Harmless · Native to the United States

Speckled kingsnake

Lampropeltis holbrooki (Stejneger, 1902)

Also called Say’s kingsnake
Data updated October 2026

Speckled kingsnake coiled on a gray rock, its black body covered in small yellow spots
Fig. 1 — Adult on a rock. Each black scale carries a small yellow spot.
Close view of a speckled kingsnake’s head with yellow lips barred in black
Fig. 2 — The lip scales are pale yellow with black edges, forming vertical bars.

At a glance

A glossy black kingsnake peppered with yellow spots, found from the Mississippi Valley to Texas. It eats rodents and other snakes, including venomous ones, and is harmless to people.

01

Identification

The speckled kingsnake is a shiny black or very dark brown snake with a small white or pale yellow spot in the center of nearly every scale. The effect is a fine, speckled pattern; on some snakes, especially young ones, the spots line up into thin crossbands. The belly is pale yellow with irregular black markings. The scales are smooth and glossy and the anal plate is single. Males grow larger than females and have longer tails.

  1. 01A spot on every scale. Each dark scale carries one small yellow, cream or white spot.
  2. 02Smooth, glossy scales. No keels, giving a polished look.
  3. 03Barred lips. Pale lip scales with dark borders that form vertical bars.

02

Size

01 ft2 ft3 ft4 ft Typical adult · about 42 in (107 cm)

Most adults measure 35 to 48 inches (89–122 cm), and exceptional snakes reach 72 inches (183 cm). The Kansas record is a little over 49 inches.

03

Range & habitat

Speckled kingsnake stretched through green and dry grass
Fig. 3 — Grassy fields and prairie edges are typical habitat.

Speckled kingsnakes live in the central United States, from the Gulf Coast north to southern Iowa and western Illinois, and from eastern Texas east into Alabama. They are found across Missouri and most of Kansas and range through Oklahoma.

They use prairies and prairie streams, hay fields, brushy areas, forest edges, old farm fields, rocky wooded hillsides and the edges of swamps, usually in moist, open places. They shelter under rocks and logs, in rotten stumps and in small mammal burrows.

State guides: Texas · Oklahoma

04

Diet & predators

Kingsnakes are powerful constrictors. Speckled kingsnakes eat mice and shrews, small birds and bird eggs, lizards, turtle eggs and other snakes, including venomous pit vipers.

Feeds on

  • Mice and shrews
  • Snakes, including venomous ones
  • Bird and turtle eggs
  • Lizards and small birds

Preyed on by

  • Hawks and owls
  • Racers and other kingsnakes
  • Raccoons and skunks
  • Domestic cats (young snakes)
Eastern copperhead in leaf litter
Prey — pit vipers such as copperheads.
Speckled kingsnake head close-up
Kingsnakes kill prey by constriction.

05

Behavior & seasons

Speckled kingsnakes are active from April to October, with the most surface activity from April into June. They move about by day in spring and fall and become nocturnal in summer heat. In the breeding season, males wrestle each other for dominance. When are snakes active in Texas?

06

Reproduction

Courtship and mating take place from April to early June. Females lay a single clutch of 2 to 23 eggs, rarely up to 29, in June or July. The eggs hatch after about 60 to 70 days, from late summer into early fall.

07

Conservation

The speckled kingsnake is common across much of its range, including Missouri and Kansas. Kingsnakes in parts of the Southeast, such as Alabama, have declined noticeably over the past 30 years because of habitat loss, fire ants, road traffic and killing by people.

Keep reading

Sources

Data updated October 2026 · How we build these pages