I have a minimum of a year of reaserch before I get any type of animal.
I think a year might be overkill. If you are consciencious and do good research (i.e. get some of the good books recommened to you, don't just ask questions on or read online "care" sheets), you will be ready to select and care for a snake in a few weeks. Of course, your timetable is your business.
The King I am most interested was I think referred to as a California scarlet king snake.
First of all, the snake you are referring to is probably the California Mountain Kingsnake. They are tricolored (red/black/yellow) as you describe. However, I don't recommend this species as a first snake. They are generally docile and are pretty, but they aren't an "easy" snake to keep. Being docile isn't necessarily a good litmus test for a good beginner snake.
If you want a tricolor snake, like the Mtn. King, I suggest you look at something like a Mexican Milksnake or Sinaloan Milksnake. Both are hardy and easy to keep and are docile. The babies are a bit wiggly, but in general they calm down quickly. There are lot of other milksnakes, but many of them are too high strung for beginners.
I was wondering about the "Bedding." I am allergic to Pine and Ceder of all kinds and I wanted something a but more natural than carpet or Astroturf, and more aesthetic than newspaper. But I will use whatever is acceptable given the circumstances. I had a pair of Hermit crabs a while back and I used a soft type of beach sand as bedding and I was wondering if that was ok for a snake.
The best bedding is Aspen shavings. Sand may look good but it is almost impossible to keep clean since fecal material and urates tend to get ground up in to powder by the sand and end up being impossible to remove. So unless you are prepared to replace all the sand when the snake defecates, you might want to try something a little more hygenic.
And as far as handling, I wasn't aware that it could stress a snake out, so what is an acceptable level of handling and is there a specific time its okay, and when should I avoid it altogether?
You have to understand one basic precept - snakes are shy and NO snakes enjoy handling. Some tolerate it very well, and the exercise may be good for them if they are normally in a cramped cage, but they don't like it in the way a social dog or cat would. So understand you are handling the snake to make yourself happy and that the snake would just as soon be left alone.
Does that mean you can't handle it? Of course not, but don't anthropomorphize that the animal is enjoying the experience in the same way you are.
And this is something I haven't read anything about, but are King snakes prone to biting and are they venomous at all?
This is the problem with reading care sheets online. You get little snippets of information here and there, but don't get it all. No they aren't venomous and any snake with a mouth can bite.
Some kingsnakes do bite. In my experience (and I've kept almost every type), Cal Kings are the most likely to bite. Florida Kings are probably the least likely. If never being bitten is one of your criteria, don't get a Cal King. Some never bite, some never calm down.
I read that feeding about once every 10 days is good, is that right? and With the mention of making your snake grow in a previous response, say I wanted to do that, how would I go about it? and how can you tell if your snake is hungry to avoid spoiled food or overfeeding.
This is a very contentious issue. If you want to see how experienced people disagree, try going down a few posts and read the two posts about the "Silver Spoon Hypothesis". I generally err on the side of caution and don't feed my snakes more than 3 times a month. But I also don't feed them with absolute regularity either. Sometimes they eat 3x month, sometimes 5x month, and sometimes only once a month. I have been using this staggered schedule for many, many years and my snakes thrive. I used to use the every 10 days for adults, every 5 days for babies and that worked as well.
Good luck. Remember to consider people's experience when you consider their advice. When someone tells you "I have a _____ King and it has never ________ in the ______ months/years I have had it", that might be good advice.
But it could also be a fluke. (For example - I don't care what you read on some posts, many Cal Kings are quite nippy, compared to other subspecies of common kingsnake. How do I know? I've had half a dozen adults and bred them for several years.)
You are far better reading a book written by an expert, such as Kathy Love's cornsnake book, because it is based on decades experience with thousands of snakes.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas
