snake identifying

Question

Cali kingsnake   QUESTION: I just got my California kingsnake but doesn't know the morph or what kind can you help me please?

ANSWER: That actually looks like a brooks kingsnake, not a California king or any cal king morphs. I would say its a brooks. But it has very weird pattern and coloring. Where did you get it? Quite a few people have been breeding colubrids to garder snakes and your snakes pattern and color look identical to some of the "backyard" snake breeders babies that I have seen.

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QUESTION: I got him from my local pet store as a baby but they labeled it as a california kingsnake they must've made a mistake...I never knew colubrids can be bred with garder snakes but do brooks get bigger than california kingsnakes?

Answer
The brooks will get 4-6foot, usually 4 foot for males and 6 foot for females. If it was bred with a garder then a female would likely max out at 5 foot and males 3-4. you can mix almost any egg laying snake with another egg laying snake. They mix carpet python and ball pythons and Burmese and ball pythons, so its possible. Also depending on where you live a lot of petshops will take in native species and sell them and say they are from breeders. One of our local shops would buy garder's and non venomous snakes that people caught and they would sell them and say they were from a breeder when they were not. So if you live where its warm and there are quite a few species of snakes its possible is could be a caught snake.
  And especially if you live near or in florida, I have been down there numerous times and have caught all kinds of "wild" king and corn snakes. Whether they be native or someones pet that they let go.