Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a 8 month old albino cali king, who's been exhibiting odd behavior. She can, at times, be the most intelligent snake ive ever had, and crawl directly into my hand when i go to pick her up, yet other times, she goes borderline psychotic. Last time i went to feed her, she literally attacked and drew blood (i got her to her feeding enclosure anyway) and began to attack her tail, then struck randomly at the walls of the enclosure. She'll even "strike" at the water when i mist her enclosure (i do this only very occasionally). her temps are 85 degrees on the warm side, and about 78 on the cool side, has plenty of hides, etc. My corn snake nor my children's python have ever been this aggressive. ive heard young kings can be a bit "feisty" but fiesty to the point of attacking anything that moves when she's in her enclosure normal?? (she eats only F/T food, and has been very calm and mellow once she's outside of her enclosure) Im mainly checking because while her attacks are minor at best, i dont relish the thought of an adult attacking me in the manner she'll occasionally do now. (she's a big fan of the feeding response bite, not the fear, which i ALWAYS make sure to completely wash my hands/etc when i hold her. i actually feed her first to ensure there's no chance she'll catch the scent of my corn on me )

I think what you are seeing is a combination of a strong feeding response and a strong possibility of her bad eyesight. Albino snakes, according to my knowledge, have horrible eyesight, due to possible photosensitivity and other things. Also, 85 may be a little warm, so maybe lower the temps a few degrees and see if there are any changes.

One of my old breeder albino cal kings years back did the exact same things as you are describing, and it is nothing to worry about.
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Genesis 1:1

This sounds like fairly normal behaviour going by the majority of hatchling calis I've owned.

Some can be as mellow as a corn (though I've owned corns of all ages which have been as bad) and some are just nuts. The main piece of advice I have is try to stick with it - in my experience the little psycho ones usually settle down after about a year old if handled regularly and fed well, and generally the more you handle them the better they will be.

I've also heard albinos can have more sensitive eyesight than their normal counterparts, but I've found hatchlings (being more on edge than a well adjusted adult) can freak at shadows and any form of movement as a defensive reaction - in the wild they have to be on edge to protect themselves from predators. Some might be happy to slither away and hide, others might decide to take on this evil force and strike.

They make fabulous pets when they do settle down, however some require a little more patience than others.

I just bought a perfect 50/50 2008 female and is dog tame and wants to crawl into your hand and does not want to go back into its rubbermaid , also i bought a male 2008 with kind of a tiger striped pattern (white and black) and is the devil reincarnated , he will strike like theres no tomorrow and was a picky eater,then tonight when i was feeding the babies he wanted to crawl out and i let him onto my hand and he showed no aggression and he ate 3 tiny pinkies more aggressive then anyone tonight,i finally have him turned around to being the biggest pig out of everyone,anyway its pretty normal for cal babies to freak out at times , he may have been startled.i think with mine he was just not use to being in a larger container then the breeder/store had him in and ive always found that around 82 degrees my snakes are happiest,goodluck

What your seeing is defensive behavior. This is normal with most snakes(not all).

Also, its more common in the smaller individuals, as they are less able to escape.

Of course this behavior is at different levels with different species and different individuals. But only to a degree.

Snakes are very "smart" and normally learn very quickly that you the keeper is of no harm. Of course its different with different individuals. That means different snakes and different people. Some people cannot hide their fear and snakes sense that.

On the otherhand, there are certain things that can trigger defensive behaviors, Like the scent of your dog or cat, or other snakes, or unknown smells, etc.

A little story, oh about 30 years ago, my daughter was watching a tank full of hatchling Cal kings, then she started crying. I came over to see what happened. All the baby kings were coiled and striking and my little girl said, dad they don't like me, hahahahahahahahahaha. I explained, they were new to the world and afraid of large things. They would soon learn that she is their friend. They did learn and all was well.

The point is, its behavior and its normal. Its up to you to figure out how to control it. With cal kings, its normally not a problem and they outgrow it or you can make them feel safe.

Again, its more of a husbandry issue. Good luck