>>1. feed live or frozen? >>

If the mice are of good quality, it should not matter much nutrtionally speaking. For the mental health of the snake, for example, does it crave hunting, I have no idea.



>>2: Substrate-- >>

Kings live in, well, soil. They spend most of their time in it, on it, among it. It prevents them from drying out, it provides shelter from predators, from bad weather and can offer warm and cool areas within a short vertical space. Many types of kings live in proximity to a water source, underground or otherwise, such that the soil is not bone dry underground. So that is nature. If you can provide those characteristics in captivity with something else or other methods, no problem. Whatever works. I like coir fiber mixed with some sand. Messy but effective. Most people like aspen (I think its too dry, but I live in a dry climate). Even paper can work.



>>3. Tank size – what’s appropriate (lets say for a four foot snake)>>

Oh man, more opinions here than you'll care to sift through. My opinion - larger cage filled will hiding opportunity. Then again, I know a guy that has kept a Cal king in a 10 gal tank for 23 years, so who knows.



>>4. Separate tanks vs. housed together?>>

Two camps here. I think multiple (with large enough caging) is a great method and enables behaviors one would not see when keeping these animals separate. But you just can't throw two adults in the same cage and expect success. In the wild, some kings will undoubtably seek and end up in the same areas, for example in Winter when they seek the a suitable location. And they will do this without hating on one another or eating one another into oblivion. Doing that in captivity gets them introduced to one another. Some may take to others very well but not all. Babies raised together are usually absolutely fine with one another. Also, they must be fed to their satisfaction. Not all species behave the same. Familiarity with the species is a must. It can and has been done. What I am finding out now is that people in the 70s were far more forward thinking with this idea than now. Now so many of us are afraid of letting snakes be snakes. It is a wonder how populations of kingsnakes still exist in the wild without our aspen and plastic boxes and separation. Yet they do. So there are conditions where kings do not eat one another into oblivion, or individuals who won't eat other kings they have some kind of bond or familiartity with. If you can provide that in captivity, then housing kings together can be done.



>>5. Hides- how many should they have?>>

As many as you can. A thick layer of soil is essentially one big hide. There are many ways to provide hides. The most common method of finding kings is under boards. That is a great clue as to what they also like in captivity. PVC pipe works extremely well. Think of going to kingsnake habitat, how many kings do you see out and about in relation to how many are hidden? Very very few.



It will be interesting to see where herpetoculture goes in the future. In 20 years if it is still legal to keep pet snakes, folks may have 300 snakes each in tiny clear plastic tubes and use artificial insemination to create "pure" strains of hypo ghost het for zig-zag this and that. Or we may see a move towards community cages and let the snakes choose preferred mates. Or we may see what we have now. Or a mixture of all of the above. What appeals to you?
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Mark

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