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i have a 3 month old cali king and i will feed him but he still wont stop surfing the tank its like hes never ate before. ill even feed him two meals and he wont stop. its not like hes trying to get out either he never touches the sides. he just keeps going under and over everthing non stop. is this normal for this kind of snake ive owned lots of other snakes and none were ever like this is he ok. looks great not head shy or nothing never agresive any input would be great i thought it was just a phase but i mean he does this 24-7. thanks

So, you've had "lots of snakes" before? Well, if you've had any kingsnakes, you would have seen this behavior before. The king's instinct when in feeding mode is to look for any other possible meals where it encountered the immediate one. He is "amped up" if you will. Like our own adrenaline rush.

Yup, kingsnakes do this all the time...they will circle the cage over and over and over again...rub their noses on things...they get really curious and adventurous...

That's the way they are.
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That doesn't seem right at all.

Sure they can move around alot ... but...non-stop 24/7?
Not unless there's a problem.

What's the temp?

Too high temps will make them go ballistic trying to get out of the heat.

my day hot temps are 86.3 and night are 77. the snake looks verry healthy and calm never tryied to bite yet. hes like a cat with cat nip. just dosent stop. ive owned and collected snakes since i was seven mostly milks boas ringnecks and this is my first king. i just lost a boa dont want to lose another. any ideas of what could be wrong or what to do would be great.

I see that I didn't read the original post carefully - if he is crawling around 24/7 then you need to check the following:

1. Temps. 86 is a little high. Not bad if the cage is large and had 86deg on one end and cooler (78ish) towards the other end, but in general Cal kings will do fine with a high of 82. Tone it down some, then see if he calms down.

2. Substrate - what are you using? Some substrates are irritants to some snakes. It is rare but it happens.

3. Does he have hiding oppotunity?

My bet - temps too high. He isn't a boa. Night time lows into the mid to low 70s are fine, but watch those daytime highs. In a small cage, 82 is good.

hi thanks for your reply im using sand but never used it before thought it would look neat. what do you recomend. thanks

Sand is unfortunately not the best substrate IMO (although it has some nice qualities.) Aspen shavings, hardwood chips, coconut bedding, cage carpet, newspaper.. etc etc are all good substrates. I use a variety of things, from paper liners from Disposable Cage Liners to cage carpet.

For some reason, sometimes dust in a captive environment can cause irritation to the snake, whereas in the wild there isn't a problem. Sand can be very dusty. I would put him on newspaper for the time being and see if that helps.

My california king appears to enjoy aspen bedding. It's great for them to burrow and poke around in. He practically swims through it. It's about 2 inches deep on average.

My king is similar in both size and appearance to yours. So maybe yours will like it. Perhaps it's just what the kids are into at that age.