Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am thinking of getting back into snakes. Befour I was mainly into boas and pythons these days, I am developing an intrest in Kings Snakes. I have always liked the look of the Scarlet King but hear they can be hard to keep. What I want and need to know is this: Do all kings snakes get about the same size when full grown? If not which ones are the smallest over all? and the most colorful? And the easest to keep and raise? Basicly what I am looking for is a combo of most colorful easy to keep(eats mice easily not a hard feeder) and of course small in size (at least small to medium in relation to kingsnakes) So what am I looking for and how much does it cost (average). So there are the questions. So what do I want and what do I need to care for it.
Also how much is it going to cost me? thanks. I still have some reptile equipment around somewhere at the least a couple of "heat" rocks. Fish tank screen clips and other small stuff.
but would need to but a habitate of some sort. (also how much of this stuff can I do mail order? I am currently housebound and will be for at least 4 or 5 more months. can i obtain snake food mail order as well? thanks folks for any help you can give me.
Jim L

If you want a small, colorful, easy to feed kingsnake, I recommend a Thayeri. These are also known as Variable Kings or Nuevo Leon Kings. They are good feeders, come in a rainbow of different colors and patterns to suit your taste, they're docile, and only grow to about 3 feet. Other small, colorful kings, like Arizona or California Mountain Kingsnakes can sometimes be finicky eaters.
You can mail order the snake from a good breeder (check this site for good breeders), mail order frozen food from someone like Rodentpro.com. I dont recommend a heat rock since they have been shown to get too hot and possible burn your snake. An undertank heating pad is much better. You can find out quite a bit about kingsnakes online and through books. Folks on this forum don't mind answering questions if you show you have done some of your own research before asking! Good luck.

Greg
Link

yes that is very true but also if you dont whant to pay for shipping for mice go to a pet store and they should have frozen mice there. what size tank do you have?? als if you dont realy like the colors of the Thayeri i recremend a california king. they do get 4-5 feet but they are great snakes!!! i have two they are great eaters love to be held and dont cost much.all you would need for the bedding is pine shaveings wich people use for hampsters it works great and is cheap.never use ceder wood shavings they are txic!!!!just like he said dont use heat rocks unless they have the little temperture setting thing. if you get one get a tunnle some fake leaves and branches. after feeding your snake dont hold him 24-48 hours just let them rest.feed your snake depending on the size feed it 2 pinies,2fuzzys,2bigger fuzzys,or 2 mice unless it refuses.thats prety much all you need to know. 1 more thing give it plenty of water!!
good luck Dylan ps here is my adult king

First thing you need, is a good book, or check out some of the care sheets. Second thing you need to do is throw away the hot rocks.

Dylan,
You should kick back for awhile and follow other people's posts on this forum, and read some books about kingsnakes. Check your posts on this site with the spell checker on a word processing program. The spelling erors are distracting.
It is obvious to me and I'm sure everyone else on this forum, that you are young and enthusiastic about your new found love for kingsnakes. Many of the questions you ask can easily be answered by a good book or by a care sheet.
I lurked on this forum and kept about 10 kingsnakes for years until I felt comfortable giving advice on this site. I still usually leave the advice to the more experienced breeders that post here. you should probably do the same until you have more knowledge and experience under your belt.

Peace,
Greg

yes, cedar shavings are bad for snake bedding. but so are pine. get your snakes on wood bark or paper towels and they'd be much better off.

realy pine shavings are toxic i never knew that. so should i not use it.? what kind should i use?? a breeder told me to use pine shavings.
thanks Dylan

well, I keep my king on reptibark (the stuff they sell in pet stores) but when I worked at a nature center we kept ours on newspaper--paper towels work equally well and you can't beat them for cleaning up easy, but then again they don't look all that naturalistic. I keep my hog on aspen shavings because everything I found, either caresheets or experienced breeders, said that was the way to go, but I have to make sure it doesn't get too dry in there, or get damp and moldy. I think a major problem with pine is how drying they are, but also there are oils in the shavings from the wood. As far as I know aspen are safe, but I like the bark in my king's aquarium because I've tried to make it sort of nice with plants, whereas the hog is in a little sterilite container.
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Sue Barnett
1.0 Florida King (Vega)
0.1 Western hognose (Sola)
1.0 Crested gecko (Gator)
0.1 Egyptian spiny mouse (Mia)
4.2 mini rex rabbits (Basil, Pippin, Reggie, Hayden, Jackie and Peek-a-boo)
0.1 Plott hound (Molly)
1.0 half Arab (Zarr)
1.0 Betta (Flash)

OK I have to ask. Whats an E. Spiny mouse? the rest I sort of know but have never heard of the mouse. thanks
Jim L

I have used both aspen and pine shavings for over 30yrs. Neither is toxic. If you read care sheets from the well known breeders, thats what they use.

Greg, and everybody who answered,
Thanks, You answered most of my questions. While I have (or should say had kept snakes for years I had Boa's and python's(Ball Pythons) as well as a few of lizards(alnoles,gecko's, skinks,etc)including a golden tegue. I had gotton out of reptiles a few years ago due mainly to burnout. Due to a recent move and subsuquent illness all of my reptile books are packed away in boxes and I have no current idea where they are. My knowledge is way out of date on the keeping of reptiles as when i had them heat rocks were fins and sold everywhere and even recommended(along with heat pads but none of it had any thermoter regulation. the thermoters recommended were the stick on fish versions. Its been at leaset 10 years since I owned any animal except dogs. So i am now doing research. I have no specoific books on King snakes innmy library any way so adding a couple is definately a good idea as well as updating my apprently outdated husbendry knowledge. Any book recomendations would be welcomed. I would also like to know where you folks recomend I obtain my snake on the east cost and the colors avaiable on the particular one recomended the "Thayeri" (How do you pronounce that?). Sorry for the spelling guys but its the best i can do(spelling was never my strong suit) For housing I have a 50 Gallon "Breeder" tank this measures 3'x2' and about 2' high, I also have a wooden stand for it. I will need a tight fitting and snake proo cover and of course the internals. (I also have some 6" or 8" lengths of 4" diameter pvc pipe can I still use that. Perhaps painted to blend in with the scenery?
thanks again for al your help. I am going to take this real slow
Due to my current disability I must do most everything mail order
and research things carefully. thats what I am doing.
Jim L
PS Just for the record I am 44 years old.

as for frozen mice---it is WAY cheaper to buy them online, even with shipping included, than to buy them a few at a time from a pet store (unless you want to start breeding your own, but that's a whole other issue). I get pinkies for my baby hognose (and when my king was just a little thing) from rodentpro or the mouse factory for less than 50 cents each even when you consider shipping, and at the moment am paying a dollar (!!!) each because I left the pinkies at home and didn't feel like ordering more when I'll be back home in a couple weeks. I have a florida king that I got from a pet store when he was the size of a pencil and he's now 49" and almost 5" at the widest, has a great temperment, is a FANTASTIC feeder on thawed mice, and is generally very easy to keep and I like him a lot. He has a water dish big enough to fit his whole body in, and an undertank heater under half of his tank for when it gets cool. He's bedded on bark and gets fed in another container because given his feeding response, I do NOT want him thinking my hand reaching into his cage means food Other than that, he really doesn't need much. Have fun researching, find out what's available around you, and really they are fun and easy to keep in general. Definitely a secure lid is a must-mine is an escape artist. have fun
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Sue Barnett
1.0 Florida King (Vega)
0.1 Western hognose (Sola)
1.0 Crested gecko (Gator)
0.1 Egyptian spiny mouse (Mia)
4.2 mini rex rabbits (Basil, Pippin, Reggie, Hayden, Jackie and Peek-a-boo)
0.1 Plott hound (Molly)
1.0 half Arab (Zarr)
1.0 Betta (Flash)