Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What is an appropriate sized cage for a small/medium type kingsnake. I dont want to get one that will be 15 feet like a red tailed boa I used to have many years ago. A Medium or small sized one. Can you tell me what types are best for that size and what size they will eventualy get?

Also I was thinking of an AP cage or boaphile cus im not getting another big glass terrarium. And since those types of cages have small vents in the backs should I get the type with extra vents or a screen top instead of covered top?

Regarding the cages mentioned by you, the 2ft x 2ft model is a fine size for most kingsnakes. You do not need extra vents. If you want to go with the 3ft models, great, but since you asked for small cages, the 4sq ft floor space is definitely doable. And why? Because you can offer a heated area, cool area, a humidity gradient and hides in different areas in a cage that size.
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Mark

Unless it's designed correctly bigger isn't necessarily better so I'll start with what people judge to be the smallest appropriate cage.

Some say the circumference of the cage should not be less than the total length of the animal. I think this is way shy of the mark as this would tell you that a 24" king would do ok in a 6" X 6" cage. IMHO this is fine for short-term display at shows but not long-term maintenance.

The second rule of thumb you'll hear is approximately a square food of floor space for foot of animal length. Using this rule that same 24" king would be kept in something with the approximate footprint of a 10-gallon tank. This seems to me to be a more reasonable STARTING point.

Keep in mind that snakes are not 2 dimensional creatures and you can create additional usable space by providing layers that allow them to more fully utilize their enclosures vertical dimension.

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Darwin Rocks!

48" Wide/Long x 30" Deep x 18" Tall?

or

72" Wide/Long x 30" Deep x 18" Tall?

Are they that much vertical climbers that I would need to go with something 24" Tall?

For an adult.

They do climb in captivity if given the opportunity but they do not need to climb. It may be beneficial exercise. It is not something I've seen kings do often though.

If you are going to use overhead heat, taller means a higher wattage heating element. If you are going to use under tank heat, it does not matter that much.

A good "mid sized" king that is extremely beautiful would be the mountain kings, such as a California Mountain King (in CA only the Baja subspecies is legal to buy, with exception of L z pulchra you can keep the others but you have to collect them or be gifted - and no more than one w/o permit, pulchra can only be kept with permit) or Arizona Mountain King.

I'm guessing they are less likely to climb that common kings, but I don't know that for fact.

With Common Kings, Eastern / Florida kings seem to get the biggest, with six foot specimens not uncommon.

Milk snakes (which are king snakes) - North American varieties are small or mid sized, some of the tropical Central American varieties regularly hit six feet in captivity.
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Arrrggg!
It's like Shalom, but for pirates.
- iCarly

I can't quantify this but as I said before unless the cage is well designed (by inference I ment layed out too) bigger isn't better. Lots of open space can leave a captive feeling exposed and insecure and it may actually end up actually utilizing less space. If you want the best results the cage needs to be large enough to facilitate serveral hides that provide varied conditions (moist hide, a hot hide a cool hide....) All this can be done in the basic cage size. If you're talking about a small thayeri or milk I'd say start with a ten to a 20-gallon long aquarium sized enclosure. For a moderate sized king prehaps 36 X 24 X 18 would make a nice display. I'd only go bigger if keeping them in groups. I've kept trios of OBX and goini in 4' neodeshi cages for years with great results.
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Darwin Rocks!

Yup.The 3' Vision is nice. I know I posted this before. Sorry but I'm relearning Photobucket. Good luck.

Great set up and a good looking snake.

I was thinking more of a Mexican Black King Snake or Grey Banded King Snake. I can get a free AP 4'x2'x1.5' cage. I thought it was bad to put multiple kingsnakes in the same cage. Wouldnt one try to eat the other?

It generally isn't advisasble but well acclimated and fed (I would say close to over fed but that's another discussion) adults of similar size can cohabitate well.
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Darwin Rocks!

I'd love to see a pic of your 4' Vision with your OBX if you get a chance sometime. When did you put them together? I have kept Lamps together at times but always waited till they were adults.I have some nice Montgomery cty N.C. hatchlings from Scott Koonts and while I would love to display them together I'm not willing to take the chance to put them together at this point.(I waited too long for them lol)
Bob.

Bob I no longer have that setup and it predates digital cams but I'll look and see what I have and perhaps scan it. At one point I had six 6' X 2' X 2' and four 4' neos for some larger and comunity setup.

I kept the kings together year round. The OBX never really showed much in the way of interaction but the goini needed to be seperated. They were feeding machines!
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Darwin Rocks!

Thanks Tony that would be great.Boy Digital has defintely made sharing pics so much easier from the old days. Now I know when I screw up a picture in 4 seconds instead of 4 days LOL