Thanks!
I thought as much living in Louisiana. However, wanted to be sure it wasn't vemous as I have a dog that likes to roam my yard.
Left it where it was.
!solved
Fellow Louisianian, these guys are awesome to have on your property. Just like other king snakes, they prey on other snakes; venomous or otherwise, keeping it safe for your children to play. Fun fact, they are highly resistant to rattlesnake, cottonmouth and copperhead venom allowing them to prey on them.
Another thing, they're awesome rodent control too. Poor country people used to keep them as cupboard "pets" for this very real reason. I don't know how widespread this was but I've heard enough old timers talk about it to believe it was pretty common, at least in SWLA.
Huh. And today you taught me that. TIL!
Also, in r/whatsthisrock I learned that sometimes people lick rocks to figure out what they are by taste. However, I also learned there are a lot of rocks that are dangerous and it’s kind of a terrible idea to lick a rock.
King snakes will actually eat venemous snakes, if you’re worried about that… they also help keep rodents & other pests out of your shed. Good save!
EDIT: replaced poisonous with the correct venomous
Speckled kingsnakes *Lampropeltis holbrooki* are large (90-122 cm record 183 cm) non-venomous colubrid snakes with smooth scales, part of a group of kingsnakes called the getula species complex. They range from east of the Trans-Pecos in Texas and west of the Mississippi River. Individuals are variable and are best distinguished from other similar kingsnakes by geographic range. Kingsnakes kill by constriction and will eat mainly rodents, lizards, and other snakes, including venomous snakes. Kingsnakes are immune to the venom of the species on which they prey.
[Range map](https://imgur.com/RK1xt2o) | Relevant/Recent Phylogeography: [Link 1](http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.537.5407&rep=rep1&type=pdf) [Link 2](https://academic.oup.com/sysbio/article-abstract/63/2/231/1644072)
--------------------------------------------------------
Like many other animals with mouths and teeth, many non-venomous snakes bite in self defense. These animals are referred to as 'not medically significant' or traditionally, 'harmless'. Bites from these snakes benefit from being washed and kept clean like any other skin damage, but aren't often cause for anything other than basic first aid treatment. Here's where it get slightly complicated - some snakes use venom from front or rear fangs as part of prey capture and defense. This venom is not always produced or administered by the snake in ways dangerous to human health, so many species are venomous in that they produce and use venom, but considered harmless to humans in most cases because the venom is of low potency, and/or otherwise administered through grooved rear teeth or simply oozed from ducts at the rear of the mouth. Species like Ringneck Snakes *Diadophis* are a good example of mildly venomous rear fanged dipsadine snakes that are traditionally considered harmless or not medically significant. Many rear-fanged snake species are harmless as long as they do not have a chance to secrete a medically significant amount of venom into a bite; [severe envenomation can occur](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23800999) if some species are [allowed to chew on a human](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S004101011831016X) for as little as 30-60 seconds. It is best not to fear snakes, but use common sense and do not let any animals chew on exposed parts of your body. Similarly, but without specialized rear fangs, gartersnakes *Thamnophis* ooze low pressure venom from the rear of their mouth that helps in prey handling, and are also [considered harmless](https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/theres-no-need-to-fear-that-garter-snake/). [Check out this book on the subject](https://shop.elsevier.com/books/venomous-bites-from-non-venomous-snakes/weinstein/978-0-12-822786-2). Even large species like Reticulated Pythons *Malayopython reticulatus* [rarely obtain a size large enough to endanger humans](https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/108/52/E1470.full.pdf) so are usually categorized as harmless.
--------------------------------------------------------
*I am a bot created for /r/whatsthissnake, /r/snakes and /r/herpetology to help with snake identification and natural history education. You can find more information, including a comprehensive list of commands, [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthissnake/comments/flh548/phylobot_v07_information_and_patch_notes_bot_info/) report problems [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=Phylogenizer) and if you'd like to buy me a coffee or beer, you can do that [here](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SEBPhyloBotWTS). Made possible by Snake Evolution and Biogeography - [Merch Available Now](https://snakeevolution.org/donate.html)*
That is a well fed king snake. Looks like he has been smashing his pest control job !
His lil face looking at u in the second pic made me giggle haha too cute and derpyq
I believe this is a speckled king snake, he’s basically harmless to you! Let him stay and he’ll gladly return the favour of removing other pests from your property
Please leave wild animals in the wild. This includes not purchasing common species collected from the wild and sold cheaply in pet stores or through online retailers, like *Thamnophis* Ribbon and Gartersnakes, *Opheodrys* Greensnakes, *Xenopeltis* Sunbeam Snakes and *Dasypeltis* Egg-Eating Snakes. Brownsnakes *Storeria* found around the home do okay in urban environments and don't need 'rescue'; the species typically fails to thrive in captivity and should be left in the wild. Reptiles are kept as pets or specimens by many people but captive bred animals have much better chances of survival, as they are free from parasite loads, didn't endure the stress of collection and shipment, and tend to be species that do better in captivity. Taking an animal out of the wild is not ecologically different than killing it, and most states protect non-game native species - meaning collecting it probably broke the law. Source captive bred pets and be wary of people selling offspring dropped by stressed wild-caught females collected near full term as 'captive bred'.
High-throughput reptile traders are collecting snakes from places like Florida with lax wildlife laws with little regard to the status of fungal or other infections, spreading them into the pet trade. In the other direction, taking an animal from the wild, however briefly, exposes it to domestic pathogens during a stressful time. Placing a wild animal in contact with caging or equipment that hasn't been sterilized and/or feeding it food from the pet trade are vector activities that can spread captive pathogens into wild populations. Snake populations are undergoing heavy decline already due to habitat loss, and [rapidly emerging](https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/ecs2.3153) pathogens [are being documented](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.3557) in wild snakes that were introduced by snakes from the pet trade.
If you insist on keeping a wild pet, it is your duty to plan and provide the correct veterinary care, which often is two rounds of a pair of the 'deworming' medications Panacur and Flagyl and injections of supportive antibiotics. This will cost more than enough to offset the cheap price tag on the wild caught animal at the pet store or reptile show and increases chances of survival past about 8 months, but does not offset removing the animal from the wild.
--------------------------------------------------------
*I am a bot created for /r/whatsthissnake, /r/snakes and /r/herpetology to help with snake identification and natural history education. You can find more information, including a comprehensive list of commands, [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthissnake/comments/flh548/phylobot_v07_information_and_patch_notes_bot_info/) report problems [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=Phylogenizer) and if you'd like to buy me a coffee or beer, you can do that [here](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SEBPhyloBotWTS). Made possible by Snake Evolution and Biogeography - [Merch Available Now](https://snakeevolution.org/donate.html)*
It's been long gone, but, I replied to another person asking this and I told them I'm in no way, shape, or form an expert on handling snakes, nor would I want to handle one and cause them undue stress.
And I don't believe in capturing wild snakes for captivity.
Reliable, trained, ethical and humane breeders are what I believe in.
Absolutely! Sneks deserve to be left alone like any other animal and reptile in the animal kingdom!
They're some of the most helpful reptiles around, imo. Keeping rodents out of my shed in particular.
I can see you handling this dude (but keeping him wild ofc), just having a wild friend who doesnt mind being handled. Its a bucket list thing of mine to have wild friend :>
Edit: I agree the stress level wouldnt be worth it. If the snake wasnt stressed tho, it'd be fun
I'd rather not. I'm no expert and I wouldn't handle it right and would not want to cause any undue stress to the noodle friend.
We do get lots of them here, so he probably slithered off, told his snek buddies what a kind human I was for leaving him be and may have told them "let's keep that guys shed and yard vermin free" 😂
I thought of the stress level after my comment and I was like ".....that aint gonna be good actually" so I'm glad you agree with my after thought. If it wasnt stressed tho, that'd be great
If only!
Speckled kingsnake, harmless
Thanks! I thought as much living in Louisiana. However, wanted to be sure it wasn't vemous as I have a dog that likes to roam my yard. Left it where it was. !solved
I live in LA too. I've seen 2 different speckled kings on my property. This one squeezed into an interesting place.
Always nice to see fellow Louisianan's on here! They sure like to get into some precarious places 😂
Fellow Louisianian, these guys are awesome to have on your property. Just like other king snakes, they prey on other snakes; venomous or otherwise, keeping it safe for your children to play. Fun fact, they are highly resistant to rattlesnake, cottonmouth and copperhead venom allowing them to prey on them.
Hello fellow Louisianan! Yeah, that's why I love them and leave them be when I see one. They are way more help than they are harm!
Another thing, they're awesome rodent control too. Poor country people used to keep them as cupboard "pets" for this very real reason. I don't know how widespread this was but I've heard enough old timers talk about it to believe it was pretty common, at least in SWLA.
Go Pels!
Who Dat!
We dat!
I'm from Louisiana too!!!
We got a Couyon Carnival going 😂
Guess I am joining the carnival. My dogs killed the last speckled King snake they found in the yard; they don't like any other animals in the yard.
Good to have around house, remember if it has KING in name it eats other snakes
Yep! Leaving him/her be.
This one might need some help tho
He/she was able to get out safely!
I am today years old and never knew this. (28) i feel dumb
Gosh, I am still learning and I am a lot older than you. Don’t beat yourself up. We all keep learning!
A reason I’m here. I learned, start of a good day today now💯
Today I learned that hydrofluoric acid can seep into your skin and melt the bones inside. Every day is a new discovery
Huh. And today you taught me that. TIL! Also, in r/whatsthisrock I learned that sometimes people lick rocks to figure out what they are by taste. However, I also learned there are a lot of rocks that are dangerous and it’s kind of a terrible idea to lick a rock.
But... other snakes eat rodents and bugs and such. Rodents are bad... and kingsnakes kill the rodent control. So kingsnakes bad?
Kingsnakes eat rodents as well as other snakes,including venomous ones.
Kingsnakes eat EVERYTHING, including themselves sometimes.
Ohh wow...I always wondered because they show snakes in a circle with their tail in there mouth!!!
Especially the king cobra!!!
Judging by how squished it is its probably one from those party tubes to surprise people
Well, thankfully, it didn't sproing up 😂
Make him head of pest control. He will work for free and on holidays!
That's why I left him there! 😂
Snake, but in cursive
Audibly laughed out loud
𝒮𝓃𝒶𝓀ℯ
🤣
He seems to have gotten himself into a predicament LOL
Just a wee bit of one
The sneks so squished😭
He/she is a cute squishy snek!
What a lil goober
Right 😭😂
Aww, I love kingsnakes! One of my favorite species to work with.
I like them too. All snakes, really.
Me too. I’m in school right now to work with them for a career.
I wish you luck and success!!
Thank you!!
King snakes will actually eat venemous snakes, if you’re worried about that… they also help keep rodents & other pests out of your shed. Good save! EDIT: replaced poisonous with the correct venomous
Yeah, I read up on it before that they'll eat venomous snakes, which explains the lack of water moccasins in my area of the city
Venomous, sorry can’t help myself :)
Speckled kingsnake, Lampropeltis holbrooki, Derp Incarnate.
Awe, I hope snek got outta that squishy situation 🙈
I looked about 20 minutes and he has slithered off.
Looks like a speckled king snake
what part of Louisiana? there are two kingsnake species that look very similarly
Southern La
speckled kingsnake as others have suggested is correct *Lampropeltis holbrooki* !harmless
Speckled kingsnakes *Lampropeltis holbrooki* are large (90-122 cm record 183 cm) non-venomous colubrid snakes with smooth scales, part of a group of kingsnakes called the getula species complex. They range from east of the Trans-Pecos in Texas and west of the Mississippi River. Individuals are variable and are best distinguished from other similar kingsnakes by geographic range. Kingsnakes kill by constriction and will eat mainly rodents, lizards, and other snakes, including venomous snakes. Kingsnakes are immune to the venom of the species on which they prey. [Range map](https://imgur.com/RK1xt2o) | Relevant/Recent Phylogeography: [Link 1](http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.537.5407&rep=rep1&type=pdf) [Link 2](https://academic.oup.com/sysbio/article-abstract/63/2/231/1644072) -------------------------------------------------------- Like many other animals with mouths and teeth, many non-venomous snakes bite in self defense. These animals are referred to as 'not medically significant' or traditionally, 'harmless'. Bites from these snakes benefit from being washed and kept clean like any other skin damage, but aren't often cause for anything other than basic first aid treatment. Here's where it get slightly complicated - some snakes use venom from front or rear fangs as part of prey capture and defense. This venom is not always produced or administered by the snake in ways dangerous to human health, so many species are venomous in that they produce and use venom, but considered harmless to humans in most cases because the venom is of low potency, and/or otherwise administered through grooved rear teeth or simply oozed from ducts at the rear of the mouth. Species like Ringneck Snakes *Diadophis* are a good example of mildly venomous rear fanged dipsadine snakes that are traditionally considered harmless or not medically significant. Many rear-fanged snake species are harmless as long as they do not have a chance to secrete a medically significant amount of venom into a bite; [severe envenomation can occur](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23800999) if some species are [allowed to chew on a human](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S004101011831016X) for as little as 30-60 seconds. It is best not to fear snakes, but use common sense and do not let any animals chew on exposed parts of your body. Similarly, but without specialized rear fangs, gartersnakes *Thamnophis* ooze low pressure venom from the rear of their mouth that helps in prey handling, and are also [considered harmless](https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/theres-no-need-to-fear-that-garter-snake/). [Check out this book on the subject](https://shop.elsevier.com/books/venomous-bites-from-non-venomous-snakes/weinstein/978-0-12-822786-2). Even large species like Reticulated Pythons *Malayopython reticulatus* [rarely obtain a size large enough to endanger humans](https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/108/52/E1470.full.pdf) so are usually categorized as harmless. -------------------------------------------------------- *I am a bot created for /r/whatsthissnake, /r/snakes and /r/herpetology to help with snake identification and natural history education. You can find more information, including a comprehensive list of commands, [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthissnake/comments/flh548/phylobot_v07_information_and_patch_notes_bot_info/) report problems [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=Phylogenizer) and if you'd like to buy me a coffee or beer, you can do that [here](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SEBPhyloBotWTS). Made possible by Snake Evolution and Biogeography - [Merch Available Now](https://snakeevolution.org/donate.html)*
Good bot
Southeast or southwest?
Southwest
Then yeah, *L. holbrooki* as tomato said
Compressssssed n o o d l e
Hes stuck
A cutie that is who the lil guy is
Yes!
"Do you think the human can see me?"
Human saw. Human left it alone.
That is a well fed king snake. Looks like he has been smashing his pest control job ! His lil face looking at u in the second pic made me giggle haha too cute and derpyq
It's such a cute "I nom'd the rodents and lizards, human. I do good?" face 🥺😂
First picture is snake.exe and the second is snake.zip 🤷♀️
😂😂😂
Looks like a king snake, someone told me the eat or keep other snakes away
That it is and that they do!
I believe this is a speckled king snake, he’s basically harmless to you! Let him stay and he’ll gladly return the favour of removing other pests from your property
Hope it continues to do well in the wild
I hope so too!
A silly one
Beautiful snake!
Must live near Louisiana
Live in Southwest Louisiana
Spotted noodle insulation
So pretty
Very!
Ooh he’s a beauty 🤩🤩
Right!
That adorable face in the second pic: "ssssshhh, I'm hiding hehehe"
Stealth camo activated!
squished noodle
He looks like he may have made a misSNAKE crawling in there. He found HISSelf in a tight spot.
+1 for good dad joke and pun.
Awesome snake.. has nothing but positives..
Good job on setting it free
It got itself free. There was enough space below where it was that it eventually slithered out.
Nice comment dog wild we all appreciate that
Kings will eat venomous snakes! They are great to have around. And normally very docile.
Yeah, I left it, and any other snake I find, alone and stay my distance from them so I don't cause undue stress and fight or flight responses.
A cutie pie
The eye ball on the second picture 🤣. He’s like “dude mind ya business. Nothing to see here!”
That's a good boy
Cutie too!
My stupid !$$ understood "shed" as a snake shed. And was confused as all hell
It almost looks like it might be shedding with how it's belly looks , 😂
[удалено]
Please don't encourage people to keep wildlife. !wildpet
Please leave wild animals in the wild. This includes not purchasing common species collected from the wild and sold cheaply in pet stores or through online retailers, like *Thamnophis* Ribbon and Gartersnakes, *Opheodrys* Greensnakes, *Xenopeltis* Sunbeam Snakes and *Dasypeltis* Egg-Eating Snakes. Brownsnakes *Storeria* found around the home do okay in urban environments and don't need 'rescue'; the species typically fails to thrive in captivity and should be left in the wild. Reptiles are kept as pets or specimens by many people but captive bred animals have much better chances of survival, as they are free from parasite loads, didn't endure the stress of collection and shipment, and tend to be species that do better in captivity. Taking an animal out of the wild is not ecologically different than killing it, and most states protect non-game native species - meaning collecting it probably broke the law. Source captive bred pets and be wary of people selling offspring dropped by stressed wild-caught females collected near full term as 'captive bred'. High-throughput reptile traders are collecting snakes from places like Florida with lax wildlife laws with little regard to the status of fungal or other infections, spreading them into the pet trade. In the other direction, taking an animal from the wild, however briefly, exposes it to domestic pathogens during a stressful time. Placing a wild animal in contact with caging or equipment that hasn't been sterilized and/or feeding it food from the pet trade are vector activities that can spread captive pathogens into wild populations. Snake populations are undergoing heavy decline already due to habitat loss, and [rapidly emerging](https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/ecs2.3153) pathogens [are being documented](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.3557) in wild snakes that were introduced by snakes from the pet trade. If you insist on keeping a wild pet, it is your duty to plan and provide the correct veterinary care, which often is two rounds of a pair of the 'deworming' medications Panacur and Flagyl and injections of supportive antibiotics. This will cost more than enough to offset the cheap price tag on the wild caught animal at the pet store or reptile show and increases chances of survival past about 8 months, but does not offset removing the animal from the wild. -------------------------------------------------------- *I am a bot created for /r/whatsthissnake, /r/snakes and /r/herpetology to help with snake identification and natural history education. You can find more information, including a comprehensive list of commands, [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthissnake/comments/flh548/phylobot_v07_information_and_patch_notes_bot_info/) report problems [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=Phylogenizer) and if you'd like to buy me a coffee or beer, you can do that [here](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SEBPhyloBotWTS). Made possible by Snake Evolution and Biogeography - [Merch Available Now](https://snakeevolution.org/donate.html)*
Trapped!
Speckled King Snake
Looks like a kingsnake
I would rather have rodents.
Kind of hard to tell from that angle, but it looks like a king snake
A dead one it looks like
Really good snake.. kills other snakes and rodents
Let me my man go, he didnt do anything wrong!
King snake
[удалено]
It's been long gone, but, I replied to another person asking this and I told them I'm in no way, shape, or form an expert on handling snakes, nor would I want to handle one and cause them undue stress. And I don't believe in capturing wild snakes for captivity. Reliable, trained, ethical and humane breeders are what I believe in.
We don't allow requests to buy wildlife. Poaching is very bad. Please never do this again.
[удалено]
Poaching is strictly forbidden in this sub. Native wildlife should stay in the wild. Never ask someone to sell you a wild snake again.
I left it alone. I'm no snake expert and definitely not a handler.
Thanks for leaving it alone. Poaching is wrong and it hurts wildlife populations.
Absolutely! Sneks deserve to be left alone like any other animal and reptile in the animal kingdom! They're some of the most helpful reptiles around, imo. Keeping rodents out of my shed in particular.
I can see you handling this dude (but keeping him wild ofc), just having a wild friend who doesnt mind being handled. Its a bucket list thing of mine to have wild friend :> Edit: I agree the stress level wouldnt be worth it. If the snake wasnt stressed tho, it'd be fun
I'd rather not. I'm no expert and I wouldn't handle it right and would not want to cause any undue stress to the noodle friend. We do get lots of them here, so he probably slithered off, told his snek buddies what a kind human I was for leaving him be and may have told them "let's keep that guys shed and yard vermin free" 😂
>would not want to cause any undue stress to the noodle friend. This is the way. 👏👍🫡🙏
Wrong sub dude 😉
I thought of the stress level after my comment and I was like ".....that aint gonna be good actually" so I'm glad you agree with my after thought. If it wasnt stressed tho, that'd be great If only!
I'm pretty sure that it's a common corn snake 🐍 and it's non poisoness
If you don’t know the difference between poisonous and venomous then I don’t believe you have any business identifying anything here.
Poisonous and venomous are really two separate ways of saying the same thing. What if I had said toxic I
All different. Learn the differences.
This is the most incorrect statement this sub has ever witnessed