i recently (abotu 6 weeks ago) got a new snake aswell. it was a female het albino banded californian king. she was extremely aggressive to start with, and like your own, tail would shake, would go into striking posture (s shaped bend at the neck) and sometimes actually strike at me.

i left her to settle in the first few days, and some days she was more sociable than others. i've recently moved her to another room (she was in my bedroom) as i'm awake almost all of the time due to insomnia and therefore, there was nearly always a light on in my room. she seems to have calmed immensely and hardly ever does the tail shake now. even though once i woke her up and picked her up, she did go to strike at me, then just before she was about to bite, she stopped, had a smell and was fine (must have recognised my scent - but if i had been bitten, it was my own fault for startling her). with king snakes you need to be direct when picking them up and also when handling them. otherwise, as a previous replier said.....they'll know how to keep you away. they arent poisonous, i took the notion that it was better to be bitten and show her i was boss than back down and have a unsociable snake

some folk would say if you arent prepared to be bitten, you shouldnt keep snakes. king snakes do make great pets when properly handled though. most suggest handling them for 10 mins per day and (again as suggested by prev poster) feeding them in a seperate enclosure so they dont associate hands or lid being removed with food and also, if you have woodshavings as beddin.....if they digest this, it can cause damage to their insides.

hope you manage to overcome this. just be brave. even if you know someone who is a experienced handler, ask them to get the snake used to handling for you

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