Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've got a Florida King that's *about* five and half to six feet long, and I've got a few questions.
First, what's the easiest way to accurately measure how big she is, or any snake for that matter? I've looked at her sheds, but somehow I don't think that's too accurate cuz they always have the ability to be stretched.
And second, what should I be feeding her? Right now, she eats 1 medium rat (easily, I might add) every 7 to 10 days. I think she's probably big enough to eat 1 large rat on the same schedule, but I was wondering if I should just stick to medium. BTW, she's five years old and eats only pre-killed items, although she constricts them anyway. lol. Any thoughts?

You should stick to medium rats, but maybe a little more often, say every 6-7 days. (Large rats are harder on your snake's stomach and take longer to digest, possibly slowing the growth of your snake).Are you sure it's a SHE??? Just wondering. Afwully big female if it is. (You should breed her with my male, LOL). My male (florida) is a little over 5.5'. Record size for a king snake is an Eastern that measured 82"; For a florida it is 69.5" confirmed/posted. But on average,florida kings tend to be thicker in girth compared to easterns who are usually more slender (than florida's of the same length). So with proper feeding and care. . . . . Who knows where we might end up??? Got any pics? I will be posting some early next week hopefully. I have too many things to do this weekend (working single parent).
Good luck and take care!

Zee

It's funny that you should mention the gender issue because I've been wondering about that same thing. "She" was labelled as female by the pet store I purchased her from when she was just a hatchling, but I'm almost willing to bet money the store made a mistake. I'll definitely keep her (him?) on medium rats with perhaps a shortened schedule. I've seen other snakes have health problems from power feeding, and I don't want that to happen to mine.
Now concerning the length issue, is there a "best" way to obtain an accurate measurement?

You could try to get the snake to stretch out straight on its own. Say crawling against a wall or along a board.
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Use a string and lay it on the snake, provided it's a mellow animal or at a resting state. Another if the animal is restless is to get a long clear tube slightly larger than the thickest part of the snake and coax him through. Another, but risky method employed by most to include me is to attempt to grab the snake and position him/her next to a tape measure layed out on the floor. Gently grab it near the neck wrapping your WHOLE HAND around to reduce the possibility of injury and that will put your pinkie finger furter down the neck as well, where the chance of injury is unlikely. Put your other hand near the base of the tail, but not the tail itself. Now, while the entire length of the snake is supported by the floor, gently straighten it out, but ONLY use little effort (otherwise you could fracture the vertebrae). If it resists a lot than let it loose and try again. After several attempts, most snakes will relax a bit more, allowing for a pretty accurate measurement, from head to clocoa. The tail can be measured later by quickly taking it and positioning it next to the tape after you grab the snake near the last half and base of the tail. Do this quickly, it can usually be done before the snake pulls it's tail away in a hurry. Then just add the two measurements together. I have done this myself for years on thousands of snakes to include venemous ones and NEVER injured one yet! Just make sure you don't get frustrated, have patience and it'll work everytime.
Since you mentioned buying the snake at a very young age, I strongly believe you have a male. Lots of pet stores and even some experienced snake handlers have trouble sexing very young snakes, unless they have been probed properly. If you want to probe your snake, I recommend having someone show you that has done it before, before attempting yourself. It is a delicate procedure. But I CAN tell yopu this much: since your snake is sexually mature: If the tail does not begin to taper ( from the vent) right away or appears to have a slight bulge at the base it is a male. Females' tails begin to taper almost immediately within 2-3 scales length as there are no sex organs(hemipenes). In the males, the tail does not begin to taper until about 10-12 scales lentgth down.
I'm curious,how big was this snake when you bought it? Sounds like you've done an excellent job with him.

I purchased "him" when he was less than 12 inches long and have never had any problems. My secret? Well, I have to admit to being a loooong time reader of this forum, so all I've really done is followed the advice on this forum and looked at the caresheets this website provides. In fact, I actually chose to get a Florida king in large part because of the advice I found on this site.

For those of us here who consider themselves as "beginners," two of the most informationally helpful suggestions I found on this forum were to look at Kenneth Kryskos' research and to purchase Markel's "Kingsnakes Care & Breeding In Captivity." End result? I've got a fairly large, healthy kingsnake that is puppy dog tame and a good eater. I'll let everyone know how big he is and his gender once I figure it out. In the meantime, a big thanks to all who've chimed in on this thread.