Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was at a local dumpy pet store looking at their inventory the other day. they had a brooks kingsnake. i asked about him and the guy started telling me if i wanted that snake id have to be prepared to feed it snakes. He said they feed it corn snakes. I am not a confrontational person so i didnt feel the need to argue with him and just kind of walked out. I have several corn snakes and a few others, including a california king. i dont consider myself a kingsnake expert so tell me if im wrong. A king can go its entire life without consuming another snake right? Why would these people feel the need to feed it snakes? for fun? am i missing something? My cali king will eat anything dangled. are brooks different? insight please. PS. the pet store guy seemed like one of the dumbest white trash losers ive ever met.

Kingsnakes are known for the IMMENSE diversity of prey they will consume, including other reptiles and reptile eggs, frogs, the usual snake fare of small mammals, and probably fish and birds too if convenient at the time they are hungry. Some king species are more prone to feed on snakes than others with brooks and speckled kings coming to mind. Some king species like alternas and the mexicana complex kings are prone to lizards as hatchlings, and lizards probably make up a good portion of their diets as adults. As babies, many stubborn brooks and specks (as well as other species)can be enticed to begin feeding by using snake scented pinks, pieces of snake, or hatchling corns/garter/etc. Just look at the reaction of kings when handled right after handling other snakes, even other kingsnakes. It usually elicits a feed response LOL!! However, once feeding, the babies should convert to unscented pink mice or mice of appropriate size quickly. Its quite possible if this is a hatchling, the pet shop attendant is correct and the snake will only accept other snakes (ie, its a picky feeder so to speak)at this time.

"Just look at the reaction of kings when handled right after handling other snakes, even other kingsnakes"
That got me last night with a White sided brooks I have. SOB got me good right under the fingernail. Hurt. I'd just been handling another Fl. king (for cage cleaning and inspection) and went to handle himi without washing my hands...he was fine until he smelled my fingers and palm then WHAM.
OW OW OW

but no theycan live fine on rodents.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

I am also thinking the employee there was just lazy and had plenty of young immaciated cornsnakes from being neglected there to feed it.

I would bet big money that more than likely if they simply scented the picky king(if it even was picky at all) with a corn, etc..it would have accepted it just fine that way. I doubt it was necessary for it to be fed live corns every single time. He just didn't want to put in any slight effort to even try scenting. Heck, maybe even the dude and his other dirt-ball buddies got a kick out of watching the king eat other live snakes. This happens very often. Just watch a few stupid "youtube" vids of kids doing it after they smoked a joint or two.

"Dude!,.....check it out maaaan!(puff-puff), this king will gobble this corn up in a heartbeat dude,......check it out yo!"

oher kid says......"wooow duuude!,....that's awesome dude!"(puff-puff).

Anyway, you get the idea of how this works..LOL!. Many people just like to watch other living things get attacked and consumed for enjoyment. I would bet that I could get that king to eat any damn thing I wanted.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Actually Doug, my first thought was to call the pet shop employee a DUMB@$$, but then I reconsidered LOL!! I have heard of a few breeders using snakes to get picky kings feeding, especially brooks, specks, and even alternas. But unfortunately, your theory is probably correct regarding the attendant and their husbandry methods LOL!!! "Hey dude, lets spark up the bong and feed the kingsnake again when the store closes!!!" LMFAO!!!

.
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Something about the whole experience sort of hinted that they were feeding corns for entertainment. (i could be dead wrong). I personally, being an animal lover don't even like to see live rodents offered. Of course im not against it if necessary nor am i against feeding snakes to kings. I just don't find it entertaining.

The attendants response to your interest could have also been their way of talking you OUT of buying the snake which could possibly mess up their entertainment at the store!!! Lets face it, there are some freaky people out there LOL!! I have often been suspicious of a few pet shop clerks that avoided questions and were vague when I asked about certain animals. If an animal I see at a pet shop is of enough interest to me to even ask about it, it usually is an exceptional animal that I would consider paying more for. I think some of those attendants feel the same way, yet dont want to buy the animals themselves. Their best bet is to have NO ONE buy it and it stays at the store for their entertainment. Then they can possibly talk the owner later on down the road to give it to them or sell to them at a much reduced price since "no one seems to want this one".

That is funny as all heck the way you put it there Kevin, but I have to realistically think that very scenario happens ALL THE TIME!with many pet stores around the country...LOL!

After all........"where there is a will, there is a way" to do just about anything if someone wants to do it.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Doug, I have personally seen and have heard stories from reputable folks and friends about some pretty horrific stuff people will do in the hobby to support their reptile "addictions". Everything from scam jobs, bait and switch, outright thievry, etc. It wouldnt surprise me if this is the case in some shops with employees trying to scam critters out the store while working their $5 and hour job. After all, its hard buying new reptiles and maintaining a huge collection on that salary when your weekly pharmacy bill is twice your annual take home pay LOL!! I have seen it bro. Folks a couple of days away from being evicted from crappy apartments with animals free roaming and living in cardboard boxes, yet they still manage to scrounge cash, scam, or find ways to acquire that new animal LOL!!

Like the saying goes...."it takes all kinds"!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Thats kinda funny i once told a Redneck this snake will probably eat that Rattler or any other snake in it path ,,KINGS Rule

I dont think we should treat you like a newby. I mean you should know better than listening to someone making minimum wage right? This guy is likely SOOOO stupid his boss had to tell him this so he would not put snakes together to cost the store inventory. For the newbys reading this, the faster you quit attending PET STORES the better off you will be! Anyone reading this forum for 2 days knows more than anyone in a pet store....

my fl king which is pretty close to a brooks was kind of hard to get feeding as a hatchling, but after two or three tries feeding pinkies he took it. now when I walk in the room hes so excited to eat a mouse that he comes to the top of the cage and flicks his tongue really fast. also most people that work at stores like that dont even like the animals they work with. I bought crikets at petco and the person whos supposed to get the crikets said she was scared of them and the manager had to get them.

HAHAHAHAH!! Yeah, that happens a bit at the big chain stores in my area as well. They do appear to try and hire folks to work the reptile area that arent afraid, but usually "the person who does the snakes" is usually not there when I ask questions or want to look closer at an animal they may have. I actually saw a sockhead pueblan at the local Petco that I went back to buy even though it was overpriced. It looked that nice and I thought what the heck. When I went back to the store a few days later, the attendant told me one of the other employees put the two pueblans they had together to clean the cage. Needless to say they wound up with one big fat pueblan, and it wasnt the one I wanted to buy LOL!! Must have been a sign from above to not pay ridiculous prices for pueblan milks, sockheads or not LOL!!

I bought crikets at petco and the person whos supposed to get the crikets said she was scared of them and the manager had to get them

As well she should be! Crickets are smarter than we give them credit for. LOL!
Seriously, the Petco I frequent is staffed with some pretty knowledgeable folks. I also deal with a little Mom&Pop pet store staffed by the mama and her teenage daughters, and they also are real nice folks. If a place smells bad, or the people have bad vibes, I don't go there.
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Bob/Chris
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire

Yes, many stores suck and many are not experts (thinking big box stores esp.)

BUT I have worked in some form of the pet trade my entire life and that is more than 30yrs. anyway.

Pet stores only make money when the owners are the employees. The owners often have a passion and go with it. Most people have a passion for one sort or another of critter and then have to learn the rest. Rare is the total animal addict that loves to try and do and learn about anything with a face. (Guilty....been doing it a long time too) If and when the passion takes off and the store does well it grows and they have to hire someone to do some of the work. And therein lays the rub. Try sorting out a passionate AND knowledgeable employee when most of the people filling out an application just LOVE animals and need an outlet for the suppressed need to have pets their parents won't let them have. I have been offered three different pet trade jobs in the last month ....that is how desperate this area is for quality....and I already own my own business.....AND no one can pay me enough at this point. (being your own boss rocks!)

And then too....you can KNOW you are right but the employee disagrees with you and you end up thinking they are idiots. Try asking people how many blah blah blah they have had for how long and how many generations. You might get and give some perspective.

I think you would find that rare is the pet store that feeds animals to each other. They lose an animal they lose money. The rare sadistic teen worker won't last long. The owner is not in it to lose money.

Truly....many pet store employees have similar troubles with buyers. You spend time with a customer going over care and cages and everything and then have them kill a perfectly decent pet.
I have a nice MBK that was returned to a local store after a few months of ownership. The snake was pristine and beautiful when it left the store for this guy. It came back covered in bite marks and scars. The owner either thought it was cool to watch it kill things OR they were too chicken to prekill a mouse. Happily after taking it home for far less than the first time around the snake happily takes prekilled mice like a gentleman and is doing very well.

Similarly I can't tell you how many animals I have tried to revive after months of neglect or abuse by buyers. My vet calls my pets my "freak show" .

My reaction to ignorant employees....talk civilly to them, they may be willing to learn....and tell the owner...who may not know he hired a Jeffrey Dahmer.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

thats exactly right the owner simply may have not known what was going on.
whats troubling to me is the OP johnthebaptisit ending his post with... what a thing for a "baptist" to say i mean lest thee judge and all.WOW!
,,,,,,,thomas davis
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Morphs... just like baseball cards BUT ALIVE, how cool is that???

my website www.barmollysplace.com

Im not a baptist and my name is not john. I can form an opinion about people if i want. When someone is of poor hygiene, Speaks like a 6th grader and uses the F word in front of customers or at least within ear distance, I can call him an idiot and trash.

well you certainly can, as can i. johnthebaptist but your names not john and your not baptist
WOW!
,,,,,,,thomas davis
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Morphs... just like baseball cards BUT ALIVE, how cool is that???

my website www.barmollysplace.com