Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know I'm no breeder with all kinds of cool snakes, but I still wanted to show off a few pics of my California King named Henry. He's been adjusting really well to the cage I've got him set up in, and so far has been a great snake!

This is a pic that I posted on here right after I first got him, which was about a month and a half ago now.

Here's a current one of him crawling up my arm, he never stays still!

I don't even know how I managed to get him stay still for this one, but I was trying hard to get a decent pic that showed most of his body, and he eventually calmed down on my hand.

And here's a pic of him right after I put him back in his cage. Shows him crawling around and gives a look at the setup he's got.

Sorry that these pics are all such poor quality. I don't have a digital camera so I had to use my phone.

Just felt like showing him off, comments are welcome!

...even though you're no fancy breeder, that's a very nice snake you have there!

The pics are actually pretty good, too, considering they are from a phone.
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Diego

SWCHR

Way cool dot and dash cal king! I'm no fancy breeder either, we all just like kings.

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Todd Hughes

Well i have to say you have inspired me as iam new to kingsnakes(not the forum) here are some feeding pics a shot these were with my mobile camera awswell.

http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp32/Cheesemonkey08_2008/DSC01222.jpg

http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp32/Cheesemonkey08_2008/DSC01220.jpg

Here ya go Cheesemonkey....

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1.0.0 Lampropeltis getula holbrooki
0.1.0 Lampropeltis getula californae
0.0.1 Lampropeltis getula nigra
1.0.0 Lampropeltis mexicana thayeri
2.3.0 Eublapharis macularius macularius
0.0.2 Rhacodactylus ciliatus
0.1.0 Gerrhosaurus major major

here ya go what bud you have lost me?

ah i get ya now i did change it to the proper code but i must have forgotten to save thanks for changing

You cheesey monkey! Nice floridana!

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Todd Hughes

thanks man

Well... thanks! I do think he is gorgeous and I see very few pics of others like him, so that's cool too . And to think, I just got him at a random pet shop here in town!

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Diego

SWCHR

I'm no breeder myself, but that's a nice looking animal! The aberrant and spotted morphs are my favorite.

Here's my girl - 7 yrs old this month.

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0.1 Banded California kingsnake - Zorro
1.0 Betta fish - Billy
0.0.3 White Cloud Fish
1.0 RES - Chopstick
0.1 Australian Shepherd - Jet
0.1 Domestic Shorthair Mix Cat - Pirate

Henry is approximately 18 inches long at this point, and I've still been feeding him pinkies. He's been eating two pinkies every 5 days or so, and I'm planning on moving him up to a fuzzy this week. I don't know much about his actual weight nor do I know enough about the width of his body in comparison to the width of a fuzzy, but does this sound like an appropriate time to move him up to fuzzies to you guys? I don't want to move him up too early, but I don't want to keep him on inferior food for too long either!

I believe moving him up to fuzzies would be a good idea. Now, since fuzzies can vary from place to place or breeder to breeder, that may determine if you want to feed him one or two per feeding.

Also, if you are in any doubt or cautious, perhaps start him off with the smallest fuzzy out of the group you buy, and go up from there. Henry's weight seems great to me.

A good way to go by if trying to figure out size of fuzzies or any food item, is to perhaps maybe not have the width of the food item any bigger than 1/4 times the snakes' girth at the widest part of his body.

Henry is a beautiful snake!! Thanks for sharing pics!
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Genesis 1:1

Thanks, that's pretty much I was thinking. I'm going to try and start him out with a small fuzzy and move on from there.

Thanks again, I'm very happy with him

More than welcome my friend!

Henry is a looker! I used to hatch out cal kings like him in the early nineties. Makes me miss it!! LOL!
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Genesis 1:1

I do love the way he looks! From the moment I saw him I knew he was great, but then I didn't know much about king snakes. I've been reading these forums ever since I got him and have only seen one thread with snakes like him, and that's an old thread in the California King sub section of the forums. Then when I went to my first reptile show last month I only saw one like him there. It's great to know he's so unique!

You say you used to hatch some a while back? That's pretty cool!

Just something to add, I have a cali that is probably about 14 inches long and he eats fuzzies very easily. I do pick the smaller ones out of the bag for him though.

Thanks joe, that does help a lot. I probably should have done this a while ago, can't wait to see how he takes it tomorrow!

So I tried to feed him a fuzzy today, and it did not go well. I've been feeding him almost exclusively f/t pinkies, but the place I got the fuzzy from only had them live, and I figured it would be good for him to have a live one occasionally. Long story short, he was scared [bleep]less of it and wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. I feed him in a separate container, which is a medium sized critter carrier, and he wanted nothing more than to just keep trying to get out of the cage. I make a point of taking him out of his cage and holding him before putting him in there, and he usually does alright with it, but he wanted nothing of this fuzzy.

Since he didn't take to it, I threw it in the freezer. I'm thinking about trying it again tomorrow with it thawed. Would that be a bad idea? Could he really be that attached to pre-killed prey that he just wouldn't want a live one? Should I maybe give him the two remaining pinkies that I have? I really thought he would be interested in live prey but apparently not. I fed him last Saturday by the way.

Feedback would be GREATLY appreciated here, since I'm so new to this, and I definitely don't want to do anything to upset Henry!

If there's any other information I can add, please just let me know.

Hey, you might want to try asking this question in an entirely new post, because there are many threads before(above) this one now and people will probably not notice any new replies to these "old topics".

Try this: offer him one of the pinkies next time. If he takes it, offer the frozen/thawed fuzzy right after he is done swallowing the pinkie.....usually they are still in a "feeding response" and will readily accept any more food that is offered....use that response to your advantage. After a few feedings like this, he should accept the fuzzies with no hesitation.

Good luck!
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1.0.0 Lampropeltis getula holbrooki
0.1.0 Lampropeltis getula californae
0.0.1 Lampropeltis getula nigra
1.0.0 Lampropeltis mexicana thayeri
2.3.0 Eublapharis macularius macularius
0.0.2 Rhacodactylus ciliatus
0.1.0 Gerrhosaurus major major

Thanks, I'll maybe try that and definitely post a new thread! I love how helpful people are around here

That's a great idea!
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Todd Hughes