Reptile & Amphibian Forums

While watching my albino cal king eat, her tail was lying against the mouse. Her mouth almost went over her tail, I was watching closely when I noticed in case I needed to intervene, but as soon as her mouth touche her tail - her tail went into "leave me alone" rattling mode and she stopped her progress on eating the mouse.

Then her tail stopped rattling, and was no longer in danger of being engulfed. After a few seconds, she continued to consume the mouse.

Anyway, it seems that she was not aware that her mouth was at her tail, and didn't know what it was that was touching her tail and starting to engulf it.
-----
3.0 WC; 0.3 CB L. getula californiae
1.0 CB L. getula nigrita
0.1.1 WC; 0.0.3 CH Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata

That is funny. I watched my young cal get spooked by his own tail just the other day. He was moving past his water dish when he decided to switch directions, and when his tail twitched near his face, he swung around real quick as if he expected something behind him. Then he just looked at his tail for a moment before continuing on his way. It reminded me of a dog discovering his tail for the first time and chasing it. lol.

Haha that is hilarious. What sizes are your cal kings? A couple of my babies are hitting the 20 g mark. Someone below put that a 2 ft king should or could be eating a full grown mouse? In my eyes that is massive, let me know your thoughts. Thanks, Sam

I feed mine that are between 24 and 30 inches small mice.
In weight, they range 80g (the one that just had hookworm) to 95g.
-----
3.0 WC; 0.3 CB L. getula californiae
1.0 CB L. getula nigrita
0.1.1 WC; 0.0.3 CH Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata

I waited until about 30 inches to start mine on normal sized mice...

Haha that reminds me, did you see the "Living With Reptiles" in one of the more recent issues? It's about a cal king that actually swallowed its own tail, as well as a good portion of its body it seems, but spits it back out unharmed. There's even a photograph of the snake performing the unusual feat.
-----
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon (Irwin, R.I.P.)