Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Stupid beginning California Kingsnake owners! Always asking the same stupid questions! Oh well, I AM a beginning California Kingsnake owner and I have my own opinions but what do I know? So....
With a baby, how often do YOU feed them? I want to feed mine after it poops out the last one.
Mine is purplish-brown and pale yellow banded, the yellow bands narrowER than the purplish-brown ones but not really narrow. Assuming mine is just like a million others of that description and NOT a purebred of a certain locality, what locality would it be MOST like? Remember, its like a million others so it would be the most likely locality lookalike.
I have it in the deli container I bought it in and it sits on toilet paper and that is all that is in there. It smells like a little skunk so I wash out its container, so far, every few days and have it soak in warm water while I wash out its container. It poops and musks and all that in the water and on the sink and anywhere else it can manage and I change the water a few times until it stops, or at least slows down, musking the water. It SEEMS to enjoy it and is calmer after I put it back in the clean container with toilet paper. Do you think I should put it in a 10 gallon aquarium with 50/50 Calci-sand/ground walnut shells?
Do I need a tank heater underneath half the tank when I do eventually put it in one?
Do you think it would eat rosy reds/platies/guppies/white clouds?
Would it eat my watersnake? I REALLY like the watersnake and its about half the size of the kingsnake.
If it got out of its container, where would it most likely head off to if it didn't get outside?
Will it ever stop smelling like a small skunk?
Go ahead, tear my beginning California Kingsnake keeping hide to pieces, if you want. I'll just feed the pieces to my snakes.

Sorry I can't help out with a locality for your snake. I don't keep Cal kings, but hopefully someone else can help with that (or do a Google search to match pics with your snake).

I'm guessing it's a hatchling since you got it in a deli container. The skunky smell is musk, which many snakes do as a defensive behavior. Some grow out of it, some don't.

I'd move the snake into a larger container, either a rubbermaid type tub (with a locking lid- very important that the top fit very securely since small snakes are escape artists- and drill some air holes in the sides) or a tank. The snake needs a temperature gradient to properly digest food. For most kings, high of 85 and low of 70-75 degrees works and could be supplied by a regulated under tank heater or lamp. You need a thermostat or rheostat to effectively control the heat plus a thermometer to measure it with. For substrate, I'd use papertowels for easy clean up.

Yes the snake would probably eat any snake it could overpower, including your water snake. They are called kingnsnakes because they include other snakes in their diet. Feed it mice of appropriate size once a week. Frozen-thawed mice are most convenient for most people.

If you do a search on Google for California Kingsnake care sheet, you'll find a number of detailed sheets to gather more information from.
Lora

Rick Trenney has caresheets on his site as well as pictures of many different variations of the cal king.
www.renegadereptiles.com
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"There Has to be more to life than fighting over fish heads"-Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Very strange. Everyone has black and white Mutants From Outer Space but no purplish-brown and pale yellow banded ones. OH NO! I have the last one on Earth! They have all been bodysnatched!

You should give it a home where it can stretch out soon, Im sure he doesnt like the deli cup. Id use aspen for a substrate, its absorbant and my king loves to bury and play in it.

Give it heat, but not too much. 85 is warm enough. Let it cool at night. It will eat mice and snakes (so long to the watersnake if you put them together). When you feed it, you should be able to notice a bulge in the stomach where the prey is. Its not good to handle them after feeding, wait a day. I feed mine about once a week, but I often know when to feed them by their activity. When I see them come out of their hide boxes, they are looking for a meal, so I usually feed them a day or two later (so they still get exercise looking for prey).

If you can post a picture, do so! We all love to see the pics of other's animals. And most of all, enjoy your new king!