Thanks to everyone for their help with what is best for the little King at work. (I will try to get hold of a Digital cam and take a picture of him to post.) I feel much better knowing that re-release is NOT the right move & good housing/care is to be the focus now that he is WC....which leads me to my next question(s)....
Since I own snakes is there a risk of passing parasites, pathogens,salmonella, etc. to my own household and 'babies' if I were to handle this Kingsnake? Or is handling a wild snake turned captive a ridiculous idea anyway? I will probably get hammered verbally for saying so but I'd love to tame him a 'lil, since he is a baby yet & get him to a more peaceful state. It took me a year to get my own King (Pueblan Milk Snake) to stop squirting me with musk (I bought him when he was 9 months) but he did eventually stop and came to be a true pet for myself and my sons, often out of the cage and in someone's lap. Stevie Ray used to love to curl up with my youngest son, then age 6 and would lay for hours on his belly as my son watched TV. He liked to ride in the car and would stretch out along my arm, with his head in the breeze, almost like a dog does! I lost Stevie Ray when he was 11 years old, he came down with a bacterial infection and despite Vet care and tons of money, he lost the battle to the infection so my concerns are sincere. The Vet had said probably a "bad rat". I'm ignorant when it comes to wild capture and so I would like to ask : Can you tame a wild captured king snake? Has anyone out there done it? Is it safe for myself and my two snakes at home for me to handle him? Or am I best just offering to help with his water, clean cage and not handle him at all? (Geez I hope I phrased this one better!LOL!!)

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