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King snakes

Remi

Remi

New member
does anyone no of really good king snake websites, breeders, anything pertinent in me researching kings? I think they are adorable but I no almost nothing about them but I haven't found any great info on my own about them or than they will eat other snakes.

If you have king snakes, share some of your stories with me. I'm hoping to add one to my non existent snake inventory

thank you:wavey:
 
well here is my question, have you kept snakes before? Are you prepared for a snake that could be hunger aggressive or be aggressive to you once pulled out of a cage?
I own a few Kings and a couple of mine are aggressive.
 
kings housing requirements are very similar to corns... they can get moody around food or feeding time...some even bite their owner if they have the slightest scent on them. Kings are a lil harder to tame as hatchlings. Most hatchlings musk ALOT and/or bite. I dont think they are a great beginner snake. i have quite a few... Hatchlings can be picky eaters and may go off feed for a while. You have to be careful b/c they are snake eaters.. but with that said- is there anything in particular you want to know about them?
 
Repticzone is a good site. I have always had Kings along with my Corns. Some can be bitey, but don't let that throw you off. I wouldn't start off with a Brooksi or an Eastern, as these can get quite large. A Mexican Black would be a great one to start out with , and there are tons of CalKings out there as well.
 
tricksterpup said:
well here is my question, have you kept snakes before? Are you prepared for a snake that could be hunger aggressive or be aggressive to you once pulled out of a cage?
I own a few Kings and a couple of mine are aggressive.
Click to expand...

I think that's a bit unfair... heck, most the corns I kept are way more aggressive feeders or aggressive in general than the L.Mexicana kingsnakes for instance. I have been bitten by a corn, never by an L.Mexicana though.

It's a huge family with many species, each of which is very different from one another, be it the Getula, Triangulum, Mexicana and many many more.

As for your research... google for the terms: Milksnakes, Lampropeltis, Lampropeltis mexicana, Lampropeltis getula, California kingsnakes, Mexican Black Kingsnakes, Prairie Kingsnakes, Arizona mountain kingsnakes, Thayeri kingsnake, Durango Kingsnake, Graybanded Kingsnake and there are many more...
The best way to go is just learn as many names as you can, find a species you like and than focus on it. It's a bit like saying you want to keep a dog- it's race says a whole deal about his character. Same goes here.

My personal favorite colubrids are from the L.Mexicana complex.
 
tricksterpup said:
well here is my question, have you kept snakes before? Are you prepared for a snake that could be hunger aggressive or be aggressive to you once pulled out of a cage?
I own a few Kings and a couple of mine are aggressive.
Click to expand...

My dad has a walk in bird cage in the backyard with roughly 75-100 finches, quails, and some times canaries...so I have plenty of experience with wild corns (finding them in and around the bird cages) and so far I only have one captive breed corn. I've always been fascinated with kings though. they are beautiful so I was looking to get one at the next daytona show. Giving myself plenty of time to research and find the perfect one. i've been bitten before, but not by a king and I'm definitely not going into this with the idea that snakes (in general) don't bite. I know every snake has it's own temperament.
 
sober_serpents said:
..You have to be careful b/c they are snake eaters.. but with that said- is there anything in particular you want to know about them?
Click to expand...

If all it's willing to eat is snakes...where and how do you buy feeder snakes??:uhoh: Do they basically have the same feeding schedule? Will it be safe to have my corn in the same room as my king or do they need to be in totally opposite sides of the house? thank you
 
from all of those I just googled, anery honduran milk snakes have to be my favorite....
 
If all it's willing to eat is snakes...where and how do you buy feeder snakes??:uhoh: Do they basically have the same feeding schedule? Will it be safe to have my corn in the same room as my king or do they need to be in totally opposite sides of the house? thank you
Click to expand...

Kingsnakes will eat F/T mice just fine. It's just that in nature they tend not to discriminate and will readily eat other snakes. My Kingsnake does have a strong feeding response but has never bit/struck at me over the smell of my corn snakes. If you want to avoid any confusion during feeding, just make sure to wash your hands before feeding the Kingsnake. Also, as far as housing, my corns and Kingsnake share the same rack system. It is also possible to breed a corn snake with a Kingsnake. This results in what is known as a Jungle corn. Here is a picture thread: Jungle corn

:bird:
 
We got a California King snake couple days ago.
Previous owners told us that he hasn't eaten in almost four months, and that he(/she) eats only white mice :bird:
But I fed him almost right away when we took him home ,and he quickly ate a black mouse... He attacked and took the mice right away when he saw it :p

This one is much more active than my corn snakes or ball python, and even though he ate two mice he didn't hide right away. He comes out of his cave several times a day.

He is aggressive sometimes when we take him out of his viv ,but when we are handling him, he's quite calm. He has bitten his ex-owner eight times (and I'm not wondering why, when I saw how he handled the snake; trying to pet him on the head etc.). And they have fed him in his viv (not in a separate "box" like we do), so that might be one reason too.

Here's few pics of him:
Photo1
Photo2
 
Kings are highly variable.
I have a beautiful cal-king that's over 20 years old, and he's a lap snake.
He's about as tame as a snake can get. I got a bloody nose with him wrapped around my neck, watching TV. (Dry air.) We came nose-to nose before I knew what was going on. He poked at my nose a few times like he would a f/t mouse, ( I was amused at first, and then realized I was bleeding.) and slowly began to tighten around my neck. I gently unwound him, but it's really amazing how strong snakes are when they want to be. During all this, he never bit me.
But you must be more careful when dealing with kings, as you can't handle them one after the other like corns. If you do, the king will smell prey (Another snake.) on you and treat you accordingly.
I have one that's absolutely un-handleable.
The only time he allows me to touch him is when he already has food in his mouth, and that's just because he's busy.
Doesn't make a very good pet, doesn't make a very good breeder.

Make sure you handle a king before you buy it. Seriously.

Hondurans are a bit squirmy and secretive as babies, but they usually tame right down as adults.
 
Nobody asked the first question...What kind of king are you interested in?

Every species and subspecies of king will vary a bit. There is a HUGE difference between a Florida brooksi and a greyband. The care would be the same, but the looks, temperment, attitude, and size are all completely different.

You need to nail down what you are expecting from a kingsnake, and what you want from a kingsnake inorder to make the right decision about which kingsnake is right for you.

Once you figure out what species of king you want...it will be MUCH easier to do a google search for information, and find out specific details about those particular animals.

I have some pretty king pictures on my website in my signature, too, if you wanted to look...
 
I have a California kingsnake who can be quite nasty. She seems to be improving a lot now that she is not in my classroom-- perhaps, like all of us teachers get to feeling, she was just tired of teenagers staring at her!! The other day I was holding her and she bit me... for a while. Chewed on me a bit. And it's something I've come to expect with her, so....

But I agree with Chris on this one... there's a lot of species, and their behaviors will vary. Start looking at pics and learn all you can about them and their habits before you buy.
 
I have a cali king who is just downright mean. She strikes at the glass, and bites/chews anything you put into her cage. Fingers, hooks, and wooden spoons included. But I've also seen a greyband that was just an absolute sweetheart. Like people have mentioned before, it's completely variable. If you want one that you're sure is going to be "tame", I recommend going to a reptile show to get one. That way, you can handle it for a bit there before you decide on a purchase.
 
RobbiesCornField said:
I have a cali king who is just downright mean. She strikes at the glass, and bites/chews anything you put into her cage. Fingers, hooks, and wooden spoons included. But I've also seen a greyband that was just an absolute sweetheart. Like people have mentioned before, it's completely variable. If you want one that you're sure is going to be "tame", I recommend going to a reptile show to get one. That way, you can handle it for a bit there before you decide on a purchase.
Click to expand...

Agreed, its nice to know the snake a bit before purchase. (Although I picked out a mean cali king when I was at a show, but he's calmed down quite a bit now that he's home...only bites me about 4 out of 5 times I get him out instead of every time... :grin01:)
 
Well, my perfect Cali king is my favorite snake of all, but you sure hear enough stories about psyco Calis to make you think they are not as reliably tame as corns. I love my two Florida kings, and my FK/Eastern king intergrade. They are not mean at all- you just have to watch out for a feeding response. So don't smell like mice when you handle them. And Big jake gets crabby when he is blue. I really enjoy them, though, and think they are a nice choice.

I don't believe I've ever heard of a "mean" Greyband.
 
interesting....my corn is very active, I was supprised to read corns were shy. lol if you can post pics, I'd love to see him.
 
I've got a pueblan milk who is super jumpy and musky but doesn't bite, and a mexican black king that is a little shy, but also not at all bitey. I admit though if a non-snake person wanted to hold a snake though, I would hand them the indigo or any of the corns before those two. Again not because they bite, they are just a little more unpredictable. I could see either of them musking, trying to leap through the air, or twitching in a really weird way that could have the person thinking they were about to be bitten..

My pueblan is so obviously freaked out about handling that I really just let her be most of the time, she always seems on the verge of a heart attack, lol!
 
My Cali King is an awsome baby boy. Very sweet, very calm. More so even than my corns. He is a puppydog. And he always was even as a hatchling. So handle the babies you have in mind before selecting your king.
 
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