Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi there we have never posted here but have on the turtle and ball forums we just got a cali king snake last week we have had them before but this one seems really aggressive he went from a 30 gallon at the petstore to a 55 gallon we have set up at home he is eating fine 2 fuzzies on monday . when we try to pick him up he rattles his tail, and pees on us when we do actully hold it, is it just needing time to adjust ? i was told the cage is too large and that when i downsize it the snake will be more comfortable is this right ? any ideas? help!!///////////i posted this earlier but no one answered me so here it is again....plse i need advise as to weather we should change his cage to a smaller one or not 55 gal verses a 20 long is a 20 long too small? help plse!!!

It is probably best to leave him alone for about two to three days, since he's experiencing additional stress from being relocated to a new cage and house(let him sniff around his new "territory". You should also provide him with a hide box. This will give him an area in the cage to feel secure in. Once he's settled down a bit, try to feed him. About 2-3 days after that I would start daily interactions with him. Don't be scared to pick him up. Be slow, but deliberate. When he starts rattling his tail, just ignore it and pick him up anyway. You don't want him to know you're scared - this just reinforces the "rattling" behavior. Don't hold him too long and don't carry him around everywhere. Just sit down with him and let him "check you out" on his terms. He will get used to it. It will take some time, but this seems to work pretty well with a lot of other snakes too. Sounds like this snake hasn't been handled much in his past. So he's scared of humans. But he may get used to you if you handle him for a little while everyday. He will eventually recognize your smell and know that this smell will not eat him. Be patient. Almost all "wild" kingsnakes (they are a rare kind by the way) will eventually become very docile. Some, within hours. Others it may take weeks. Good luck and welcome to the Kingsnake world.

Kingsnakes & Indigo's RULE

Zee

i will add a hide box , but do you think i should make his tank smaller? or will he adjust to the 55 gallon? im not scared of him/her my hubby is lol and its his snake! we had a cali in the past and it was an awsome tame snake not at all as jumpy as this one.unfortunatly when we moved we gave her away.What do you use as substrate? we are currenty using snake mulch id like to use fine sand they have the neatest colors at the petstore!would that be ok to use if the snake has a hide? he is currently buried under the mulch any info would be awsome .how big is the tank your snake is in?outa curiousity

i will add a hide box *A MUST!* , but do you think i should make his tank smaller?* EHH... DEPENDS ON THE SIZE OF THE ANIMAL? -IF IT'S YOUNG, YES -IF IT'S AN ADULT , A 50 SHOULD BE FINE JUST AS LONG AS THE ANIMAL CAN FIND IT'S WAY TO THE WATER BOWL AND BACK TO THE HIDE* or will he adjust to the 55 gallon?-*YES* im not scared of him/her my hubby is lol and its his snake! we had a cali in the past and it was an awsome tame snake not at all as jumpy as this one.unfortunatly when we moved we gave her away.What do you use as substrate?-* BUTCHERS PAPER,PAPER TOWLS,NEWS PAPER (MY SNAKES ARE NOT ON DISPLAY)* we are currenty using snake mulch id like to use fine sand they have the neatest colors at the petstore!would that be ok to use if the snake has a hide?* THAT STUFF "CALCI SAND" AND ALL THE OTHER SANDS ARE AWFUL! REAL DUSTY AND IT GETS VERY NASTY WITH TIME! YOU HAVE TO CHANGE IT SO MUCH IT BECOMES VERY EXPENSIVE, THE ONLY TIME I WOULD USE IT WOULD BE FOR AN ANIMAL THAT WAS MEANT TO BE ON DISPLAY, IN THE LIVING ROOM OR DINING ROOM FOR ATMOSPHERIC EFFECT, THE SANDS ARE VERY PRETTY BUT NOT PRACTICAL AT ALL* he is currently buried under the mulch,* THAT'S COOL , THEY LOVE TO BORROW , BUT DON'T FEED THE ANIMAL FROZEN THAWED ON THAT STUFF BECAUSE SMALL STICKS WILL STICK TO THE FEEDER AND YOUR SNAKE COULD GET HURT* any info would be awsome .how big is the tank your snake is in?outa curiousity THIS ANIMAL IN THE PIC IS ABOUT THREE FOOT AND IS HOUSED IN A 50 GAL SPLIT IN HALF -25 GALLONS
AND HAS PLENTY OF ROOM.....

hi thanks for helping ..our kingsnake is about 3 ft long as well we dont know male/female yet,about the substrate we feed it in a rubbermaid container so no chance of it eating the mulch etc ,and about the substrate we do have it in out living room so it is kinda on display they had sand in w the snake at the petstore and i loved it! is it bad for the snake? i mean if it is i wont use it but if its just a pain in the butt for me im willing to change it alot i just dont wanna use it if its bad for my snake i put in 2 hides one at each range and he doesnt seem interested in them at all we also have a under tank heater on one side of the tank and a black light for night as well as a day glo light its about 85 on that side 75 on the other~ sound right?

no , it's not bad for the animal unless it's dirty! , that stuff fouls out real fast , when i used it for a 5050 i HAD to change
it atleast every month , if not it would start smelling like sh..
and would turn almost soiled brown color , those things can be very bad for your animal , it never got to that point with my animal but i saw the potietial , in the texas market at the time
the calci sand was about ten dollars a bag , that's alot of money! ----go to reptiledepot.com - they have it at a reasonable
5 bucks a bag i think--- i'm sure you know that the pet store over prices stuff emensly , use the internet to save money , rodentpro.com is the bomb for service,qaulity and prices for feeders i DO NOT support the concentration camp pet stores , keep
it in the family , where people are honest,loving and loyal and care about the animals ----- you can also check out other sands
that are more practical when you get some free time , stuff you can clean yourself -- do a search on the net for "uromastx" there's this one care sheet with a black background that goes into great detail about play sand , how easy it is to use and clean , don't worry it won't be hard to find it's like the only
mastx care sheet anywhere------- your temps sound good , just calm down , be cool, buy a book ------some would argue but my kings are like the toughest snakes , very easy to take care of......
the "kingsnake manual" with the blue cover is real easy quality reading! a child could understand it, it's great for a novice.
D

Hi, I've only had my snake for about over a week now adn i dont know too much but i can tell you what i've read if it's any help. Ive heard that as neonates, snakies do well when they are in smaller habitats and the cage should get bigger only as the snake grows and depending on your snakes size, i haeard there is some kind of measuremnt that if im not incorrect if your snake has enough space to sprawl out at his entire length then it should be fine until it grows bigger, but please don't hold me to that. How large is your snake? -Zebra and Gabriela

It's Kitana again, here posted up on the kingsnake forum caresheet, "Most adult kingsnakes can be housed in a standard twenty-gallon long or thirty-gallon breeder aquarium. The idea is to have an enclosure large enough to provide a thermal gradient." Hope this helps