Hello,
I rescued two eastern kingsnakes from the maintence people at my old apartment whilst moving out on Sunday. They were going to kill them because some of the new tenants moving in are deathly afraid of snakes, poisonous or not, so I decided to take them rather than have them meet their fate at the end of a shovel. Presumably, they are a male and a female and are mating. I saw them outside together regularly for about a month prior to this.
The place that I moved to has lots of dogs and cats and isn’t really a safe place to release them, so I’ve decided to keep them and see how they do in captivity. If they adapt well and eat and are healthy, I’ll keep them and if not I’ll let them go somewhere unpopulated. According to what I’ve read on the web, kingsnakes adapt readily to captivity, and this seems to be true so far. They did not put up much of a struggle when I picked them up, and after only about a day are very comfortable around me and wrap themselves around my arm/hand.
I had a boa constrictor when I was younger, but have limited snake keeping experience.
Right now, I have them in separate aquariums that I already had that are probably too small. I do not want to put them together because I’ve heard they eat each other. The aquariums have reptile carpet, a Pyrex water bowl, and an underside heating pad.
Here are some pictures for reference. As you can see, the larger of the two has grey eyes and is getting ready to shed. Will he be able to shed in the current setup that I have, or should I put a rock or stick or something in there for him to rub against?
What suggestions do you have for a long term set-up for these snakes as far as cage size, temperature, humidity, substrate, and a hiding place? Should I take them to a vet who specializes in herpetoculture to make sure they have no mites or diseases?
Also, if they are a male and a female and mating, how do you suggest I facilitate breeding?
Thanks.
