Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone! I'm a new king snake owner, and I could definitely use some help. I've done my research, but there's so much that I don't know, and Google doesn't always seem to have all the answers after all.
So I got my snake Sunday. He's an albino king, I got him from Petsmart. All I know about him is that he was there for six months before I got him, which is really sad to me.
I fed him two pinkies Wednesday, and he's been great thus far. However, Thursday night, I noticed his skin was flaking. After Googling it, it seemed the most common answer is that he's shedding. It's hard to tell since he's albino. I've been working hard to keep the humidity up through going to work all day, etc. I put a humidifier up in my room tonight. I handled him a little bit earlier, while misting his tank down. I allowed him to lay in a small tub which I filled with lukewarm water for a few minutes, hopefully to get him shedding okay. After that, I put him back into his terrarium, and suddenly he's become extremely active. He's climbed up the tree, wrapped himself around the thermometer, and been exploring way more than he usually has.
Up until now he hasn't done much except hide under the bedding somewhere in the terrarium.
I'm not sure if he's okay? If this is normal? I'm not really sure what to do to help him/care for him.
Any advice would be helpful/appreciated. Thank you all in advance for your help. I don't know where else to turn. Thank you again!

Seems normal to me unless I am missing something?

Sometimes it is hard to see if there is a problem or if something is normal without actually being in your house and seeing the setup.

But from what you described I don't see a problem.

Oh but I will recommend you feed your snake something a lot bigger than pinkies and also more often that once per week.

How big is he/she?

For a snake around a little over six months old, he isn't very big. Without taking him out to measure, since he's shedding, he's probably about 2/3 the length of the terrarium.. A 20gal.
I've fed him pinkies since that's about the width of his head, and the widest part of his body.

I do not know where people get the idea to feed a snake a meal the size of its neck? There is a lot of bad info out there from other people who told other sna so on.., Usually pet shop people. I see a lot of emaciated and starved snakes out there on just enough food to keep them breathing. Unfortunately the long term effects are very bad if this went on for a while.

SO he is about 20"?

You can feed him small mice and I suggest you do so today as he is starving . You should try and push the food size. if the mouse is to big he will simply give up and stop trying to eat it. So if that happens just try a smaller size.

But these kings will surprise you on the size a mouse they can consume. Once they eat a certain size , then you know they always can. So always bump up the size of the mouse as the snake will have quick growth spurts.

Pinkies are way way to small for that size. Fuzzys and hoppers would be to small as well.

Kingsnakes can eat large meals and they eat other snakes their size in the wild.So their digestive system can handle it.

It sounds to me it is very underfed. A pinkie is mostly made up or water and very little nutrition. I would start on a regime of small to medium mice right away. Then feed every 3-4 days or whenever it is hungry.

Also do not just stop at one mouse. After it finishes, then offer another.

Okay so 2/3 the length of the terrarium.. A 20gal?

I would guess that is around 14-16"?

So start him on fuzzies and try and bump up to hopper size mice in the nex two weeks.

It would be more helpful to post a pic and measure the snake to get appropriate food size.

One thing for sure is he is way past a pinky mouse size.

Aslo since he is that old, you will see a growth spurt from the much needed nutrition it needs. So feed him large and don't be afraid, they cannot choke on food like mammals and humans.

He might not be quite 20", but somewhere around there, I think. He's not ridiculously lean, he seems quite well fed. Are you sure it's from hunger?

I kept a pair of really nice cal kings this year. I keep them together and throw in handfuls of fuzzies. They are growing like weeds, long and slender and really pretty, did I say pretty. I will see if they will allow some pics today.

ALso my son acquired some sand boas at a recent herp show in Oct. They were newborns, maybe 5 to 6 inches(aprox guess, as in tiny) hes feeds them daily. The female is now approaching twenty inches. The male a little smaller. That's less then four months.

Bluerosy is right, these animals do not crawl around in nature and eat a pinkie. If they find a mouse nest with pinkies, they eat them all. When they do that, they then seek conditions that support digestion. Warmer, when digestion is on the way, they move to cooler temps. When those warner temps are available, they will feed as often as they can. There task is to grow as fast as they can. The reason is simple, as neonates, they are also food for lots of other animals.
The reality is, with proper conditions, your kings will eat daily(not giant meals) or several times a week(large meals) if they are supported with realistic temps. I have taken field temps for decades and digestion temps in nature are high 80's to low 90's to high ninties rarely for extremely large meals. They generally do with with basking areas around 100F. Kings use these hotspots while under the substrate. Some snakes and many lizards use open basking areas. Which means, under tank heating is good, and boards or something under a small heat lamp. We use both. Anyway, show some pics please

Kingsnakes are naturally very active esp. during evening hours, not sure how big he is from your description but pinks (esp. Frozen/thawed) offer very little in the way of "growth building" they are like fat & water. you want to try to get him on peach fuzzies then onto older mice which are a bit more nutritious than pinkies

Your king will be more active:
-After you handle him
-When hungry
-In the evenings
-In the morning (when hungry)
-After you change his bedding
-During breeding season (if it is a male)

You can try creating a moist hide with sphagnum moss, and offering him a big enough water dish that he can submerge himself in when he feels the need... May help with your shedding concerns

Otherwise it would seem you're doing he right thing with your pet snake

~ZF

Thank you!