Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I have a Mexican black that is about 8 months old and he has the strongest feeding response that I have ever seen in a snake. He is not defensive at all, but seems to have only one thing on his mind and that is to eat! Now, I am no expert by any means, but I have had quite a few reptiles over the years and have always chosen snakes based upon their temperament and ease of handling. Recently I have decided that I would like to take this hobby to the next level anf begin breeding. Due to space restrictions and temp requirements I decided that Kings and Corns best suit my situation.

Back to this King. He is a beautiful, healthy specimen and will probably be a good breeder, but I feel like a complete novice again with this guy since he is challenging by snake handling skills. For those who have similar animals, what tips do you have that can help make working with him a little easier. I can't imagine a 5 footer doing this to me every time.

thanks
jeff

This will sound very funny but it works. I use to have Brooks kings in my collection and they can be real chow hounds that will eat your arm when you go into to get them out of their box. After being bitten a few times I started putting some scented lotion on my forearms and hands before picking them up. They would smell the fragrance and immediately know it wasn't food....then they would settle down for holding.

If I was in fact feeding them, I use my small snake hook to keep distance from theri head while I transfered them to the feeding box.

Russ

... is to FEED THAT SUCKER! I believe in what Russ says about the scenting and that it would work, but the snake is naturally very hungry and needs to eat more would be my guess.

As Russ mentioned, most all getula or common kings are real power eaters that are designed to process a lot of food and grow very quickly. The strong feeding response is natural. I see this topic posted a lot and always wonder if the keeper realizes that these guys need to eat a little more than most. I have had a few, and have a young male nigrita(mexican black) now that is about 10 months old and nearly 30 inches long. He is no different from the others I have had... the guy wants to eat a lot every meal and I let him. Normally I feed him along with all the others here which is every 7 days. My alterna and mexicana all eat a normal sized moderate meal of 1 or 2 normal sized items once a week and they are perfectly happy and healthy. Right now my nigrita is consuming 5 day old quail per meal... day old quail are the equivalent in size to large fuzzy mice. This is more than twice what the others eat in relation to their size. He is perfectly happy with this and has not bitten me once yet. He is the calmest and most pleasant kingsnake I have to handle as long as he is not hungry. If I slip and let him go past the 7th day or don't feed him enough at meal time, I don't hold him long before putting him in his feeding tub to eat or he begins looking for a nice juicy spot on my hands to dig in.

Feed your boy once a week all he wants, let him get active for about a day after digesting before feeding again, and he should lay off your flesh!

I bought him as a pair with his sibling. The breeder warned me of this. His sister does not do this and she has a pretty respectable feeding response herself. He is about 16-18" and I have been feeding him 2 f/t crawlers every 5-6 days. They are pretty much as thick as his body. His temperament is pretty good. He is not defensive at all. I tried the had sanitizer thing and it did not work. The maniac even tried to eat his water bowl! I would just like some husbandry tips when dealing with this type of snake. I'm used to snakes that are easily handled and let you go about your business. He slows down the process..lol

thanks again
Jeff

Most breeders of rockboas have had this awful behavior...it seems to occur more often in C/B & is generally unacceptable to me...heres what I recommend: You've got to handle "pet snakes" alot, they easily habituate to cage disturbance=feeding in the breeder group mode...

Once hardwired, Ive had some limited success rough handling them; grabbing them quickly behind the neck or by the head & gently yanking them about/straightening them/whatever I want to do to show them the "maintenence man" can whup em & whup em good!

Being a coward...I often wore a light leather glove for the first grab! Try breaking a Retic or Burmese of these feeding bites....yikes!

Good luck / RxR

Thats some interesting advice. I have actually been doing that out of necessity. Light glove and grabbing behind the neck. Not necessarily straightening him out, but keeping his body under control without hurting him. I see snake handlers on TV and in person just grab and squeeze the neck, but I am not comfortable with that b/c I feel like I would be choking them. If I can't get this under control, I might consider selling him or trading for another male. It's becoming a pain in the a-- having to go upstairs to run him under water.

Thanks again
jeff

My sympathies. LOL Fortunately my king isn't quite that bad (hasn't tried eating her water dish anyway).
Consistent calm and assertive "you're completely safe but I'm boss" type handling might help though I'd frankly be leery of rough handling. Even carefully done it could make the snake think of you as a big scary predator. Which isn't much of an improvement from your current status as oversized mouse.
You could try getting a spritz bottle full of white vinegar and using that when he doesn't let go. Works for me and you can leave it next to the cage. It turns the mouse/hand into a "mouse with sauce". They don't like flavored food.
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0.1 chickens (Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
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1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

Never had a kingsnake but I have a spotted python who is similar sometimes feeding him works but ultimately i just let him bite me as much as he wanted(wearing a glove) and i think he realized he couldn't eat me. I also used bitter apple the stuff you use to get dogs to stop chewing on stuff and it worked but i don't like having that on my hands and he could seek out the spots on the fingers i didn't have spray. I would suggest if you want experience not to sell him as long as he's eating and healthy no problem. And if he is going to be a breeder than maybe you should let him be but make sure you acclimate his offspring fast. Also i suggest a hook if you don't already have one, my irian jaya carpet python taught me loads of stuff about how to handle snakes on hooks.
.02
Quey
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Love small boids always looking for new ones.
1.0.0Hogg Island Boa, Quey
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1.0.0Irian Jaya Carpet Python, Riddick
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Snakes to get list: Solomand Island ground boa, Soloman island tree boa, Bolivian Boa, Savu(or sawu or sabu all work) Python, Rosy boa(san felipe or san matias) and ATBs. Have any of these guys? or have recomendations for me? email me

I have two Florida Kings, one adult and one about a year old. They would eat every single day if I let them. I have taken to wearing a glove when I open the adult's enclosure and I just put my palm flat out. It's something obvious bigger than he is and he usually figures out that it's not a meal coming in.

When I feed him I use the husband and tongs method. My husband gets him to one end of the enclosure by moving his finger against the plastic (the snake is in a large Rubbermaid) while I pop open the other end and drop a rat in with tongs.

During the winter it's not so bad because he cools down and only eats about once a month.

But now he's in constant cruise mode and I just use common sense. Gloves, tongs, distraction.

This picture of him was when he was just a youngster. He's about 5' now.

Not to rouse the ole' Lampropeltis vs. Drymarchon debate, but I maintain a very large and diverse collection of Drymarchon and I am certain anyone vaguely familiar with the genus is aware of the feeding response and amount of food consumed by members of the Dry clan, not to mention the sheer size and power such specimens harbor.
If you're not already doing so, I'd recommend feeding your nigritus in a separate container, such as a sweater of blanket box, but never within the enclosure. Also, frequent handling, if possible, will help in reducing the snakes association with enclosure entry to feeding.
Scenting your arms, as mentioned by Russ, is a great idea as well and I would make certain to garner the snake’s attention prior to reaching into the enclosure, especially if it is within the hide or beneath the enclosure substrate.
Also, I’d avoid inclining any snake to bite an ungloved or gloved hand on purpose, as doing such places the specimen at risk of injury to the mouth which can lead to ulcerative stomatitis…

Good luck,

Jeff

Hi,
Ive had plenty of snakes that have intence feeding responces. mostly its always been cal kings, mex blacks, and brooks. In my opinion its great cause you can get them to breeding size in a year. However If you really want to handle him and he wont let you with out biting you, start putting him in a seperate container for every feeding. So for now on he knows, he gets held than fed.

mike

I really don't care to handle this one, but my original questions was aime at getting tips to make the husbandry process easier. I think I will try Jeff's suggestion of feeding in another enclosure. The scenting doesn't work b/c I picked gim up with brand new gloves after I cleaned my hands and I put antibacterial lotion on the gloves. He bit within seconds.

thanks
jeff