Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

It's been a long time since I've had a kingsnake. About 5 years. Okay for someone who has grown up with snakes from birth and is 24, 5 years probably isn't that long.

I have a 4 year old though and I was thinking of getting a kingsnake.

I never did read any books on them when we had snakes. We live in southern california. Never had a heater or anything. Just a tank with some aspen turf, a log, a water dish, and an occasional mouse. And of coarse lots of interaction time so the snake would not be aggresive.

However now that I'm older, and have a kid, I want to do it right. I want to make sure the snake has everything it needs and should have. I want my daughter to learn to the importance of not only a pet, but how to care for things and how to do things right and not half assed like I have seen so often.

So here are a few questions:

How long do they live for?

Whats the biggest their cage should be?

Should I get a small tank and graduate to a larger?

Do they need a heat lamp?

How about a vitamin lamp?

Should food be dusted with vita suppliment (reptaking etc,)?

What temperature should the tank be?

Is weekly feeding to much("small"-"medium" mice)?

How about monthly ("large" mouse)?

What things do I have to look out for?

How do I know if they have mites/ticks?

Should you feed them in a differant place from their housing?

I like to feed my reptiles live food, should I make the container a bit larger with some "foliage" and hiding spots so it can actully "hunt?"

And lastly. What is the best lid for one of these guys?

I loved the cage top I had before. It fit over/around the top, was one piece made of two sections. Half mesh, and then a heavy glass lid. The ones I liked least was the snap on tops, to easy to escape, and the kind that slid in with a pin to keep in place, they figure out how to push it out. The other one I really liked was an all wood cage my father made. It had aluminum screening on it, like tiny chicken wire, and a spring loaded hook and eye clasp. The hook looked like the clasp you used on a dog chain. But smaller. It was almost impossible for the snake to get out. However it did.

Thanks for your time and thoughts.

Jessy

The following answers are my opinion and may not be right but my king snake is big and healthy so I must be doing something right. I have only maintained a couple of handfuls of Kings my entire life and never had a problem

How long do they live for? God only knows, Sory I have no idea

Whats the biggest their cage should be? 1.5 times the total length of the snake in length and just as wide and tall as the snake is long

Should I get a small tank and graduate to a larger? To save money I would get a bigger one if you can afford it, I have a little girl to and know I can use any extra penny I can muster taking care of her LOL Also this way in 10 years you don't have a room full of old empty king snake cages

Do they need a heat lamp? I don't use one

How about a vitamin lamp? Nope

Should food be dusted with vita suppliment (reptaking etc,)? I don't dust with anything

What temperature should the tank be? My kings stay at room temp.

Is weekly feeding to much("small"-"medium" mice)? I feed all my snakes every 7 days, 2 proper size mice for the girls and 1 for the boys every 7 days

How about monthly ("large" mouse)? IMHO that is not enough

What things do I have to look out for? If its wild caught mites may be your biggest worry next to non feeding from the stress of being put into captivity. If its store bought get an individual that is alert and readily moves about and trys to get away from you. IMO biting is a plus. If they are healthy enough to run and or defend themselves they are good in my book. If they are sluggish and shy and just plain don't look good DON'T BUY IT. Please also be advised some pet stores regularly handle there reptiles like the one I go to so most of there snakes are tame from the day I get them so ask the people at your local pet store about there handling ruteens

How do I know if they have mites/ticks? Generally ticks will be a dead give away, once you see the snake you will know, For mites generally look at the snakes belly, If there are little red or black specks in the fold between belly scales they are more than likely ticks, Both are easy to get rid of

Should you feed them in a differant place from their housing? Always feed your snakes in a bucket or even a cardboard box, I was told my Burmese Python would start associating my hand with feeding time if I kept feeding her in her cage, I chose to ignore this and suffered 2 very painful bites from an otherwise tame snakes,

I like to feed my reptiles live food, should I make the container a bit larger with some "foliage" and hiding spots so it can actully "hunt?" No Your snake will be in captivity and hopefully stay there, It will not need to hunt anymore. It is recommended even to feed snake frozen/thawed prey items but I do not. I feed all my snakes live food just keep an eye on it while it eats

And lastly. What is the best lid for one of these guys? I have had bad luck with the regular screen lids with my Kings, Now I use enclosures with a sliding screen top and a pin to lock it shut and have yet to have any problems with them

Welcome back to the wonderful world of snakes. I am sure you will enjoy it more now than you did 5 years ago and getting your child involved is awesome. She will be the future of snakes keepers and breeders to teach her well.
Foot Hill Reptiles

Thank you very much.

My king was in a 10 gallon tank when I had one last. I feed it weekly, used aspen beading, and didn't have anything else really. I just made sure to clean her tank weekly, keep her water clean, and feed her on a weekly basis. I had purchased it from a friend. The snake bit her when she went to feed it. I got it about 2 months after this. She was to freaked to hold it. So after I got it I held it alot. After I held her enough that she would stay calm I would do things like pull her out and let her wrap around my hand while I read a book or did homework.

So even though I wasn't letting her room from hand to hand, she would at least be used to people. Though I did try to let her roam a bit on a daily basis and let the neighbor's 2 and 5 year old see her when she was ready so she would be that much more used to people.

I have never had a problem with a snake bitting me when I placed food in their cage. My dad did have one of the boa's bite him once though. However I've always gone by my dad's advice "if you own a snake you're going to get bit."

After having some lizards and toads I was just wondering if there was anything "more" than what I was doing previously that I should be doing. As far as dead food. Ewww. Okay imo it's gross and also, it's a snake it's SUPPOSED to eat live food. My bro swears by dead food, which is just weird because we never gave any of our animals (sept the cats and dogs) dead food. Umm the cats/dogs got cat/dog food. And the cats caught an occasional mouse or got some fish from us. Dogs, table scraps. hehe. Though it makes a little sence (my bro) because he would freak out when my dad had to feed the pythons/boas when he was a little kid. He would go on the street behind us to our friends house. He refused to go next door to grandmas. He had to get away as far as possible. My dad would feed the snakes rabbits. Maybe thats why he gives 'em dead mice. Who knows.

Again thanks for all the input. I appreciate it very much.

Sincerly,

Jessy

If you feed live prey you must watch it the entire time, unsupervised live mice can do a lot of damage to a snake. I once had a python that got chewed up really bad by a rat I left it alone with, Trust me you don't want that vet bill.
Foot Hill Reptiles