Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I mostly keep corns and ball pythons, but I have one king snake I bought on a whim last year. He has stopped feeding for the last several weeks, and I am thinking that as long as he is empty anyway I may as well brumate him when I brumate the corns to keep him from dropping any weight.

I mostly treat him like a corn with temps and basic care and he does fine...........but I'm afraid I just don't know~ Can I brumate him? And is 45-50F for 70-90 days that I brumate the corns at good for him?

Thanks for any help!

Of course you can brumate the king, but IMO 45 deg is getting a bit low in temp. Shoot for 55 deg plus or minus a few, and that goes for the corns as well. I've had Cal kings do fine when exposed to 45 deg for a few nights, but not for an extended period.

Last year was the first year I brumated my corns and I was trying to recall the temp range without digging out my books. Not to worry though, I am just begining to prep for brumation now and won't actually be cooling any for a few more weeks so I will have time to double check all of that info.

I just wasn't sure if "Izzy" (the King) could go down with the corns or not. Never really considered brumating him before as I don't intend to breed him. However I must admit to being pleased he can, he is outgrowing his current enclosure and if I can put him down to cool for a few months I won't have to worry about the enclosure issue until after Christmas!

Thanks for the info, I very much appreciate it!

ZIP 76513

Wow, that's such a pretty snake! I have one that looks almost exactly like it... would you care telling me what subspecies yours is? Perhaps it's the same as mine, and I've been trying to figure out for a few months now without any luck. Thank you!
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~Banana~

I'm afraid I don't know much of anything about him. I bought him on a whim at a reptile show last December and my sister keeps him as a pet. I am usually very good at record keeping, but he was a novelty and is the only snake I own that I don't even have a reciept for. I've often wished over the last year that I kept the reciept for him, especially as someone told me recently that he is a "California King" and I may have issue's not knowing his origin as I live in California. I sure hope not!

I'm afraid he's not for sale. My sister thinks of him as a pet. Thanks for admiring him though, we sure think he is pretty too. So pretty that we own 75 snakes, and he is the only "Pet" the others are breeders or neonates that will go for sale later this year.

Yes, he is a California king, and I can tell you he's either a 50/50, designer snow, or banana... something like that.
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~Banana~

looks like a aberrant cal-king, (Lampropeltis getulus californiae) with a pattern that cannot fit into a banded or striped catagory, but it's a cal-king fer sure!
what grabbed my attention about izzy is that his blacks are solid and his white is white! often the colors look like they bleed togeather,
but thanks for your time, you know......... it never hurts to shoot!, right?

........

I should know as I have several from this year and last that look very similar. Want snakes that look kinda like that guy? (markings aren't exactly the same, that's what's fun about aberrants) I have some for sale, or, the parents of mine are: 50/50 choc/cream female x 75% yellow banana male ~OR~ dark chocolate striped male. Some turn out white & black like that, some are yellow & brown, some are even white & brown when fully grown. They are pretty aren't they?

Glad the original question about brumation was answered, and I agree with said answer, for what it's worth. Here's a picture of one of my hatchlings from last year, this was taken les than 24 hours after hatch, he is now black and white.

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"Klaatu...Verata...Nicht--cough, cough, cough!"