Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I will soon be buying a baby kingsnake, and I hear its best to keep them in a small shoebox sizes container first with a small water bowl inside etc. Im wondering though where do they get their heat from? Should I place the smaller container inside the larger aquarium so it will benefit from the heat lamp?

Also 85F is a good temperature for snakes but is this also a good temperature for baby snakes?

Thanks for your help!

you want to provide a heat gradiant. I've read you can use a human heat pad and set half the box on it.set on 'low' setting. I think puting the box in a tank with a light won't give the baby a 'cool' side if it wants to be cool. Not sure on temps for babies but I started my corns out in 10 gallon tanks with the under the tank heater (uth). they did fine and are now over year old and in 20 gallon tanks.

an aqaurium is fine to start a king out in but it must be completely escape proof.i like to use critter keepers.or if you wnat to take the time make a lid that sit in the aqarium rim.im not quite sure if im saying that right butmost lids overlap the rim instead of sit inside of it.this way is good because the snake cannot squezze in between the lid and top of the cage.if your not sure what im talking about tell me and ill try to get a pic up of one of my lids.they arent hard to build as im not a handy man and it took my 20 to 30 minutes to cut wood and everything.hope this helps
nick

Im not completely sure what you mean, but maybe "aquarium" is the wrong word for me to use. Basically its a wooden structure with sliding glass doors at the front.

At what age would the kingsnake be ready to transfer from the shoebox sized container to my large wooden container? My large container is:

20 inch wide (51cm)

40 inch long (102cm)

24 inch high (61cm)

Also regarding heating while in the small container, would a product such as this be appropriate? -

http://shopping.lycos.co.uk/3198en4504007.html

Thanks for all the help!

Sometimes those cages with the sliding glass doors aren't good for holding in small snakes because they can squeeze between the panels of glass.

So as far as when he could be transfered into the wooden cage, only when he's big enough that he would no longer be able to squeeze between the pieces of glass. Other than that he should be fine in there at one year old.
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alstiver@hotmail.com

1.0 2001 Coral snow cornsnake
0.1 2002 Pastel Ghost poss Het Amelanistic cornsnake
1.1 2002 Bloodred cornsnakes
0.1 1998 Het Hypo, Het Caramel cornsnake
1.0 2000 Hypo Het Caramel cornsnake
0.0.13 2004 Eggs (potentially normals, hypos, caramels, and ambers)

I see what you mean about him squeezing through the gap in the glass, however a while ago I applied some soft packing material down the edge of the glass because my corn was rubbing his nose up it. The packing material completely closes the gap so there is no chance for him to escape.
Should I then transfer the kingsnake to the wooden container as soon as he outgrows the shoebox sized container?

ps. The corn unfortunately passed away a while back so the wooden container is currently empty, just in case you thought I was putting a corn and a king in together.

85 F is a good temperature for the hot end of a kingsnake's cage. I'd put the cool end at 80-82 F. And at night, turn the heater off so that the cage temperature drops to room temperature. I've used this cycle successfully for both baby and adult California kings.

This day/night temperature cycle imitates what a king would get in the wild.

Paul Hollander