Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi. My wife and I have had a few reptiles before but earlier this year we were at a reptile show and decided to get our first snake! This Florida King is named Belle and that has evolved into 'Belly.' Her first shed didn't go very smoothly so the next time around we made a humid box out of tupperware and moss and the shed went perfectly. She's a great eater and is growing quickly.

I never pictured myself having a snake, but she's so cool. I can't wait for her to get big! I think she's beautiful but I practically need my reading glasses to see her clearly, not to mention she doesn't sit still for photos very well.

Anyway, I've been reading this site for a while and just decided to sign up and introduce Belly...

That's a great example of how beautiful a Florida King can be...imagine if they were difficult to find or lived in a foreign country. They'd be an "investment" animal for sure
Great photo and welcome, chances are....you'll have more than
one soon enough.

WOW! Nice snake Eddie. Here is a high red of mine but a little older.

-----
I don't need no spell chack.

Awesome!! How old is that snake?? We went to one show where someone had a King snake that was around that size, maybe larger. This snake was very uninteresting, visually, but my wife and I both thought it was so cool to hold one that size and imagine that Belle will be that size one day. We have looked through many gallery pages and have not seen a similar snake to ours as an adult, thanks for sharing that photo!

So she might look a lot like the snake in Bluerosy's picture? It's so hard to imagine her that size! But the pattern looks very similar. Also, at the top of this page is a photo I just noticed, this looks like a similar pattern too...

http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/59750DSCF0010.JPG

The snake that you have looked like that as a neonate. The link you posted is a compltly different looking brooksi. It does not have the red in between the saddles and has a completly different consistency.

Patterns will be similar and most brooks/florida kings do go through ontogenetic lightning. But your will look very similar to mine when its an adult. I think the snake you have may also have lavender or even axanthic genes in it. Mine came from Steve Osborne (Profesional breeders) and his high red lavender hets look like yours.
-----
I don't need no spell chack.

Here is another picture of my snake. See the red on top of the snake between the saddles. Thats what is similar to mine.

here is yours:

here is the one you found a pic of that does not have the same red characteristics. It is more floridana looking:

-----
I don't need no spell chack.

Thanks everyone. It'll be fun to watch her grow and change. I handle her a good amount, so I am hopeful she'll continue to be mellow and friendly. We read that Kings make good first snakes and she's certainly living up to that.

I am sure I will bore you with many more photos along the way!

Thanks for posting Eddie. The kings make great pets and the florida kings make especially bullet proof and calm kings. I think you will really like him/her as she grows. But keep frequent feeding as these snakes like to eat and grow fast- given the chance. Yours should be getting as much food as it can eat for now. Thats means frequent attempts at feeding.
-----
I don't need no spell chack.

When we got her we got a bag of frozen pinkies and she's been eating every six days. Most recently she's been getting three of the really tiny ones. Should we try more often, as long as she wants them??

Definetly try feeding more often.

But thats not the problem right now. Your florida kingsnake is to big to be eating pinkies. Pinkies consist mostly of water and has veru little nurtition. Get some large fuzzies and feed the snake whenever the lump starts to subside (depends on the size of the fuzzy)at about every 3-4 days. Fuzzies provide the nutrion your snake needs right now. A fuzzie is more developed and has the protien, fats and calcium you snake desperatly needs.

You will see a remarkable growth spurt when you sart feeding fuzzies. Your next step is hoppers which after you will need (if you are feeding this snake fuzzies) in about a months time.

Remeber florida kings (aka brooks kings) eat mostly whole bodied snake as juveniles in the wild. They also eat skinks and swifts. Even fuzzies do not properly give them the nutritional value that these prey items give. Get your snake on a feeding plan by keeping the hot side of its cage warm and feed away to get the snake feeding on more developed mice asap..
-----
I don't need no spell chack.

Really??? Wow, that surprises me. The bigger pinkies she really seems like, I don't know, not like she's struggling, but like it's definitely a big meal. I guess that's where my lack of experience comes in, what looks like a big meal for her to me isn't as big as I thought...

Hello Eddie,

believe me, Bluerosy speaks the truth! You can scroll down and look over a post I started just last week about my Florida King. I got him last summer. He was only 17 inches or so. In fact, he would crawl into my shirt pocket. That was last summer, and now that same sname is pushing 40 inches! I, too, was feeding pinkies and the good folks around here said 'feed him something bigger'. I didn't think he could eat anything bigger, was I ever wrong!! As soon as I did I saw a remarkable growth spurt! After that I have always fed more than one food item, and I feed him usually a couple of times a week.
So, feed that guy and enjoy watching him grow!
Ray.

Thank you Ray. I did go back and read that thread, very informative. I have a question though, what does hunting behavior look like? Last night we were talking about this and watching her as she was just freaking out in her tank. Reaching up really high, running laps around the perimeter. She had eaten three really small pinkies 3 days ago. We thought, maybe she's hungry, so we picked the biggest pinky we could find in the bag and gave her that and she pounced on it! (do snakes 'pounce'?) It took her a while to get past the front legs, often the biggest problem for her, but then it was no problem.

Your snake is probably very undernorished (malnourished). Imagine surviving on nothing but chicken broth. Thats what your snake is going through. Pinkies are almost nothing but water. Your snake is way over due for some meals. Get some large fuzzies ...almost hopper size. Your snake will start growing to the size it should be in a matter of a month.

Your brooks king is a 1 year old snake almost. These colubrid babies are born from april-sept. Most hatch out in July. So if yours had a normal hatch date your snake is about 9 moths old.
-----
I don't need no spell chack.

I don't think she's that old. We got her in February and she was tiny, I thought she was not much more than a month old at the time. I don't know exactly, but she was pretty young in February. But the way she chowed on that large pinky last night just three days after her previous feeding, we have not been feeding her enough. We'll get some fuzzies and watch her grow!

Believe me when I tell you that snake was born last summer.

North american Snakes have to be cycled to breed. Especially kingsnakes. It is a seasonal thing. Breeders cool them from nov-feb and then warm the adults up and feed them from feb -march. Then the snakes breed and 30 days later the eggs drop. The eggs take 60 days to hatch.

North american colubrids are all on the same schedule. You don't have brooks kings being born in the winter.
-----
I don't need no spell chack.

Okay. Sorry to beat this to death, I'm just nervous. The thing that keeps confusing me is the stuff I read about the diameter of the prey should be close to the thickest diameter of the snake. Fuzzies (we just ordered some) seem much larger than that. I don't want to hurt her by giving her something too big, that's been my hesitation. But you guys know best and have seen her recent photo so I trust you.

I appreciate the expertise here, I'm glad I signed up.

You won't learn much from reading TFH books and reptlle magazine.

Its the norm for snakes to eat prey much larger than their girth. You snake will not hurt itself. A couple fuzzies in a row would be even better.

If a snake cannot handle the size of the mouse you will find the mouse forward half all slimey. If a snake cannot open its mouth large enough to swallow it will simply give up. In the wild they come upon prey that is to large all the time. They still attmept to swallow. If they would die from eating to large a item there would be no snakes. Imagine your snake comming upon some rat pups or rabbit pinkies. The snake will still constrict and attempt to swallow. Do harm done if it does not. Same goes with fence swifts and skinks.

Either way fuzzies or small hoppers are not to big for your snake.
-----
I don't need no spell chack.

Perfect! Thank you Bluerosy, that's the best explanation I've read yet. I think I can now feed with confidence, I just never really knew what would happen if it was too big (which I deep down know it isn't, I'm still just amazed by the mechanics of the snake).

Thanks for all the time Bluerosy, I appreciate it.

I guess I know when my snake is hungry from experience. Hard to explain, but I can tell the difference between a trip to the water dish and cruising for food. Reptiles in general don't just prowl around, they move with and for a purpose. If you feed your snake and he doesn't move around for several days, then he starts moving all over the place, and temps are fine and there's water to drink and places to hide, I'd say he's hunting.
I have to share that when I first went from pinks to fuzzies I thought now way would my snake ever handle it. And it took a long time - over 30 minutes, but it made such a huge difference in a short amount of time. After that bit of education, I feed the rascal! And I have moved the size up with his growth.
He're a pic of mine just last fall, compare that with the one I posted above.
Enjoy your snake!