Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had my california king for about 4 years now. Over the last year or so he has slowly been going insane. The chief symptom of his insanity is that he tries to eat everything, even though I feed him one or two mice every 7-10 days. I can get him out without getting bit, and even hold him for a while without any strange behavior. Then, all of a sudden he decides I'm food and latches on. Once I get him off me he will latch on to whatever else he can find, be that his hide box, bedsheet etc... I do wash my hands before getting him out, so there should be no mouse smell.

The other strange thing is that his method of catching mice has deteriated. He used to be very accurate with his strike. Now he sometimes misses a couple of times. He often catches the mouse with his body before his mouth. Last night he really went nuts going after a mouse. He kept striking but way to slow, and the mouse would just jump out of the way. After at least 12 tries he finally got it, and acted normal for the rest of the eating process. The slow strike is the only thing slow about him, other then that he was moving very fast around the cage going after the mouse.

This behavior does not seem to be related to pre-shed eye clouding.

Does anyone have any ideas what could be going on?

I don't want this to turn into a live vrs. dead feeding debate, so unless you think the live feeding is the cause please don't bring it up.

thanks,
Jacob

Unfortunately I've also had this happen to some animals over the years. No scent of animals on my hand, fine for the moment and then.... BAM..chewing on the fingers and costricting your hand. like you inadvertently turned on a "switch".

I wish I knew why they do that myself.I have had some nice calm trustworthy individuals over the years but your scenario is why I gave up on Cal. kings and some others years ago.( though I love the colors, especially intense black and white desert phase with no yellowing on the lower sides and coastals).

One of the reasons I particularly like Mex. black kings and Black milks is that they don't engage in this psycho behaviour in my experience.(though they are agressive feeders/make sure your hands are clean!)Plain black is not as flashy as all the designer morphs but it allows you to share your time and energy calmly interacting with these beautiful animals that add so much to our lives. Sorry for sounding corny.Only my own humble opinion.

By the way, if your looking for color AND a nice quiet attitude I would recommend Pyros. Good luck. Bob.

Dont worry (ALBINO CALI KINGSNAKE)
when i first bought my snake off my friend a couple of years ago he said he didnt like it,that his dad had givin it to him for his b.day but he didnt like it, he never touched it and was scared because it had bit his sister. he even would feed the snake in the tank so when you would reach in it would think everything was food and therefore snap at you. so i bought it and it was crazy. it wouldnt let me touch it. the first time i fed it it didnt constrict, it just bit the live mouse (i didnt know he had fed it frozen) took off for like 10 ft and swallowd it alive(bacwards(butt first); it was still squeeling when it finally swallowed the head). what i did was buy some snake oil and just massage it all day for 3 or 4 days and then twice a week for a few weeks and they like the oil so much that theyll let you massage them with it and at the same time get used to and even like being in your hands. also my snake misses sometimes too. LOL . the people at the reptile shop said that because it is a albino it has bad eye sight and the sun really bothers it even more and also that it doesnt matter that it misses as long as it eats. i started feeding it in the bath tub (dark mice(good contrast against the white), and it did alot better as far as missing. since then ive gotton a huge cardboard box from the reptile shop (formerly used to bring in the mice, so it stinks of snake food) so now it KNOWS the only time its going to eat is when it is in there and it knows its not eating anywhere elso so it doesnt snap anywhere else (he still misses sometimes, also try holding the mouse/rat by the tail and letting your snake grab it that way the mouse doesnt jump back and forth(its cool too). I HOPE THIS HELPS. my snake is so calm now i can rub its head, check its gums, play crocadile hunter w/it and just take it out alot. when i moved it up to small rats it started constricting because one bit it and it constricted and killed it up and now always constrics(kills) before it eats. LOL !!!!SNAKE OIL SNAKE OIL TRUST ME IT WORKS!!!! please let me know if it worked for you.

Interesting input.... While I've also been bitten/ chewed on by Amel. cal Kings (when they first started appearing on price lists) It's also happened with normal Lampropeltis subs too. I also have done the feeding in another container thing too but have not enjoyed your results. I've only had one Eastern that had that psycho attitude all others were generally dog tame.

For me, ( not saying anyone else has to think likewise) there are so many wonderful types of snakes to deal with ( and I've liked some of the more "spirited" ones despite their psycho ways and considered them a challenge) and limited time/space/energy issues that I choose personaly not to waste my resources on an animal that wants to eat me anymore. You can't keep them all anyway.... " You must choose wisely grasshopper"

Glad that worked for you. Good luck Bob.

I've never heard of snake oil, until the last couple of days. where do you buy it , I've never seen it before. Can you use other oils or lotions. I've notice a lot of pictures on the fourms ,that the snakes looked like they were oiled up, but they looked good if they were.
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rbichler

I once had a Labrynth Cal King with similar symptoms.

Later learned that to get specialty specimens like color variations, one must breed RELATIVES together. Many Cal Kings, simply because they are probably the most bred subspecies, are very inbred.

Don't know that this is your case, but worth considering, especially if you have a specialty color animal.

My Labrynth was so poor at stalking & striking that I gave him away for a Rat Snake. My current Mex Black King is 40 times better at hunting, and 400 times more fun.

I had a king snake, that use to strike at me continually while I was cleaning cages that were next to him. I think he started going blind from hitting the glass continually. I moved him to a rack system, and over the past year, his eyesight became better. He was so intense on trying to bite me. This could be what’s happening, from the shock of hitting the glass tanks, could be going blind. He two would miss his prey.
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rbichler

Thanks for all the replies. I have on more than one occasion thought about the inbreeding possibility. However, it is not any special coloration or type, just a normal cal. king.

If it would strike at me when I put my hand into the cage I would understand that and know of ways to deal with it. The way he will let me pick him up, will act normal for a minute, or even ten minutes, and then just bite me is what is really strange. He doesn't even strike, just slowly opens his mouth and closes it on me. It is so weird! I guess I will keep trying to calm it down, and will keep some rubbing alcohol handy to get it off me when it does bite me.

Jacob

That's a Cal king for you. Alot of fun really, but not for those who want cornsnake attitude (although some Cal kings can be very trustworthy).
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Mark

What we haven't considered is the possibility that Jacob is actually a huge, intelligent mouse; a freak university research accident. No matter how well he washes his hands (paws), he's still going to smell like a mouse, albeit a very clean one. No king could turn that down...