Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a baby california king snake about a year old. She is about a foot and a half long and loves to be held. She is barely skittish at all. In her cage she likes to sit with her head in the air. Is this a problem? It doesn't appear to be comfortable, but doesn't seem to hurt her. I also have a baby variable king snake. Sometimes he will sit with his mouth open and when he opens and closes his mouth there is a clicking noise. Could it be a broken jaw? I have seen him eat before, i don't know if that would affect his eating. As a beginner snake person, only having corns before, this is all new to me, so you guys are a great help. Thank you a lot.

OI there may be a problem!
For your Cal King, the rised head may be a sign of a respitory infection due to improper heat/temps and/or too much moisture. The opening/gapping of your other snake's mouth with the crackling is a for sure sign. If you just caught this problem, correct the temps and moisture/humidity. The temps of the warm side should be 83-85F, with the cool side room temp. The best bedding would be aspen, as it doesnt contain moisture. Dry out the tank and use a dry bedding. If severe, take to vet asap
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Zach Lim
Carnivorous Plant Grower and Herper
http://www.geocities.com/sf_snakes/index.html

It may be your substrate. I had a gray banded king hatchling that started holding her head over her water dish with her mouth open. Switched her to paper towels and the behaviour went away. Some wood shaving substrates have lots of dust which clog their nostrils. Pine shavings are worse than aspen as far as dust goes, and babies are more sensitive to dust than adults. Now I keep hatchling on paper towels and adults on the least dusty aspen I can get.

The snakes are kept at those temperatures. Are you sure this is the problem? There is very little humidity, so much as that the newborn variable king with the cracking noise has trouble shedding. Could there be any other explanation?