Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have recently purchased an albino prairie kingsnake (about a week ago). I just fed him yesterday for the first time which went quite well. I tried once before that but he didnt eat, i think it was just too soon(i couldnt wait any longer and got a little to excited to wait). This is my first snake and i was hoping somebody could help answer some questions i had. I would like him to grow quickly, but not in an unhealthy way. He is about 12inches long and slender obviously. Shoould I be offering him more than one pinky at a time? i have read of some ppl feeding more then one at a time but dont know if it is safe to do so. I dont want him to regurgitate or anything. Also some people say feed them every 7 days and some say ever 4(approximately). But i want to be able to handle him so he gets used to me, but you arent suppose to handle them for 48 hours after eating. so would feeding every 4 days make it unsafe to handle him and let him get used to me? i dont want him to get stressed out. Thanks for any help you can offer

First, I have to say that those Kings are known for being very calm so I wouldn't worry too much about getting the snake used to handeling. Those of us who feed our snakes a lot have a good bit of experience with them and have our husbandry fine tuned to where we know we are not doing any harm to the snake by feeding it a lot. Also, some types of Kings seem to grow faster than others and I am not sure where Prairies fall in that sense. For now let poop be your sign that its probably ready to eat again and that and the lump in its belly from its last meal has gone away. Eventually try offering two pinkies, but be sure to give it an extra day if not two more than usual to digest before handeling. Tom Stevens
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TomsSnakes.com

I feed mine every time they defecate (poop) which for a young snake on pinkies can be as infrequent as 5-6 days or as frequent as 2-3 days. This still gives you ample time to handle your snake. You can also moderate between the two, say feed them 1 day after they defecate which gives you plenty of time to handle your new pet. I think you'll be very happy you picked a king snake in general, and the pics I've seen of adult albino prarie kings are pretty aweome. Hope this helps and I hope you realized these are like Lays, you can't have just one.
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-J.Hill