Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi, what would be a good size and the smallest size for a male and female california kingsnake to be breed and when to stop feeding them??? How many weeks for cooling period??? and what temp. to keep them at during the cooling period??. I read some kingsnake books just want to ask the pro. how to do it. Thanks

My experience is when I bred cal kings, I made sure I had the females at 3 feet long at least, and 3 years old. By the time the females were 3 years old, they would normally be about 4 foot long though. Males can be smaller and still breed, but I also held the same rule for them as well.

I cut off all feeding in the last two weeks of November, and then I put them down for brumation in December and brought them back up at the first of March. The temps were probably 50-55 give or take during brumation.

With this, I had great results, huge babies, and many eggs with each clutch.

Take care!

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Genesis 1:1

Thanks!!! I'm so excited to breed them I was going to breed my hondurans last year for the first time breeding a snake and then in july of last year both of my females died I have no Idea why they just died now I just have my one male honduran milk but this my californias are ready to breed the female is alomst 7 years old and the male is 2 years old but they were smaller than most because I was not going to breed so I feed them once a week a little fuzzy also the female was bought from a pet shop and it was not in very good condition they kept her in sand and there was poo all over her cage. I started feeding them very heavy in june and the female is now almost 200 grams and 33 inches long and the male is 25 inches long and 100 grams. the female has grown over 5 inches since june I have been feeding her 2 big fuzzis every 3 days and she still eats like a pig. Here are pics of them the female is the black and white banded and the male is a lavender albino.

Those snakes are very pretty!! Very cool!!

Are you sure that female is only 33 inches? For 7 years, even slow growing, that does seem small. Although I would never advocate feeding kings ridiculously huge meals or power feeding, I personally think that the female, if she is 33 inches, should be able to handle hoppers or at the most, small adult mice. Try a hopper first. If the lump the food leaves in the snake is about at the most, 25 % larger than the widest girth of the snake's body, that should be fine, IMO. It is hard to say since I can't see the snakes in front of me.

Take care!
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Genesis 1:1

yeah I'm sure its wierd because 4 years ago I bought a baby honduran milksnake it is three years younger than the female kingsnake and is 37 inches and I feed them the same amount of food. and do you think the male is big enuff at 100 grams and 25 inches long??. and is there a chance of them eating each other when I put them together in the spring??

Some snakes grow really slow no matter what or how often you feed. Then you have that grow really fast without even having to feed the heck outta them.

As far as the male being ready next year, give it a try and see. He may be able to breed with her, but 25 inches does seem a little small. Keep feeding them both and then just plan to breed next year and see what happens.

As far as eating each other, you never know. I always tried to keep an eye on pairs of cal kings. I have had a male try to kill a female once, but I also DIDN'T have that type of behaviour much more often. Try to set aside time to keep an eye on them when you breed them.
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Genesis 1:1

Ok ThankS For Helping Me!!!

I tried to breed a female this year that was about 30 inches - and she did not breed. She should breed next year though ...

My 30 inch males did breed. Well, one did - the other wanted to, but the female for him was the 30 inch female that didn't want to.

He tried to mate her a few times but quickly gave up - I'm guessing she never ovulated, he was smelling the females that were and tried to mate her, but gave up when she was non receptive (and possibly realized she wasn't ovulating)
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11.14 L. getula californiae (Cal. King)
2.3 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 L. getula floridana (Brooksi)
1.1 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
0.1 Heterodon nasicus nasicus (W Hognose)
4.2.14 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

Yeah, she should breed next year for sure.

Those are those hypo/lavenders you have, right?
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Genesis 1:1

All three of my males are WC.

One female is amel (she bred last year and this)
One female is lavender (don't know what strain - bred this year)
One female I think is hypo - she's the one that didn't breed. I'll know more about her when she does.

she is a very light brown, and was a light brown at a small size. She has a purplish tint to it in the right light. I don't think I can claim something Mendelian is going on though until a couple of generations of breeding have taken place.

If her young hatch out dark, I want to see what f2 line bred produces and what pairing her with one of her offspring males produces.

She's a really funky looking Cal King.
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11.14 L. getula californiae (Cal. King)
2.3 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 L. getula floridana (Brooksi)
1.1 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
0.1 Heterodon nasicus nasicus (W Hognose)
4.2.14 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

Please keep us posted on your breeding results with your cal kings!
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Genesis 1:1

FunkyRes, I'm in the same position your in. I have a Cal king I believe is hypo and next year will be my first year attempting to breed him. I found him out in the desert when he was still a juvenile and was already brown at that time when all other kings from that area are black at that age. Here he was at 18"

I'll be attempting to breed him to this female, also from the desert.

I think I know what snake your talking about. You sent me (DesertHunter) some photo's last year of a brown & white king with widely separated brown blotches and a mostly light colored belly. If that's it it's very nice looking. Looks like an aberrant from S.D. Co.

Yes - that's the one.
I bought her from someone in Alaska who received her as a gift from someone in Sacramento who found her crawling in her backyard.

Hubbs says no way is she Sacramento locale. He thinks she may be a byroduct of a designer morph project that got loose.

Rick Staub also noted he had never seen anything like her in Sacramento.

I'm hoping she is a hypo and that I can mix it with Lavender to produce a hybino.
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11.14 L. getula californiae (Cal. King)
2.3 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 L. getula floridana (Brooksi)
1.1 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
0.1 Heterodon nasicus nasicus (W Hognose)
4.2.14 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

**I'm hoping she is a hypo and that I can mix it with Lavender to produce a hybino**

Well, that wouldn't make her a hybino (hypo & albino).

She is hypo and a Lavender is not albino...so you would have a hypolavender....a hylav......a hypoender....a hyplav..... LOL

Kerby...
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Lonesome Valley Reptiles
www.lonesomevalleyreptiles.com
Specializing In California Kingsnakes

It depends upon definition of albinism.

I think in several other snake species, hybinos are hypo X Tpos and are not hypo X P.E. albino.
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11.14 L. getula californiae (Cal. King)
2.3 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 L. getula floridana (Brooksi)
1.1 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
0.1 Heterodon nasicus nasicus (W Hognose)
4.2.14 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - (Cal. Alligator Lizard)