I finally took some photos of my adult male earlier today as he exercised around my apartment. (My tiny apartment has been pre-scanned for danger spots, and he is constantly monitored.) For a terrestrial snake, he is surprisingly good at climbing. Today while encouraging him to climb down from the tall recycling bin in my kitchen, he instead climbed UP onto the refrigerator, and explored my tableware tray.

He is at least 63 inches long and has good girth. A rescue from the Humane Society that was later resold to me, his origins & age are a mystery.

I’ve kept & studied many snakes across the years, including several Kingsnakes, but his behavior is unique. While normally surprisingly calm & predictable, especially when first touched or picked up, every now & then he goes into Wicked Wizard mode. He has bit himself twice in prior frenzies, and he once tried to constrict my finger. Such incidents are usually triggered by rapid movement that he mistakes as a feeding response, and subsequently he strikes at anything moving. He can remain in this frenzied state for many minutes after being put back into his vivarium.

So, he is not entirely predictable nor trustworthy, but I’m hoping to change that in time with frequent handling. I’ve only had him for a couple of months, and I have no idea how often he was handled previously – if at all.

He is quite active, feeds 1-2 times weekly and loves to explore. So far, his usually calm nature, inquisitive demeanor, consistent appetite and beautiful natural coffee brown & straw yellow colors make him my favorite king of all. Happy New Year!

Ameron
Portland, OR

1.0 Lampropeltis getula floridana
1.0 Lampropeltis triangulum sinaloae x hondurensis
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus (Tallahassee morph)

Below is my Photobucket link with recent photos.
Link

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