I know this has been talked about before, but I wanted to see what your thoughts are.

Are there major differences between kings and milks? Aside from their latin names, I mean.

I know both are smooth scaled compared to Corns, but I am trying to decide between a Sinaloan King, Scarlet King, Pueblan Milk, etc... I would like something with some nice color - reds, whites, yellows - I know some are just red and white and black.

I do like the look of the Eastern Milk, but it is too similar to my 4 corns as far as color goes.

Thanks in advance!

Michael

The only real difference in kings and milks are a difference in their teeth. This is what sets a milk apart from a king as they are both lampropeltis. The scarlets as a captive bred species are not that readily available since, due to their very small size, the hatchlings are a pain to feed. The only tricolor king I have personal experience with is the Ruthven's kingsnake, lampropeltis ruthvenii. Mine is very shy but has never offered to bite. Adult size is about 30 inches so it is a smaller snake.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Here I have to totally agree with Merlin. My favorites, and we've had most variations of kings and milks, are the milks as there are a myriad of colors and shades. Here is a thread posted by my daughter showing our Jurassic Milk-Halloween phase.


Lestat- Jurassic Milksnake (Halloween Phase)

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Fran
January 9, 1940 - June 1, 2006 (R.I.P)

Nice looking snake, Fran. Thanks for the link.

Merlin, as usual you guys come through in spades. Thanks!

Upon further research, the Scarlet kings, as you said, are really smaller than I would like. I will research the Milks more - looks like the Pueblans are abundant in the trade.

I know and its a shame. Scarlets have got to be one of the most beautiful snakes.
There are usually a few pueblans at shows, normal as well as morphs.
Check out the tangerines and apricots!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

We have an Apalachicola kingsnake - beautiful thing. As a hatchling she had a solid black background with red and yellow/orange markings.. as she is growing those solid red and yellow and orange markings have broken up so she almost looks speckled. Each coloured scale starts black and gradually goes to red and yellow and orange. Stunning species. I will try and post some pics of her soon.

But, with Kings I have never been the biggest fan. Our Cali King was never the nicest of souls when we first got him, and it was apparent that he hadn't been taken very good care of. He has calmed down dramatically in our care and is a good tempered snake now. Rheia, our Apalachicola, is a little different She's not a nasty snake but can have grumpy moments and isn't as calm as a Corn by any standards. She's nice enough though.

I've no experience with Milks, but I've always been of the impression that they are good tempered and easy to care for - an alternative to the Corn if you like, as with Kings. Again, I'm not a huge fan of Milks either, but the Hondurans can be a pretty species.

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

I also find a variation in the behavior between the two. I've yet to hold a king that musked, and a milk that hasn't. And the big similarity, they are addicting.

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~Jason Richardson

Really? I have an albino apricot pueblan that musks almost everytime, 2 california kings that occasionally musk etc.
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Anyways here are pics of my jurassic "Pumpkin":






I lover her! Notice the snake shaped pattern on her back very much like a central american rat snake, psuedoelaphe flavirufa.