I have been keeping a large collection of Florida kings (which are more known snake eaters than Cali kings) for over 20 years and never had one occurance of cannibalism with my bonded groups . I have such a large collection that it would be impossible to watch their feeding habits . I just throw in sevral chicks (I feed mostly FT chicks to my Florida kings) and walk away.

I used to watch and when one would bite down on another I would rush to the cage and try and separate them (which isn't easy when you are forcing them). Then one day I started leaving them alone and watching what would happen if one "accidentally" bit down on another in a feeding rush. Guess what? They LET GO!

So even if bonded Floridas bite down on another individual they will eventually let go once they realize what they have in their mouth. Which is left alone they figure out in less than a minute.

This is REAL common during feeding time. I just fed over 100 adults a few minutes ago and this very thing is probably happening now as I type. I just dump 6 or 7 chicks into a corner and they go at them. If they bite down onto another cage mate they will let go and figure out where is the food.

I have had them bite down on the edge of their cage when opening it. They will bite down on anything that moves once they see the cage open (a learned response) and sometimes I am just changing the water dishes. It is common and no big deal to me because this is daily routine for them and myself.

But remember these snakes have to be bonded at a young age! They know each other.

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Show Entire Thread ]