I am new to this forum and would like some help if possible. I recently purchased a milk snake and the gentleman I had bought from did not know what kind of milk snake it was. Taking a picture of him through google says he is a sinaloan, but seeing pictures of nelson milk snakes is pretty confusing. Is there anyone who would be ever so kind in messaging me details on how to tell the difference between the two species. Thank you.
Welcome! I don’t work with milk snakes, but hopefully someone who does will be along soon. Pics of your snake will help them to say what you’ve got. I do understand that you’re asking about how to tell the difference. There are folks who can help with that.
Welcome again.
Some milks are combinations so just guessing without seeing your snake, it could be a combination of both……
Absolutely, I will for sure add some later when I can, currently on the work computer haha.
Likely Sinaloan or a mix, as far as I’m aware, pure Nelson’s are hard to come by as there has been a lot of mixing in the hobby. That said, photos will definitely give more insight.
Thank you. Ill add them here in a few seconds.
Photos have been added
Gonna say that’s probably just a generic mix. There’s really no way to know for sure unless you had the lineage, and even then there’s every chance it’s not any one pure locality.
Thank you very much. I appreciate it a lot.
I will say, I’m not an expert, nor do I keep them myself, so don’t take my word as set in stone.
As for what species it is, both ‘Nelsons’ and ‘Sinaloan’ milk snakes are the same species and have been for over ten years now – they’re both Lampropeltis polyzona.
As for what now-invalid subspecies it is, I agree with previous posters that given the mixing (accidental and intentional) that’s been going on with increasing frequency in hobby stocks, the odds of it being an unidentifiable mix are very high. That doesn’t detract from the fact that it is a pretty snake and looks like it has a pleasant disposition, but I’d recommend not breeding it of course.