AnimalvsAnimal
Eastern Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum) Flickr 2ndPeter (2)🐍

Photo: Peter Paplanus · CC BY 2.0

SpeciesColubridae
Reptiles

🐍Milk snake

Lampropeltis triangulum (Lacépède, 1789)

The milk snake or milksnake, is a species of kingsnake; there were once up to 24 subspecies recognized, however fewer are officially recognized today. Lampropeltis elapsoides, the scarlet kingsnake, was formerly classified as a 25th subspecies, but is now recognized as a distinct species. The previously delineated subspecies have strikingly different appearances, and many of them have their own common names. Morphological and genetic data suggest that this species could be split into several separate species, and it has been by several authorities. Lampropeltis gentilis, Lampropeltis annulata, Lampropeltis abnorma, Lampropeltis polyzona, and Lampropeltis micropholis have been elevated to the species level. Milksnakes are not venomous.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
2
Photos
5
Measurements
6
vs you
≈ 1/65th of your weight
Also called
Scarlet kingsnake
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2019.

Population trendStable
Key measurements
Body mass
0.95 kg
Body length
2 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
23 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Milk snake

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
0.95 kgrecord 0.6 kg · ReptTraits
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Body length
2 mmaximum recorded
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
23 yearsrecord 23 years · ReptTraits
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Activity cycle
Nocturnal
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Venomous
No
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
0.9 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Milk snake yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classSquamata
  4. ›familyColubridae
  5. ›genusLampropeltis
  6. ›speciesLampropeltis triangulum
Full lineage
  1. superorderLepidosauria
  2. orderLizards & snakes · Squamata
  3. infraorderSnakes · Serpentes
  4. genusLampropeltis
All 12 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. superorderLepidosauria
  10. orderLizards & snakes · Squamata
  11. infraorderSnakes · Serpentes
  12. genusLampropeltis
More

More about the Milk snake

In other languages
korálovka sedlatá (cs), Dreiecksnatter (de), vörös királysikló (hu), ミルクヘビ (ja), Pieniškoji gyvatė (lt), melkesnok (nb) … and 19 more languages
More photos
Eastern Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum) Flickr 2ndPeter (2)Eastern Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum) (27916193197)Eastern Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum) (40682943834)
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Scaling lab

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Tree of life

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