Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi there:

Well, I've really made my decision. I want to breed scarlet kingsnakes. I have a wonderful male. Tomorrow I leave for the Cleveland show to hopefully obtain a wonderful female. I am already keeping charts with notes and such. Of course I am keeping some, but at my next local show I plan to sell a few to some of the local small snake experts. Any advice you may have on breeding my new favorite species would be greatly appreciated. Picture just how cool a captive-bred, tame, feeding scarlet could be! I am beginning as soon as I can, and plan to continue for several years, until I graduate from college, because I want to do mostly field work.
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DAVE

1.0 Western green toad
1.1 green treefrogs
1.0 Florida blue garter snake
1.0 brown Anole
1.0 Mediterranean gecko
1.1 Oriental fire-bellied toads
1.0 American bullfrog
1.0 Spanish ribbed newt
1.0 rough-skinned newt
1.1 Eastern ribbon snakes
1.1red-cheeked mud turtles
1.0 Dubia day gecko
1.0 Sonoran gopher snake
1.1 rough green snakes
1.1 giant African black millipedes
1.0 White's treefrog
1.0 Okeetee corn snake
1.0 Albino African clawed frog
1.0 Kenyan sand boa
1.0 Argentine flame-bellied toadlet
1.0 African bullfrog
1.0 yellow * Everglades rat snake intergrade
1.0 Western hognose snake
1.0 fire salamander
1.0 scarlet kingsnake

Picture just how cool a captive-bred, tame, feeding scarlet could be!

Yeah, uh, not that hard to picture, Gerry B and Norman Friedman hatched plenty of those this year and they are all feeding. Have you even gotten yours to eat yet!?!
Michael

Michael's Place

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Michael_Fedzen@hotmail.com
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake

Hi there:

I know that people have hatched out feeding scarlet kings. All I was saying was that as long as the bloodlines were pure, people should breed these to the extent that they have bred California kings and such. While people do breed them, I feel that generally this is an overlooked species which should be kept more often by both novices and experts.
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DAVE

1.0 Western green toad
1.1 green treefrogs
1.0 Florida blue garter snake
1.0 brown Anole
1.0 Mediterranean gecko
1.1 Oriental fire-bellied toads
1.0 American bullfrog
1.0 Spanish ribbed newt
1.0 rough-skinned newt
1.1 Eastern ribbon snakes
1.1red-cheeked mud turtles
1.0 Dubia day gecko
1.0 Sonoran gopher snake
1.1 rough green snakes
1.1 giant African black millipedes
1.0 White's treefrog
1.0 Okeetee corn snake
1.0 Albino African clawed frog
1.0 Kenyan sand boa
1.0 Argentine flame-bellied toadlet
1.0 African bullfrog
1.0 yellow * Everglades rat snake intergrade
1.0 Western hognose snake
1.0 fire salamander
1.0 scarlet kingsnake

It's because the hatchlings are tiny, and cannot eat mice right away. They'll need to be fed rodent parts, lizards or snakes for atleast 1 year(maybe more, I forget) before they can take down whole pinkies. Not many people want to feed lizards to a snake, or a snake to a snake, so they figure it's a waste of time. Scarlet kings are very shy and most don't react well to handling, they almost hide the majority of the time, alot of people want "pet snakes" that they can see often and hold.
Michael
Michael's Place

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Michael_Fedzen@hotmail.com
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake

Hi there:

They sure are tricky, but so are Alterna. Maybe my dream of tons of people owning them was a little pie-in-the-sky, but I at least think that more captive-bred examples should be available to herpetoculture, so that people would not have to keep catching them. From what I've read, lots of people go to catch bundles of them. I know that mine was wild-caught, but it all has to start somewhere.
For example: Pine woods snakes. Beautiful little snakes. Sure, a little tricky to care for, even if they were captive-bred, but don't you think most herpetoculturists would prefer keeping and breeding super clean captive-bred examples, without catching them from the forest? I understand what you said about why they do not appear often in the pet trade. That makes sense. However, I want to breed scarlet kings to discourage habitat destruction, on top of the fact that I really love these little guys.

P.S. I piled up a mound of moist moss for shedding. Today during a feeding attempt I actually got a strike at a pinky!
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DAVE

1.0 Western green toad
1.1 green treefrogs
1.0 Florida blue garter snake
1.0 brown Anole
1.0 Mediterranean gecko
1.1 Oriental fire-bellied toads
1.0 American bullfrog
1.0 Spanish ribbed newt
1.0 rough-skinned newt
1.1 Eastern ribbon snakes
1.1red-cheeked mud turtles
1.0 Dubia day gecko
1.0 Sonoran gopher snake
1.1 rough green snakes
1.1 giant African black millipedes
1.0 White's treefrog
1.0 Okeetee corn snake
1.0 Albino African clawed frog
1.0 Kenyan sand boa
1.0 Argentine flame-bellied toadlet
1.0 African bullfrog
1.0 yellow * Everglades rat snake intergrade
1.0 Western hognose snake
1.0 fire salamander
1.0 scarlet kingsnake

For example: Pine woods snakes. Beautiful little snakes. Sure, a little tricky to care for, even if they were captive-bred, but don't you think most herpetoculturists would prefer keeping and breeding super clean captive-bred examples, without catching them from the forest?

**First of all, I have spoken to many many people, and not too many are willing to work with any form of small terrestrial snake, that meaning, Rhadinaea, Diadophis, Carphopis, and many many others that people consider to be "food for kingsnakes". Most herpetoculturists would not give a damn about a snake that is 12 inches long at it's maximum, no matter CB or WC.

P.S. I piled up a mound of moist moss for shedding. Today during a feeding attempt I actually got a strike at a pinky!

**Since the snake is in shed mode, that was most likely a defense strike because you got it mad.

Michael
Michael's Place

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Michael_Fedzen@hotmail.com
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake

The hardest thing about young Scarlet kings is finding prey small enough for them to eat. Mouse tails are good for force feeding. They love skinks if you can get them. Buddy.

Well... I wish you luck. Breeding scarlet kings is the easy part. Most times you only need a pair of healthy mature animals for that. It is very cool to see those little heads poking out of their shells, that's for sure.
There are possibly many more people who breed them than you think. I know of quite a few. I have helped a few get started and some keep them exclusively. Those are the guys who have a better chance of success, I believe.
Anyway, it is the goal of some keepers to have more cb animals available, but no matter how many you breed and hatch, it remains that the neonates are quite small. As said elsewhere that keeps some prospective keepers from buying.
I have good luck mostly because I have hatchling brown anoles nearly year 'round to feed them. Skinks aren't too hard to get here either and their scent is magic sometimes.
You may want to become an experienced keeper before trying these little guys. It is heartbreaking to have the little ones perish(sometimes for no apparent reason)when you thought you were doing so good.
If you think I can help w/anything, just let me know.
:Mark

i wish you the best with keeping and breeding them.heres some exp. ive had with scarlet kings..
85 percent of the sk ive had would take pinky mice as long as they were a decent size with out scenting them.
there is a picture posted below that disturbes me in one of the responses..the snake is eating a snake that is way to big for him to completly finish it.
they tend to breed with ease,but the babies are alot of work..ie:i found it is best to give them pinky parts by placing them in their mouths and letting them eat it on their own(usally works great)so when they get big enough to eat them on their own its not a scent they are not used to.
i hope this helps you some.feel free to contact me if you have more questions.