Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hmm - here is another couple of questions
1) My Cali King,(Moo - like a holstein cow says - kill me, I grew up in the midwestjust ate 2 pinkies in 2 days - I have a few to get rid of before I get more fuzzies, which it sounds like she is ready to move up to
1st - do I feed her the other pinkies and get rid of em or sacrifice them to the cat and move up to avoid malnutrition?
2nd - do I continue to feed her daily until she quits taking the food? Or will she just eat until she gets sick? (Like that guy in the "super-size me show" - how horrifying - like a little black and white beach ball!)

2) She is, of course, pooping like a fiend, I should leave her be to avoid regurgitation, right, but I feel bad and worry about the poop making her sick. What is best, get her out and thoroughly clean the cage, or just iso her under a little tupperware bowl on one end and clean up the most of the poo and wait. I am sort of leaning towards just letting her stay in and getting the worst of it with plain water and a paper towel until she has more time to adjust to her new home and digest her food - which she seems to really need now - she is eatting asap after I put the food in - like I clamp the cage, she sniffs and eats within less than 10 minutes.

3) We are new to each other - less than a week in her new home - sometimes I look over into her tank and she is just chillin in there peeking out and seemingly staring at me on the computer. Not coiled up or anything. Usually just peeking over her water bowl or out from behind one of her hides just checking me out. Is she really looking at me or what do you think? I usually talk to her when I am looking at her & I sometimes crouch down by her cage and she will sort of uncoil - she has been digesting in the warm side a lot - and look at me with her little head. I am hoping she doesn't see me as a predator scoping her! I am usually just wrestling on the floor with the cat or checking to be sure she hasn't escaped - a little paranoid as cat would love to get his paws on her!

Thanks for your input!
Sunny

You're feeding her every day? Is that good? Maybe I misunderstood.

When my kings were in the same situation (ready to move up but I had a lot of pinkies), I just feed them every 5 days and give them 2-3 pinkies (or whatever, depending on how many you think fits the 'widest part of the body rule').
-----
Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

Not exactly feeding her every day - I wnet to feed her one and she ate it so fast and heartily that the more I thought about it the more I decided she must need more than the pet store was feeding her - so I decided to give her another on the next day.

That's a normal feeding response for a king. They are good aggressive eaters. Just go buy the "feed prey equal to the widest part of their body" rule every 5-7 days and you'll be fine - I'm assuming she's a young king; otherwise every 7 days is fine. It doesn't matter how many you feed them they will invariably look like they want more. I think kings would eat everyday all day if we let them.
-----
Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

Yep - she is definitely an eatter - I think you might be right.

I cleaned the cage liner for her, she knocked down her plant - also a king myth busted - she loves to climb on teh viney plant thing I got her, just to check out another level, I guess - anyways, she knocked it down so I fixed it for her and slid her to one side on the astroturf, she was in a hide, then gently pushed her onto the new cloth in the hide and changed em. She seems a little surprised but she was nice and even let the husband "pet" her. So, that was good, hated to stress her, but she was getting stinky and I would be stressed if nobody flushed my toilet for 4 days!

Am ordering some aspen beddign for her, I think she will like it and it will definitely be easier to spot clean.

So, that was good, hated to stress her, but she was getting stinky and I would be stressed if nobody flushed my toilet for 4 days!

LOL! I agree! Astroturf and carpet are too much of a hassle with kings because they defecate too often. Works great for my Ball Python though. One of my kings is on paper towels right now. It's pretty easy since it takes several paper towels to cover the floor of the cage, so when they make a mess I only have to change the soiled pieces. That way I don't have to take her out and bother her. They'll love the aspen and so will you - very easy to spot clean. I have 2 of my sand boas on aspen chips and love it. My other king is on Bed-a-Beast and he loves it. Also easy to spot clean and looks really natural. I think I'll switch my other king and my corn to it. They all seem to enjoy being able to burrow a bit.

I agree - my kings love to climb around. I was going to put them in a rack setup, but I've decided to go with a display so that they have more height.

I'd love to see pics of your king and setup if you have any.

-----
Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

Typical feeding response from a king snake. My year old cali king will ALWAYS come out of a hide to look at me to see if I am going to feed him at all. I usually feed him in another tank with paper towel,or line his own cage with paper towel over the apsen subtrate. I just fed him yesterday and I'll tell you how aggressive king snakes are feeding wise. I take him out of his cage,put him in the feeder cage and he knew right away he was getting food. I usually feed him 2 stunned hoppers every Saturday but they didnt have any so I got 4 live fuzzies. I dropped one in and bam,wrapped around him and ate him in less then 2 mins. I dropped TWO more in and get grabbed one and wrapped him and held the other one that was trying to run away down with his tail then got him closer and constricted BOTH. After he ate those he was still in a feeding frenzy so I fed him the last one. I'll have to feed him later cause they didn't make a dent in him.

I would feed the pinkies to the snake. It won't harm the snake at all nutritional wise. As far as cleaning goes spot clean EVERY day! If the snake goes,clean it up ASAP to avoid bacteria build up.If it goes on any decor you have in the cage clean that up as well,just take it out and run it under some hot water. Cleaning the whole cage SHOULD be done atleast once or twice a month depending how messy the snake is.