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Only one of my Ca Kings assumes she is big enough to eat me. She's a two year old with a big appetite. I fed her well, twice a week and always washed my hands before holding her. Even when I began feeding her in a separate container, which I should have done all along instead of feeding her on a dish or in a paper lunch sack, she would latch on to me and start constricting almost as soon as I picked her up. I wouldn't pull her off when she bit, I didn't want to hurt her teeth. I refused to stop holding her between meals, I was determined that she would be a mellow snake, like my other Ca Kings. I would have cool water ready when I picked her up, and when she latched on and threw some coils around me, I would hold her under water. This technique worked once, but the next time I tried it, she wouldn't let go and I was too afraid to drown her to continue for very long.
I remembered reading some acvice on the Kingsnake forums, so I tried another suggestion. It worked great, and it's much less stressful for me! I put on mint-scented lotion right before I picked her up. She latched on, and let go quick. The next time I decided to hold her, I first put on scented lotion. I picked her up, she sniffed my hand, and changed her mind about eating me. I tried the lotion trick a few more times, with success. The last half dozen times I've held her, it's been without lotion and I've had no trouble.
Maybe now I'll stop using her nickname....Hungry Hippo.
Thanks all.
Vicky

Feed you snake more. He/she is telling you something.

Not all snake are alike in growth and feeding. Snakes that are hungry all the time want to grow (growth spurt). Some snakes are picky feeders and they don't grow very fast.

Eitherway, if a snake is trying to eat you should feed it larger or more frequestnt meals. It will stop the feeding reaction for sure.
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"Yeah ya told me, and ya wrote it down too. But how the hell am I supposed to remember!"

...or else it gets the hose again.

Sorry. I couldn't resist.

I think Bluerosy's right. Feed more!
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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

Thanks, I did increase the size of her food, too. I forgot to mention that. She's always been fed twice a week. I think the larger food size and the foo-foo lotion both helped.

"0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase"

I have some high end brooks if interested in a trade?
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"Yeah ya told me, and ya wrote it down too. But how the hell am I supposed to remember!"

Sorry man, I think I'm gonna keep this one for a future breeding project!
We're gonna see what happens when you mix German, Hispanic and Cajun genes.
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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

That's very clever.
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0.1 Lampropeltis Getula Floridana
1.0 Elaphe Guttata Slowinskii