Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, Im a 16 year old girl that lives in NJ, and I'm finally getting a snake like I've always wanted. I'm looking around a lot and have been posting a lot here, someone suggested that I get a Thayeri for my 29 gallon (the person who told me about them seemed pretty enthusiastic so I figured I'd check them out). I dont know much about them specifically, although I held a 3 ft banana kingsnake today along with a ball python, I like how they look and that they are very lively. If anyone could tell me more about their personality, requirements, what they're expected to eat at each stage of life and anything else that would need to be known about them. Also, color doesnt matter much since I don't plan on breeding them. Thanks for the help

Thayeri are my absolute favorite Snake. they come in a variety of colors there is nothing ordinary about them in my opinion. they are extremely tame, atleast from my experience, much more tame than a California Kingsnake (i asume that was the "Banana" that you held earlier today). i have never even so much as seen a thayeri be agressive at all. there eating behavior is great, they readily acept frozen food (mice/rats)of the apporpriate size. make sure that if you get a baby though to get it from a breeder that has a good reputation, their are many on this forum that fall under that title. i think that if you chose a thayeri you would be more than happy with him/her.

Adam

Here are some of mine:

-----
1.2 THAYERI
1.2 SPLENDIDA (1.0 ALBINO/ 0.2 HYPO)
1.1 CORNS SNAKES (0.1 SNOW/ 1.0 STRIPEDSUNGLOW)
0.1 REDFOOT TORTOISE
1.0 LEOPARD TORTOISE
0.1 PYXIE FROG
0.0.1 HORNED FROG
0.0.1 TADPOLES

Thanks for all the info! I looked at a few pictures, and I think that the one I saw was a California Kingsnake. I really liked him over the Ball Pythons, and I think that a Thayeri would be perfect for me as you described them, both their temperment and that fact that they are easy to keep fed. Also, everyone who's ever had one seems to love them and be very enthusiastic about them, something I didnt find with all of the other snakes I looked at.

Now I just need to know the basics about how I should set up the tank: what heating do you guys use, how many hideboxes, and also are they completely terrestrial or should they have anything to climb on? I figured newspaper would be good and easy.

Hehehe, I think I may be over-analyzing this. Oh well, better to know beforehand, eh? And you can't always trust those random care-sheets done on google. Thanks again.

I think you're doing all the right things, and I had hoped that more people would respond to this thread. I've never had a thayeri, but I'm very interested in getting one as a possible next snake. You're asking the right questions, and asking these questions now will prevent some heartbreak later if a snake really isn't right for you. Folks are busy, but I hope you'll keep asking and get the answers that you need.

I think I remember you, and I think you were looking for something that wouldn't grow too big. From everything I've heard, thayeri are perfect for reaching a moderate size but not getting much bigger. They eat well and have a good disposition. You'll meet some of the best breeders in the country on this forum. They produce beautiful animals.

All the best,

Bill
-----
It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

well the caging is completely up to you, you can go extremely elaborate with live plants and underground hides, make a nice scrubland vivarium. that is definatly fun to design and set up, but it also calls for alot more intensive cleaning, i keep my thayeri in long, but low to the ground sterelite containers ( you can see them in the picture i included) i worked for a while in Vermont selling snakes and have dealt with many types of set ups, for me though, now that i have 8 snakes (soon to be twelve, thanks mike) the sterelite containers with a news paper bottom works best for me, i have never had much experience with thayeri as climbers, i have never really seen it, but i do offer obsitcles in their enclosures, be it rocks, vines, sticks, and various peices of cardboard boxes serving as a hide space and something to climb over or sit atop, i personaly feel it keeps them happier, i dont know why, but i do. If they do decided to crap on anything it is easily washed or just recycled in the card board dumpster. heating is pretty easy also with thayeri they dont require too much heat, if you read alot of the past posts it seems that everyone here keeps them between 75-85, 85 being the hottest it will get on the warm side of the tank, not in the whole enclosure. there are also two types of people that keep thayeri, ones that appreciate it, and others that are absolutley thayeri nuts, and you'll find both here. mostly nuts though. and over analyzing any snake purchase is the first step to success with the animal, so analyze away. hope this helps, if i missed anything hopefully someone else will pick up my slack.

Adam

-----
1.2 THAYERI
1.2 SPLENDIDA (1.0 ALBINO/ 0.2 HYPO)
1.1 CORNS SNAKES (0.1 SNOW/ 1.0 STRIPEDSUNGLOW)
0.1 REDFOOT TORTOISE
1.0 LEOPARD TORTOISE
0.1 PYXIE FROG
0.0.1 HORNED FROG
0.0.1 TADPOLES

Hello Cairbre and welcome to the forum.

Thayeri kingsnakes are very much like most other kingsnakes as far as caring for them. I would provide a warm area, a cool area a hide spot and a water source. A heat source under your tank on one end would be best. You'll find that they don't mind being handled and if you hold them often they seem to like to crawl through your hands and fingers. Mine seem to enjoy the warmth of my hands. I have one crawling on my arm as I type. Handle them often, but not for a couple of days after feeding.
They will start out feeding on pinky mice as hatchlings and graduate to large fuzzys and hoppers as they grow. Eventually they be able to eat sub-adult to adult mice. DO NOT feed them other reptiles. They can and will eat other snakes and lizards but its also a good way to introduce parisites to you snakes. They may start to refuse eating mice and only want reptiles.

Have you determined which morph you prefer. Leonis, milksnake phase, or melanistic?

May I suggest a book? "Kingsnakes and Milksnakes, a complete pet owners manual", by Markel and Bartlett.

One last bit of advice. Thayeri are habit forming. Once you get one you'll probably want more of them. LOL

Good luck and again welcome. If you have specific questions contact me via email. Check out my website

-----
Vichris

Vichris Variables

Thanks so much to you both for all of your help! I'll probably keep the tank simple like you said Adam, my sister was looking forward to decorating a lot, but as long as the snake is happy I dont really care about the tank looking that great, after all it's going to be a family pet instead of just something there for decoration. (Speaking of family pets, I've also got 3 cats. The two species are never going to be near each other, but I'd still like to know if that would be a problem if an adult kingsnake ever got loose in the house.)

Also, my favorite pattern I'd have to say would be Leonis, closely followed by melanistic, but they're really all nice looking (the only thing I really dont like in snakes are albinos). Thanks for the book suggestion too, should be helpful. I looked in Barns & Noble yesterday while we were there, apparently they don't consider snakes pets, since they weren't in the pet section, lol. And as for feeding, I was planning on feeding frozen mice, no where that I know of around me sells lizards as feeders anyways. How do you guys feel about the new frozen mice they have at Petsmart? I go there to volunteer at the adoption center on Saturdays, and those would be very convinient for me. Of course, I'm wary of theirs from experience of what else they sell, so I decided to check here first. Thanks again guys, you've really been a huge help to me in this decision!

(Speaking of family pets, I've also got 3 cats. The two species are never going to be near each other, but I'd still like to know if that would be a problem if an adult kingsnake ever got loose in the house.)

In almost every case where this happens, the cat ends up killing the snake. A few people have cats that will catch the snake and bring it back alive. If they see the cat quickly enough, the snake escapes with just a scare. If you have both, you must make every effort to protect your snakes from the cats. Otherwise, you'll end up with a dead snake.

Bill
-----
It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

Its Hard to say what would ahppen if a cat met a kingsnake, my cats are very curious about what i am doing when i am in my reptile room, they like to watch the snakes, but they have never seemed to make a threat to each other (hiss/strike, just curiosity.obviously make sure that the lid is on tight everytime you put the snake back in the enclosure and it never hurts to double check.

as far as feeders go i live in the mountains so we dont have any big chain pet stores around us, the closest one is in Farmington, New Mexico, or Albuqueque New Mexico, but luckily i have found a large scale breeder that is about 4 hours away from me so they can ship me stuff UPS ground for alittle over 10 dollars and they have good prices also. my girlfriend and i also breed rats and then freeze them when they are of apropriate size. i know what you mean about the wariness of the big box stores, i sometimes feel they are more out to sell the products rather than to sell success with an animal. and i dont know about their prices either so that is something to consiter. well i hope i didnt leave anything out.

Adam

-----
1.2 THAYERI
1.2 SPLENDIDA (1.0 ALBINO/ 0.2 HYPO)
1.1 CORNS SNAKES (0.1 SNOW/ 1.0 STRIPEDSUNGLOW)
0.1 REDFOOT TORTOISE
1.0 LEOPARD TORTOISE
0.1 PYXIE FROG
0.0.1 HORNED FROG
0.0.1 TADPOLES

Thanks again. I'll post on the general about the mice at Petsmart and see what everyone thinks. Also, it's a big relief to know about the cats (not that I plan on having the snake escape anytime soon). It'd just be one less thing I'd have to worry about if it ever happened to get loose, since my cats pretty much have no instincts left anyways and wouldn't even touch our old dwarf hamster when he used to escape.

I'm going to get a hold of that book you suggested, or at least A book, so I'll always have the basics right there infront of me. Right now I'm just going to start looking for breeders so I can actually buy my first thayeri! I got your email Chris, thanks so much. If anyone else would like to post here that has any currently, please go ahead . Just know that I'm really looking towards the lower end of the price range for Thayeris, since I dont want a breeder, just a pet, so looks/genetics/lineage don't matter much to me. Thanks as always, and sorry my posts always take centuries to read because they're so lenghty :-P

Good Luck! there are some great Breeders on this forum, just ask around, i think if i told you who they were it would be consitered advertising, and i dont wanna risk getting pulled, but if you wanna contact me i can give you some names.

Adam
-----
1.2 THAYERI
1.2 SPLENDIDA (1.0 ALBINO/ 0.2 HYPO)
1.1 CORNS SNAKES (0.1 SNOW/ 1.0 STRIPEDSUNGLOW)
0.1 REDFOOT TORTOISE
1.0 LEOPARD TORTOISE
0.1 PYXIE FROG
0.0.1 HORNED FROG
0.0.1 TADPOLES