Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I was wondering how difficult and/or available these species/subspecies are. I've heard they can be tough and not too many people in the east seem to breed them. Are there any good care/info pages or books that I can look into? How do they compare to getula, or thayeri?

Thanks,
Van

Mtn kings are fairly easy if you purchase one that is feeding one mice. Most wild mtn. kings tend to stray for the lizard diet, but some may take mice with no problem. Zonata are native to California (whre i am from), so not a lot of people breed/sell them (proctected in CA), but pyro's are fairly common. There should be a mountain kingsnake site on the kingsnake.com list of care-sheets. Check it out
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Zach Lim
Carnivorous Plant Grower and Herper
http://www.geocities.com/sf_snakes/index.html

Mountain kings do not tolerate warm temps very well. Although they will take advantage of a heat pad set in the 80-84 degree F range, they must have access to a cooler area. I also have seen them do well in snake rooms kept at about 80-82 degrees, with the mountain kings kept on or near the floor so as to be a few degrees cooler. The point is, don't overheat them.

They will almost always stop eating in June or July and not eat again until the next Spring. Quite a long fasting period. There may be exceptions, notably juveniles that may eat all year, but by and large that is the cycle. When they are feeding they will eat often (small prey). Sometimes the babies can take awhile to start on pinkie mice, but I have found that most eventually do, and once they do, they will eat mice with no probs.

My opinion is that the Tarahumara Mtn king (L. pyromelana knoblochi) and the Arizona Mtn king (L. pyromelana pyromelana) are easier overall than zonata ssp, and far more available anyway. Any pyromelana that has already started on mice can make a fantastic pet. They are very calm and don't musk (usually) and they stay colorful even as older adults - something most thayeri do not do at all. Another A mtn king is the Durango Mtn king (L. mexicana greeri).

Although mtn kings enjoy a humidity box in the cage, they don't tolerate hot and humid conditions overall. In that regard they are similar to thayeri, although thayeri will usually eat through the summer after pyros and zonata have stopped.
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Mark