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This is probably going to be more than a few. I've had kings for about 2 years. These are my first snakes. There's a gray band, cal king, and a variable king (the baby). The big boys are just over three feet and and about as wide as two fingers put together. That brings me to my first question.

1. What should I be feeding the big boys? I have them on frozen hoppers but I can't seem to gauge their appitite. Some times they will knock back five, sometimes one. I am going to try feeder mice today but I am worried that because my gray band has such a narrow neck, he night not be able to get a feeder down. Any thoughts?

2. Substrate. I currently use calisand because it looks cool. No need to hammer me on impaction because I don't let them ingest any. I had a friend tell me that she uses regular bath towels as substrate for a BRB. Anyone ever try this? I would like to use the cool, new astroturf that actually has blades of grass. Anyone know where you can get it? I am just looking for something easier that isn't as crappy looking as paper towels.

3. Enclosure. I am currently using glass terrariums and looking for probably a rack system that I can keep all three of the boys in. Any suggestions on who makes a good product for 3-4 individual cages that has easy access but isn't easily escaped? I might be adding one more to the family at a later date.

Any feedback is welcome. I am well past the noob stage of snake care but I am no expert. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to drop them off. Thanks for taking the time to read.

Here are some suggestions:

1. If the grayband can eat 5 hoppers at a sitting, then you can move up in prey size if you want. Don't worry about the neck girth of the grayband. Look more at the body girth. If you stay at or below or even just above the body girth you'll likely never have problems.

2. Kingsnakes defecate too frequently for cloth towels to be a consideration for substrate. BRBs poop less often, so it might make more sense there. For kings and milks and such, I really like Sani Chip. LLL Reptile Supply sells it, and ZooMed or T-Rex now offers it. Aspen is the most widely used snake substrate.

IMO sand makes a great heat conductor for undertank heating, but the weight and messiness of sand has always made me turn away. Aspen and sani chip have had the test of many keepers for years so if nothing else you know it is safe.

3. If you like the visibility of glass tanks, look at Vision's Visionarium. Glass sides, plastic bottom, screen top, front-opening, stackable. If you are dead-set on a sweaterbox rack, I recommend those sold by www.herpcages.com. Look at PM Herps in the Breeders section - he is a distributor for them.

I like the mentioned racks because the heater is threaded IN the shelf, not ON the shelf, so you never have the heater exposed to the boxes, and the hollow shelves make for a greater thermal mass (a good thing.)

>>This is probably going to be more than a few. I've had kings for about 2 years. These are my first snakes. There's a gray band, cal king, and a variable king (the baby). The big boys are just over three feet and and about as wide as two fingers put together. That brings me to my first question.
>>
>>1. What should I be feeding the big boys? I have them on frozen hoppers but I can't seem to gauge their appitite. Some times they will knock back five, sometimes one. I am going to try feeder mice today but I am worried that because my gray band has such a narrow neck, he night not be able to get a feeder down. Any thoughts?
>>
>>2. Substrate. I currently use calisand because it looks cool. No need to hammer me on impaction because I don't let them ingest any. I had a friend tell me that she uses regular bath towels as substrate for a BRB. Anyone ever try this? I would like to use the cool, new astroturf that actually has blades of grass. Anyone know where you can get it? I am just looking for something easier that isn't as crappy looking as paper towels.
>>
>>3. Enclosure. I am currently using glass terrariums and looking for probably a rack system that I can keep all three of the boys in. Any suggestions on who makes a good product for 3-4 individual cages that has easy access but isn't easily escaped? I might be adding one more to the family at a later date.
>>
>>Any feedback is welcome. I am well past the noob stage of snake care but I am no expert. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to drop them off. Thanks for taking the time to read.