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ok i have a speckled kingsnakethats about 2 1/2 to 3 years old when i got it about a year ago it was in crappy shape...she was skinny and pretty much all bones from underfeeding. the owner was a 15 year old who knowing i was kinda gothy thought id be into snakes and what not and gave her to me for the sole reason of his parents had moved him someplace where it was almost impossible to obtain food for the creature and thus wanted me to take it cuz i have cash car and acces to pet shops where mice are obtained.
anyway i fattened her up alot and even managed to get an extra foot of length out of her. shes currently about 4 1/2 to five feet long which ive heard is about average for this type of kingsnake. shes well taken care of and has a good temperment.
well this is my first snake and although ive looked them up im still a bit inexperianced in some aspects....for example eggs! a few moments ago while cleaning i spotted about 7-8 of them in her cage and still more coming out...so i watched while she popped out another and decided i had some questions about this whole process.
1)When is a normal time for her to start laying them...shes about 3 now this sounds a bit late to have just started with this whole thing as the former owner never mentioned a damn thing about this...might this be due to the bad care she received?
2)now that she has started how often is she going to do this? is it purly anually?
3)is there anything in particular i should be concerned about? anything of note to her health i should be on the lookout for?
4)obviously i should remove them from the cage since ill be receiving no baby snakes from this unfertalized clutch but should i expect her to be defensive of them?
5)say i wanted to mate her since she obviously going to be laying them perhaps they ought nought be wasted...where do i begin? obviously i should acuire a male but beyond that what? dont they eat other snakes? thus just tossing a new snake in the cage seems unwise (id hate to catch her trying to eat her new mate) what conditions need to be satisfied in order to mate them? and will these conditions be different if i should chose to create a hybrid? that could always be neat (wow whats gonna come outta the egg) so if i decide to make a hybrid are certain kingsnake eisier to breed than other? could i maybe pull off a breeding with a grey banded king? those are pretty and that would be an interesting experament...and im not gonna get into the debate on hybridization but would this be possible...might get a new snake!!! i bet they would be neat looking but rather odd...anyone ever try this before?

ok yeah alot of questions and all that but if i could get a bit of assistance id greatly apreciate it!!!
Thanx in advance your responses are apreciated!!!

Wow, that is a lot of information you are looking for there.

I will try to answer some of your questions…but my best advise right now is for you to get a book on kingsnakes and check out some of the care sheets available on this site.

Snakes sometimes lay eggs even when they have not been with a male…and if she has not been with a male they will be infertile.

This is a very unusual time of year for a king snake to lay eggs. Typically, mating occurs in early spring after the winter “hibernation” and eggs are laid in late spring / early summer.

Take the eggs out and place them in a dampened substrate (moss / soil / even slightly dampened cloths) and keep them 78-80degrees. If they are infertile (which I’d bet my house they are) they will collapse and get smelly within a week or so. If they do not…well, keep them under those conditions.

My guess is the kid who had it never knew she was going to lay and never had her with a male, but you never know. She will probably not lay more than once a year, although some kings have been known to produce 2 or even 3 clutches in a year…this is unusual.

Leave her in peace until she lays all the eggs…then wait a couple days and feed her.

As for breeding in the future…you’re going to need to “hibernate” your snake in the winter…by giving it a period of fasting for a couple weeks in the fall and then placing it in a cool (50-60F) dark place for a couple months in the winter. Then spring is breeding time.

My advice if you want to breed her is to find her a nice speckled king snake male. Again…I recommend you read up on this topic in books and care sheets…but basically you introduce them to one another for a day or so at a time in the spring. You need to watch kings closely, b/c they can (and WILL) eat one another if left together too long. If you have 2 mature, properly sexed, healthy and well- nourished snakes, they should breed.

Strong advice to do with what you will: Breed specked kings to speckled kings. If you want advice and creating hybrids, the hybrid forum would be the place. But, consider creating snakes with a real natural history rather than playing Dr. Frankenstein.

Good Luck…and READ UP !!!

Mike Sissy...I mean Sisson LOL

I agree with you on the following:

Strong advice to do with what you will: Breed specked kings to speckled kings. If you want advice and creating hybrids, the hybrid forum would be the place. But, consider creating snakes with a real natural history rather than playing Dr. Frankenstein.

I wish more people adhered to your words of wisdom above - nothing POs me more than going to a herp show or shop where people are passing off funky-bred kings as something new or another subsp. so they can make a few extra frogskins. Sadly a few people in Florida still play "god" with kings...people who know better and shall remain unnamed.

-John