Kingsnakes and Milksnakes

The kingsnakes and milksnakes of the Lampropeltis genus have been among the most popular snakes in terrariums for many years. Their manageable body size, bright colors and comparatively uncomplicated husbandry requirements make most species of non-venomous snakes suitable for beginners in the terrarium hobby. In the past decade, new studies have led to extensive changes in the taxonomic systematics of the king snakes. This book summarizes the currently valid taxonomy of the entire genus Lampropeltis for the first time and thus pursues the approach of promoting the hitherto reluctant acceptance of the use of the valid nomenclature. The author has kept various species of kingsnakes and milksnakes for around 30 years and provides an insight into his husbandry and breeding methods.

I was born in 1970 and grew up in the Westerwald as the only child of an electrician and a doctor's assistant. My hobbies as a child were mainly martial arts and reading. After leaving school, I joined the Rhineland-Palatinate police force in 1991 and now work as a detective. Having been interested in snakes as a child, I started keeping them in 1993 and acquired a lot of specialist knowledge. Over time, other keepers asked me for advice more and more often and so I began to write up my notes in specialist articles. I realized that I also enjoyed writing and so it was only a matter of time before I published my first book. I also continued to pursue my hobby of self-defense and now work as a trainer, course instructor and speaker in this field. In June 2017, my first book on the theoretical foundations of self-defense was published, which will be followed by further works.