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Can someone tell me if it is ok to keep a wild-caught common kingsnake (it was laying in the middle of the street and I was afraid it would be ran over by a car) as a pet? I am thinking it was someone's pet that got away because its so very tame, but not sure.
The reason I think this is that I checked the Dept Fish & Game website and it is not on their "illegal pets" list. It also mentions that this is one of the 3 snakes that are allowed to be commercially propagated in CA, and that they can be "taken" by hand, as long as no injury occurs, all season with a sports fishing license (which I do own), and that the bag-limit is 4. I hope that doen't mean killing them for sport. The website also said its illegal to release it back into the wild, even if its wild-caught. But, does this mean its ok to have as a pet? It seems to be a very nice snake, about 4.5 feet long, eats well (I have been feeding it 2 live mice per week, is that enough?), and is very tame to handle. We really like it a lot as a pet (I don't know if its a male or female). We have it in a 20gal terrarium with some sandy stuff I bought at the pet store, a big rocky water dish, and a hollow half log thing I also got at the petstore in the reptile section, a under the tank heater too. (its 100 degrees here this week so i think its plenty warm.)
Also, this snake has a very stubby thick tail, only about 2 inches past the "anus". I think it was a healed injury from its past? Or is this normal?
Thanks in advance for the info. I can send a picture if needed.

They are ok and can be kept as pets. I would recommend releasing it near a suitable habitat but from my experience with all the banded Cal King snakes I have maintained I have discovered they actually make great pets. I would not imagine the one you found was a pet. Just about every one of the individuals I collected has been vary tame right off. If you plan on keeping it my suggestion would be to go right now and read as many car sheets you can find on google.com. Just when you think you have it down read 10 more. What part of Cali do you live in? They really are not hard to take care of as it is easy to replicate there habitat just go out in your back yard and there you go. Also I believe you may set them free so long as they have not been in your possession for more than 30 days but I could be wrong. Cal Kings are legal to breed and sell???/?????? That is the first time I have heard that were did you read that? Do you have a web address?
RR

no no, I think they said that they were one of the few species that were LEGAL. For instance cali mountain kings are illegal.
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My greybands:
Prince Mandrake and Princess Caldera

i got the info from a PDF file on the California Fish & Game website. You can get it here:
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fg_comm/2003/freshfish03.pdf

In reading it, I know now that I was ok to capture this snake, because I DO have a fishing license. It defines "taken" to include capture.

My question is now that I have it, am I allowed to keep it as a pet? It seems so, but I don't want to get into trouble if I take it to the vet to be sexed or for a checkup, etc

Here is the section I read about propagation, taken from dfg web site:

(1) Subspecies Authorized. Only the following subspecies may be propagated, imported, exported, or possessed for commercial purposes, or purchased or sold pursuant to the provisions of this section:

(A) California common kingsnake (Lampropeltis getulus californiae);

(B) California subspecies of the gopher snake (Pituophis melanoleucus): Great Basin gopher snake (Pituophis melanoleucus deserticola), Pacific gopher snake (Pituophis melanoleucus catenifer), San Diego gopher snake (Pituophis melanoleucus annectens), and Sonora gopher snake (Pituophis melanoleucus affinis);

(C) California subspecies of the rosy boa (Lichanura trivirgata): Coastal rosy boa (Lichanura trivirgata roseofusca) and Desert rosy boa (Lichanura trivirgata gracia).

common cali kings are often kept as pets, yeah its legal. I had a science teacher who kept wild caught snakes in her classroom, a gopher and a racer, at least. The only question I have is whether you have to keep a current fishing licence the entire time you own the animal since you caught it? That doesn't seem right but I don't know...
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My greybands:
Prince Mandrake and Princess Caldera

I don't know any of the Cal laws but as far as care goes you seem to be doing a great job. I wouldn't worry about turning that heat pad on unless the temp goes below 70. Two adult mice a week is about perfect but you may want to try switching it to fresh killed or frozen/thawed rodents just for the safety of the snake. As far as the missing tail tip. You'll find that alot in wild caught snakes. What happens is that sometimes when they shed they are unable to find the right humidity and on the tip of the tail, the skin doesn;t come off. The un-shed skin will constrict and infect that area and it dies and falls off. You'll probably notice it looking a lot better after a few good captive sheds.
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