Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey guys,
just got a cal. kingsnake about a week ago, brought it home and set everything up and everything has been goin fine so far. I gave her a couple days to acclimate herself to the cage and started handling it the other day for about 10-15 minutes and that went fine. My question is, last nite i noticed her trying to go up the side of the terrarium and i was wondering, is she trying to escape? is she not happy? or is she just exploring and trying to understand her surroundings? any input or advice for new owner would be great. thanks.

The only suggestion I can think of is make sure the lid is secure. Theres not a whole lot else for your snake to do in there except try to get out. As it gets older it might lessen, but don't ever think it won't leave its enclosure if given a chance.

I like when they explore and try to find a way out. It gives you an opportunity to watch how they move and act on their own. It also gives them some exercise.

Just make sure theres no way out because they will find it.

Good luck

I'm assuming that sort of behavior is common to all Kings, probably to all snakes in general, as I have observed both WC and CB snakes doing exactly what you're talking about. I first noticed my friend's CB male '05 Cal King sliding his body up the side of the glass tank he was in. He would slide all the way up to the top, balance on his tail for a bit, then fall to the side kind of i a "timberrr", tree falling motion. Funny thing is he "discovered" where the pin that locks the lid in place on the tank was, and seemed to focus on that. Minus the attempt @ pin manipuation, I've also noticed the exact same behavior from my WC Chatsworth Cal King. Nothing to worry about.

reako45

There's no doubt he's trying to escape but I don't think it has anything to do with him not being in the right conditions. New kings generally try to escape more than settled kings. If you take a settled king and place him in a different cage he'll try to escape it. No, I don't think the snake is happy being confined to his quarters but we all do it anyway. LOL You can try placing a hide place for him in the cage, this does the trick a lot of times.

i think all snakes do that. my garter snake used 2 do it, and so does my kingsnake. they have a habit of stayin at the very top of the cage too. theres a little gap between the cage top, and the lid so the snakes like 2 rest there. i guess it gives them a sense of security since it is a real tight spot. Just make sure the lid cant come off, my kingsnake is real small, but she is able to push the lid off by herself, so i have 2 put things on top to hold it down.

I agree! Give hi/her a hide and your snake should mellow out. However they will always cruse the tank. I like to put cardboard paper towel rolls in my tanks. The snakes move in and appear to be quit happy (I Guess). In my honest opinion, I think all snakes should have somewhere to hide. They do it in the wild, so why not in captivity.

Good Luck:
JasonMc