach sexual maturity in 3 - 4 years.
California Kingsnakes are oviparous, laying eggs that incubate then hatch.
Mating generally takes place within a few weeks of emergence from hibernation, usually after the first shed, but some snakes wait longer to breed.
(Desert snakes probably breed much earlier while high-elevation snakes probably breed later.)

Male Combat has been observed within the genus: In a description of the Speckled King Snake (based on Carpenter and Gillingham 1977 - A Combat Ritual Between Two Male Speckled Kingsnakes. SW Nat. 22(4): 517-524) Werler and Dixon, 2000, say that males engage in lively combat during the breeding season or when they are competing for food or territory. The males lie stretched out with their bodies entwined, each one trying to get on top of the other to dominate his rival. In the later stage of combat biting may occur. Usually the larger snake is victorious and the second snake crawls away or assumes a submissive position with his head held flat against the ground.

Courtship behavior between a male and a female involves neck-biting to hold the female during copulation. (Hubbs, 2009)

1 to 2 months after breeding (averaging 6 weeks) females lay from 3 - 24 eggs (average clutch size is probably 8 - 10 for the species) (Hubbs, 2009).
Egg laying occurs generally between May and August.
Eggs hatch in 6 weeks to 2 months (earlier in warmer temperatures, and later in cooler temperatures.) (Hubbs, 2009)

Habitat

Found in a wide variety of habitats - forest, woodland, chaparral, grassland, marshes, farmland, ranches, deserts, and even brushy suburban areas.

Geographical Range

Lampropeltis californiae is found throughout most of California, but is absent from the damp redwood zone of the extreme northwest coast, the northeast great basin desert, and high elevations in the Sierra Nevada and other mountain ranges.

Outside of California, it occurs in southwestern Oregon, Nevada, southern Utah,extreme southwestern Colorado, much of Arizona, throughout Baja California, including several islands, and most of Sonora, Mexico.

An introduced population occurs on Gran Canaria Island in the Canary Islands, where there are no native snakes. In 2021 researchers reported that since they became established on Gran Canaria after 1998 California Kingsnakes have killed off nearly all of the native reptiles on the island.

Formerly only one species species was recognized - Lampropeltis getula - Common Kingsnake , which was distributed widely from the Pacific Coast, to Florida, including most of the southern part of the U. S., south into Mexico. L. getula was split into 5 species. including L. californiae (distribution described above.) The other four species are distributed in this way:
L. getula now only occurs on the east coast south through Florida.
L. nigra occurs from southern Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, south to the Gulf of Mexico east of the Mississippi River and roughly west of the Appalachian mountains.
L. holbrookii occurs west of the Missippi River east to the Pecos River and south of the Rio Grande into Mexico.
L. splendida occurs in the Texas Big Bend region, parts of southern New Mexico, and an isolated area in northeastern Arizona.

Elevational Range

Found at elevations from sea level to 7,100 ft. (2164 m). in the eastern Sierra Nevada. and up to 6077 ft. (1852.3 m.) in the Southern California mountains
(Herpetological Review 44(2), 2013).

Notes on Taxonomy

In 2009 Pyron and Burbrink elevated several subspecies of Lampropeltis getula to full species status, including:

L. g. californiae    to     L. californiae - California Kingsnake
L. g. getula           to    L. getula - Eastern Kingsnake
L. g. holbrooki     to    L. holbrooki - Speckled KIngsnake
L. g. nigra            to   L. nigra - Eastern Black Kingsnake

Pyron, R.A. & Burbrink, F.T. (2009a) Neogene diversification and taxonomic stability in the snake tribe Lampropeltini
(Serpentes: Colubridae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 52, 524–529.

R. Alexander Pyron, & Frank T. Burbrink. Systematics of the Common Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula; Serpentes: Colubridae) and the burden of heritage in taxonomy. Zootaxa 2241: 22–32. Copyright © 2009 · Magnolia Press.

Alternate and Previous Names (Synonyms)

L. getulus californiae - California Kingsnake (Stebbins 1966, 2003, 2012)
L. getulus californiae - California King Snake (Ditmars 1907)
L. getulus californiae - California King Snake (Stebbins 1954)

(Northern, Southern and Central California)
Lampropeltis boylii - Boyle King Snake (Ophibolus Boylii; Coronella balteata; Ophibolus getulus boylii, part; Coronella getula, part; Coronella boylii. Boyle Milk Snake; California King Snake, part; California Milk Snake, part; Banded Milk Snake) (Grinnell and Camp 1917)

(Colorado River bottom in Imperial County)
Lampropeltis conjuncta - Black King Snake (Lampropeltis boylii var. conjuncta; Ophibolus getulus boylii, part. California King Snake, part) (Grinnell and Camp 1917)

(Southern California, west of the deserts.)
Lampropeltis california - California King Snake (Coluber [Ophis] Californiae; Ophibolus getulus eiseni; Ophibolus getulus californiae Ophibolus californiae; Coronella Californiae; Coronella getula, part; Coronella getulus var. californica. Blainville's King Snake; California Milk Snake, part) (Grinnell and Camp 1917)

California Milk Snake (Van Denburgh 1897)
Banded King Snake; Blainville's King Snake (Yarrow 1882)
(California) Striped King Snake; Fresno King Snake

Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)

None

Taxonomy
Family	Colubridae	Colubrids	Oppel, 1811
Genus	Lampropeltis	Kingsnakes and Milksnakes	Fitzinger, 1843
Species	californiae	California Kingsnake	(Blainville, 1835)
Original Description
Lampropeltis getula californiae - (Blainville, 1835) - Nouv. Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, Vol. 4, p. 292, pl. 27, fig. 1 from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
Meaning of the Scientific Name
Lampropeltis - Greek - lampros - shiny and pelta - shield - referring to the smooth, shiny dorsal scales characteristic of this genus californiae - of the state of California - which includes most of the range of this subspecies. mostly from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
Related or Similar California Snakes
L. zonata - California Mountain Kingsnake R. l. lecontei - Western Long-nosed Snake C. occipitalis - Mojave Shovel-nosed Snake
More Information and References
California Department of Fish and Wildlife Hansen, Robert W. and Shedd, Jackson D. California Amphibians and Reptiles. (Princeton Field Guides.) Princeton University Press, 2025. Stebbins, Robert C., and McGinnis, Samuel M. Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Revised Edition (California Natural History Guides) University of California Press, 2012. Stebbins, Robert C. California Amphibians and Reptiles. The University of California Press, 1972. Flaxington, William C. Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Field Observations, Distribution, and Natural History. Fieldnotes Press, Anaheim, California, 2021. Samuel M. McGinnis and Robert C. Stebbins. Peterson Field Guide to Western Reptiles & Amphibians. 4th Edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2018. Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003. Behler, John L., and F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Powell, Robert., Joseph T. Collins, and Errol D. Hooper Jr. A Key to Amphibians and Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. The University Press of Kansas, 1998. Bartlett, R. D. & Patricia P. Bartlett. Guide and Reference to the Snakes of Western North America (North of Mexico) and Hawaii. University Press of Florida, 2009. Bartlett, R. D. & Alan Tennant. Snakes of North America - Western Region. Gulf Publishing Co., 2000. Brown, Philip R. A Field Guide to Snakes of California. Gulf Publishing Co., 1997. Ernst, Carl H., Evelyn M. Ernst, & Robert M. Corker. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003. Taylor, Emily. California Snakes and How to Find Them. Heyday, Berkeley, California. 2024. Wright, Albert Hazen & Anna Allen Wright. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press, 1957. Southern California Kingsnakes - A Website Dedicated to All Cal King Enthusiasts Dixon, James R. and John E. Werler. Texas Snakes, Identification, Distribution, and Natural History. University of Texas Press, Austin Texas, 2000 Joseph Grinnell and Charles Lewis Camp. A Distributional List of the Amphibians and Reptiles of California. University of California Publications in Zoology Vol. 17, No. 10, pp. 127-208. July 11, 1917. Hubbs, Brian. Common Kingsnakes, A Natural History of Lampropeltis getula. 2009.

Conservation Status
The following conservation status listings for this animal are taken from the April 2024 State of California Special Animals List and the April 2024 Federally Listed Endangered and Threatened Animals of California list (unless indicated otherwise below.) Both lists are produced by multiple agencies every year, and sometimes more than once per year, so the conservation status listing information found below might not be from the most recent lists. To make sure you are seeing the most recent listings, go to this California Department of Fish and Wildlife web page where you can search for and download both lists: https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Data/CNDDB/Plants-and-Animals. A detailed explanation of the meaning of the status listing symbols can be found at the beginning of the two lists. For quick reference, I have included them on my Special Status Information page. If no status is listed here, the animal is not included on either list. This most likely indicates that there are no serious conservation concerns for the animal. To find out more about an animal's status you can also go to the NatureServe and IUCN websites to check their rankings. Check the current California Department of Fish and Wildlife sport fishing regulations to find out if this animal can be legally pursued and handled or collected with possession of a current fishing license. You can also look at the summary of the sport fishing regulations as they apply only to reptiles and amphibians that has been made for this website. This snake is not included on the Special Animals List, which indicates that there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California.
Organization	Status Listing	Notes
NatureServe Global Ranking
NatureServe State Ranking
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)	None
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)	None
California Department of Fish and Wildlife	None
Bureau of Land Management	None
USDA Forest Service	None
IUCN

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