Comparative Kingsnake Temperament Question

I am becoming interested in kingsnakes (my only snake experience so far is with my daughter's Reverse Okeetee Cornsnake, which has inspired me to research Colubrids in general as pets). My question is, does the typical temperament of kingsnakes vary much by species (or subspecies, morph, locality, etc)? (I understand that there will be individual variations form the norm for the species for likelihood to be whippy, musk-y, bite-y, etc). I am interested in hearing keepers/breeders' opinions based on experience in this regard. Especially (but not limited to) California Kingsnakes and Brooks/Florida Kingsnakes (suggestions for species/morphs to look into are welcome).

With my limited and personal experiences with corns kings and milks it honestly varies. California kings for the most part are chill but they like to eat...a lot and for that reason can be mistakenly judged for aggressive when they are hungry. Fed them well and usually no problem. As for milks they are usually the more flighty ones. Very quick and can musk like almost all snakes but a lot of them don't. Once they gain size they are amazing snakes as well. I like black milk snakes, they seem a lot more confident and I don't hear a lot about any bites or aggressive ones. Check them out. They do get larger however. One of the largest milks full grown but like I said they are impressively calm. Other people can chime in on other species but get what you want fed it well and handle it often you should be fine. Keep us updated!


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I have 1.1 California king snakes and 0.1 Mexican black king snake.

The Cali snakes are smaller, easily handled, and inquisitive rather than flighty. They have good appetites without being stupid about biting fingers.

My MBK is typically ok but over the last few weeks has gotten stupidly foody - I'm talking grabbing fingers, arms, even legs as soon as her tub is opened. There is no food smell in the house when she does this either. The only change I've made recently is that I switched her from f/t jumbo mice to rabbit kits - I guess she really loves them.

Thank you for the replies, Melinda and Dabari. These are exactly the kind of experiences I was wanting to hear. I'll have to look into Black Milk Snakes and Mexican Black King Snakes. I have looked into (and handled several) Honduran Milk Snakes and California King Snakes, and they were fine, not bite-y, musk-y nor whippy (the only time my daughter's corn snake has been whippy was a month or so after she got him and we tried to handle him in shed; now she leaves him alone at that time; at all other times he comes out to see who is in the room if anyone enters, and will voluntarily crawl onto hands to be lifted out of his terrarium). I have also looked at San Diego Gopher Snakes, so I guess size isn't that big an issue for me. It seems I like colubrids, and the choice is difficult.

I have a Mexican Black Kingsnake and a Ruthven's Kingsnake. I've had the MBK for 13 years and in all that time he's never struck at me or musked me. Even as a youngster, I don't remember him being flighty. He's a wonderful snake and, if he's representative of the species, I highly recommend them.

My Ruthven's is only 2-3 years old and is very flighty and shy but I haven't handled her as much as my MBK. Although she musked me a number of times when she was smaller, she's never once attempted to bite me.

Here is my experience with some mentioned and some not:
1) Black Milksnakes .. Love them .. eat great, extremely easy to hold/calm .. even
hatchlings are way less reactive (no flail/musk) than other milks.

2) Nelsons Milksnakes .. Very easy to care for, adults very calm .. hatchlings not as
calm as Blacks but far less reactionary than other milks.

3) Thayeri/Varible Kingsnakes .. My favorite kings .. many patterns/colors (I am into
the earthy .. natural phases) ... very calm, eat well, slow moving/cling to you.

4) Cali Kings .. truly enjoyed mine .. very curious/tractable ... just keep well fed :-)

5) Knoblochi Kings ... Very colorful, non-aggressive/handle easily .. little shy.

6) Trans Peco Rats ... Little different than corns .. docile and curious.

7) Gopher Snakes ... Vary in temperament depending on subspecies .. get CBB ... I
have Sonorans, San Diego, and Great Basin .. all are pretty easy to handle ... all
do some tail-rattling now and then ... keep well fed ... tend to cruise in your
hands ... Sonorans seem to be easiest/calmest as a general rule.

Hope this helps a little and best to you ... in the end .. all snakes are individuals :-)

I think we made it harder for you haha. I'd say do research on the ones that stick out to you and go from there. Id like a nice gopher but I hear they can be intimidating at times


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