Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I all...i am considering my various options as of a new snake to add to my collection ( wich is not big in fact ) and i am now lookikng at the kings...so the main question now is : whats the difference between milks and kings ????? Any major differences or just a little classifyng "caprice" ??? Also...I really like the Cal Kings...are they tough to handle ? What's their general behavior ? Good feeders ? Etc...
thanks any info is welcome

I've only handled two kings regularly...a florida king that was about 3 feet long and was a dream to handle. He was very calm, laid back, and the sweetest little guy I've ever met. He's what prompted me to buy my little rascal (a young cal. king). My guy was pretty friendly upon initial handling, but has become somewhat wild.

I think my problem is that he's in such a large cage that he buries himself where it's difficult to find him. So I'm having to dig up all the substrate and decor in my hunt for him. As you can expect, this ticks him off a little and he gets defensive. He strikes out and will bite (though it doesn't hurt and he draws no blood) and is quite adapt at musking me when first picked up. When he's been held for a while (10 minutes), he calms down and is really good, but if I move too fast he flips out. I think with regular handling and some age, he will calm down. From what I've been reading, it's not uncommon for baby kings to be easily startled and ticked off. Once I realized the bites were painless and stopped pulling away, he backed off on striking at me.

He's a great eater and gets a dethawed pinky every 4 days. I haven't had any trouble feeding him as of yet.

me and my roomates have 2 cal kings. we got them from a chain petstore. the first one we got when we really didn't know anything about them but researched like crazy when we did. that one is totally calm. he's never even struck at me or musked, and he never tries to get away or thrashes or anything. it gets a little jumpy when you move fast though. overall its about the calmest snake i've ever seen. the other one was from the same pet store, the lady was talking to us about what the pinkies were for and asked if we wanted a psycho king. this thing was crazy, striking at any movement it saw. they had it there for over 5 months, no hide, only a water dish, and no human contact. she offered it to us for only $12 so we got it. i've worked with it everyday and its calmed down to be a very nice snake. it's never bitten me and it used to musk like crazy, now i only get a very small drop if any. if that snake could be tamed, then anyone can. its just about how much you want to work with them. the latter snake is a great feeder, will eat pinkies unscented. the first one was a pain and refused pinkies, so he was on anoles for about a month. now i have him on small mice without a problem. as for milks, they are about the same as kings for care, handling etc. the only real difference, at least for preference, would be color. there are some crazy morphs and tri colors that some kings lack. either way, they are easy snakes with great dispositions.

who was acquired from the same store only a few days after purchasing the king...he's very sweet, but a little "spirited." He is always moving and not content to just intertwine himself in our fingers and hang out like the king is.

He has yet to strike out at us and is a calm, reliable eater. He gently takes the pinkie from our fingers and eats it....as compared to the king who thinks he's a boa constrictor....tehe...he stikes out at the mouse about as violently as I've ever seen a snake do and then proceeds to wrap himself around it and roll around. I swear the mouse is gone in .2 seconds...gotta love him.