Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm new to the whole herpetology thing, and the experience I do have is with rat snakes, so I had a few questions I was hoping someone would answer for me.

I saw a kingsnake at a pet store yesterday, labeled as a desert king, but it is white and black rather than yellow and black, and looks an awful lot more like a California than a desert. I know that rat snakes change colors and patterns from juvenile to adult - do kingsnakes do this? Is it possible that it's a desert that will become yellow later?

Also, the guy at the shop told me that it needs sand for substrate, and both a heating lamp and heating pad, but the care sheets I've read on kingsnakes say you can use one or the other, and that you can use pretty much the same substrate as with rat snakes. Who is right?

The snake is very small, and it looks to me like it isn't bigger around than a pinkie. The guy at the store told me that it should be fed pinkies, but I've read numerous times that you shouldn't feed a snake anything bigger around than itself. I also read that kingsnakes will eat a wide variety of prey. Should I trust this guy and (when I buy it) feed it pinkies?

One more thing - I've read that you shouldn't feed snakes live prey because it could injure the snake, but I've also read about people doing it. I feed the rat snake frozen (defrosted) pinkies, but I'd like to see it constrict if that's possible. At the same time, I don't want to hurt the kingsnake nor the rat snake. Should I just forget about the live prey idea?

Sounds like a desert-phase California kingsnake (as opposed to splendida, the "desert kingsnake." Cal kings from the deserts in their range are striking black and white banded snakes.

You need what ever heating is necessary to maintain proper temps. For many people keeping the snake indoors in an insulated house, this may mean only a heat pad or only a heat lamp. In very cool rooms you may need both. You can use a heat pad on a dimmer and see how that goes. Fine for a baby. Adults will brumate in Winter anyway, so you don't need to worry about heating too much then (keep them 55-60 deg during brumation.)

Snakes can eat live prey just fine, and baby snakes can eat a pinky that makes a bulge as long as the temps for digestion are correct.. not too hot and not too cold (82-84 is right for a basking temp with background temp around 75ish or so. Night temps can drop some.) Believe me, in the wild, Cal kings don't analyze every prey item for size. They can handle it as long as you don't feed some rediculously-huge item. You just make sure you provide the right temps, and don't bother the snake for a few days after it eats. I would use thawed pinks for this king if you have them as a matter of convenience, since you already use them for the ratsnake.

For an adult snake you might want to kill the mouse first to avoid it biting the snake, but in my experience snakes can take mouse bites without problem other than some scarring sometimes. Most keepers don't want scarring on their snakes and so feed dead rodents only. Alot of people feed live and have zero problems. Just be smart about it. If the snake doesn't want to eat, remove the mouse. Simple.

You don't have to keep the snake on sand; that is unreasonable. Aspen shavings or sani-chips are fantastic substrates for kingsnakes and better than sand for a number of husbandry reasons. Look at LLL Reptile's site for sani-chips. It is IMO the best substrate for a wide variety of snakes, including desert-dwelling snakes.
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Mark G

Assorted rosy boas, some annulata. That's it.

Thanks - I appreciate the long answer. In the end I decided that it would be best to go somewhere that had more knowledgable staff. When I did, the kings they had were all yearlings, and I wanted a hatchling, so I opted for a corn snake. But either way, I appreciate the advice. Never know, I might get one in the future.