Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello to everyone. My name is Bobby and like the title says, i'm new here and have some questions. I recently got a job at a nature center where we have several snakes. One of our kingsnakes there has a swollen cloaca. This goes beyond the normal swelling. My boss told me that it is a disease that it picked up and is really common in snakes that are handled by lots of people. He wasnt too sure about the details but what I took from what he said is that the disease stops up the snakes anal glands. If this is the case do you guys think that a good soak in warm water for 30 minutes or so would help the snake to express? Ok, now on to my next question. Do you guys think that the mesh Reptarium cages would do ok for a kingsnake? I ask because I am thinking about getting a prairie kingsnake and like that those cages can be broken down nice and small. Does anyone here use these types of cages? If so tell me how well they work.

thanks,

Bobby

I don't know how to treat the kingsnake where you work, but it sounds like an infection. Try a search in these forums for treatment of if the snake is to be sold it should see a vet and get a clean bill of health before it goes home with someone.
The screen cages a definately out of the question for kingsnakes or any other snake species. You wouldn't be able to get much of temperature gradient and the snake would rub it's nose raw on those cages.
A good set up for your first kingsnake would be a 20 gallon long terrerium. You'll need to buy an under the tank heater on one side. Some substrate like aspen or other snake(reptile) approved substrate or newspaper also works well. You will need 2 hides for your snake on on the cool end and the hot end where the under the tank heater is, the hides can be store bought or made out of cardboard. Also, you'll need a water dish and temperature gauges for each side of the terrerium. That would get you started for a set up and make sure you have the temperatures right before you take the kingsnake home or buy one.

Most importantly, read some care sheets on kingsnakes and they will give some good husbandry information for taking care of them. Please, do some of this research before you buy and it'll give you more knowledge of how to keep them and what your getting into owning a kingsnake. If you do decide, they are great pets and fun, enjoyable hobby.
Good luck,
Uncloudy

Woke me up in a split second LOL Tom Stevens