Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Cal King has twice refused to eat from my hand, but I wanted to give him another try. I think part of the secret is to start him on a hopper. He's better off not having to manipulate something that's too big at first. The last time this worked, he took the mouse from the air as I dangled it. This time, I placed each mouse in the palm of my hand and let him work on them at his own pace. He usually makes two or three attempts before he finds an angle that he likes. He ended up taking the hopper tail first. The adult he worked until he started it head first. I've cut the sequence to just one photo of each. Some of the adult photos weren't ideal for mixed company. LOL

He's recently shed, and in my biased view, he's beautiful.

Bill

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

Here's one more shot of the mouse going down.

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

"ELVIS" LIVES!!!lol! great name!

LOL Thanks, I'm afraid that I can't take credit for that one. The previous owner had named him Elvis, and the pet store owner just happened to tell me the name as I left the store with him. When I brought him home, nothing else fit.

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

My first Cal King was named Elvis years ago. He looked a lot like your Elvis (yeh, he was good lookin').

Elvis escaped twice for long periods and I got him back both times. He was also my first breeding male. And a darn niced snake. I loved him.

But, as it happens, I sold him while "getting out" of reptiles once.

I wonder if he's still around? Funny, the only good thing about selling off a favorite snake and losing track of it is they become somewhat "immortal"...yep, Elvis lives!

Thanks for the story. I wouldn't have thought to name this guy Elvis on my own. When I bought him last October, I had no idea what I'd name him. As I was leaving the store with him, the owner told me that the guy who used to have him had named him Elvis. Once I got him home, no other name ever seemed able to displace "Elvis," so that's who he remains.

Technically, he's my first snake. I bought him and a ball python a few hours apart, but he came home first.

He's been good for me. His only bad habit is the occasionaly tendency to defecate after I've held him a while. He only escaped once when I left the clips off the top of his cage after feeding. Something made me check the snake room again, and I noticed him in a strange position. Then I realized what was strange was that I was seeing him outside the glass. He was out for less than an hour and hadn't gone anywhere.

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