Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Man I was lovin' all your pics of the big easterns and floridas a couple days ago. I have never seen an adult eastern or brooks in the flesh, only in pics here. I have had Cals for many years and I am curious about the differences in them and have a couple ?s. #1. what is the temperment of the big boys like? My 4 yr old cal will still chomp me out of the blue now and then, do the easterns and brooks calm down more than the cals? #2 regarding size, I know a lot of the references give a 4-6ft range but what about girth and weight? How would a big eastern or florida compare in girth to a pine snake or a honduran milk? I like kings for their beauty and hardiness but my days with cals are coming to an end because I just don't like their flightiness, musking and their unimpressive size and wondered if easterns may be the ticket. If any of you have any pics of you holding one of your monsters so I can get a context of the size it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hello

They get big and very beefy. On my site there is a pic in the NJ section by Thomas Davis of him holding a big 6' Eastern. To get to my site just click on the icon below. As far as tempermant on average adult Florida Kingsna and Easterns are pretty mellow. You always have exceptions like Johns female Eastern he talked about a few days ago but in general they are calm. Check out the site read the articles and that should give you a good idea.

Regards,

Keith
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Tim

I started with CalKings and still like the really nice, crisp black and white banded ones...a very cool pattern.

I think the temperment is basically the same...alot depends on the snake itself and how often and how you handle your snakes.

Like Keith said, I - and all of us who have big Easterns or Florida's for years - find that most Easterns are very docile snakes...even my large ones will hiss and pull back when mad rather than bite. In my experience it's the Florida Kings that may have an edge in the "attitude" department when it comes to the big boys. Speckleds and Desert Kings are more tempermental - in general than the "big boys" in my experience.

I'll post a pic of me holding the late "Terminator" from a few years ago and you can see what a beast he is. I'm downloading my old pics from my crapped-out computer at home to one at work and then I can show you a full body shot of me holding this boss hog I used to have.

Pines/Gophers/Bulls, etc. can get bigger around in girth than kings and can be longer, but a big 6' plus Eastern would put some extreme fighting type of moves on even a 7.5 foot Pine in a heartbeat and then probably kill it. It may not be able to eat one that's 1' bigger but they'd kill it in a second if they were in "the mood."

I've seen (and owned a nearly 5') Honduran Milks that are over 5' but the ones I've seen tend to be a bit leaner in terms of girth.

The only other native snake a big King has to fear is a larger King or an Indigo - the mac daddy of the North American snake eaters!

-John

You mentioned Indigo's are the toughest snake eaters but I dont think there way of killing is efficient when it comes down to eating a constrictor. Im sure its does well on Racers and various Vipers but a big constrictor is something else. Read my account of a feeding tale gone bad. Im not super proud of this but I was desperate.

I purchased one of Dean's YT's he produced this year and he is a beauty. I was told he eats live but I figured I could switch him over pretty quick ... I was wrong. The problem was I had zero access to live food small enough for him to eat. Anyway I tried everything I could and nothing. So in desperation I had a Outer Banks King juvenile that was even more stubborn than the YT and he was starting to get weak etc... I did what some may call unthinkable but I felt that YT needed a meal quick as it was going on 8 weeks. I put the juvenile OBK in there which is only 10" long maybe and they YT went after it fast ! Thats when the OBK found some renewed strength . The YT had the king in his mouth about 1/3 the way from the head so the king took the rest of his body and wrapped around the YT's neck and was literally strangling the cribo ! I manged to unwrap the king but in turn the king bit onto the top of the cribo's head and began to work his way down. Now he only could swallow up to where his body was stuffed into the cribo's mouth. I carefully peeled the king off and ...(gulp) euthanized it so it would give the cribo no more trouble. I felt terrible about it but the OBK was doomed to die regardless and that YT needed to eat and live was the only answer. The YT then gobbled him up problem free and 1 week later I offered a scented fuzzie with snake guts on it (I had a few dead in the egg Brooksi kings in the freezer)and BAM he ate it right up ! He did this agin last night as well . I took extreme measures to get this YT to eat and again I feel bad but now the YT is chowin so the trade off isnt half bad.

I will say if I didnt intervene I think that tiny little non-feeding and weak Outer Banks King may have taken the King of all Dry's out.

Keith
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d

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My experience parallels Keith's. Mature adult easterns (and floridana/brooksi) become quite stocky. Cal kings of such a girth feel fat, whereas an eastern type (chain, brooks, peninsula) king will feel muscular and solid. All of my adults are also very calm, much more so than any adult cal king that I've cared for. Sorry, I'm obviously very biased; to me, eastern types are just much more impressive in every way.

Will