Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I have a few ?s about my yearling gray banded kingsnake.

He's in a 10 gallon glass aquarium with a screen lid, and has been rubbing against the walls/screen at night. As a result, he has worn the scale above his tongue. Is there a way to prevent this? I don't want to keep him in a rubbermaid shoebox at all. I really like watching him in a naturalistic tank. Will a larger tank solve this?

Can I keep him with another gray banded kingsnake that is the same size? Also, I would only brumate an adult that is breeding, right?

Can I sex my snake using his shed skin? How can I do this? Is there any other way to sex him that doesn't involve probing or popping?

He is extremely aggressive. He strikes at me when I get to close to the tank. I know he can't do any damage now, but I eventually want a snake that doesn't latch on to me when I clean out the water bowl. I feed him f/t pinkies from a dish in the tank. Is there a way I could get him use to my presence? He seems to go after any movement.

Thanks all!

I would keep each snake seperately if you can. Just safer,
and more sanitary. Lids well, you can make a lid that is mostly
glass and has only a little mesh for ventilation. I am sure the petstores have something premade without the wire. Have you tried to provide any hiding areas in the tank? Alterna really like hide boxes or caves.

If your snake rubs the scale raw, be sure to clean it with betadine, and put a small bit of triple antibiotic cream on it.

Best of luck,

Steven Owens

First since he's a yearling it should be in at least a 20 gal. long by now, you can use a larger cage if you want. NEVER house kingsnakes together (or any snake) kingsnakes will eat other snakes. Secondly how big is your grey band? My male grey band is 1 year old, 37.5 in. and is eating 1 f/t hopper every 10 days. Your grey band's aggressive behavior could be nothing more than a feeding response. Other causes could be: stress from over handling, improper temperature I keep my grey band at 85 - 87 F. during the day and 75 - 77 F. at night, feeding inside the cage and not in a feeding container.
You can tame your grey band down by putting him in a larger enclosure, start feeding it in a seperate feeding container (that you may place in it's cage if you want), putting a piece of clothing in it's cage to help it get used to your scent like a glove, or a shirt since these are the things the snake would normally come in contact with while handling.

He is WC from a petstore. They told me that he is a yearling (how do they know that, if he is wc?). He's exactly 27 inches and the temperatures are fine, and he has a hide and large water dish. Im feeding him 2 pinkies every week. His head is too small to eat anything else. I don't handle him at all. I will try a larger tank. Thanks for the help!

A W/C Gray Band from a pet store?? That sounds fishy to me, can you post up a pic of this snake?

~ Mike Russo