Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a lavender albino California kingsnake, I've had her for a couple months now, I'd say she's about two and a half feet long, and I can't pick her up without her biting me.

My girlfriend has a boa with a bit of an attitude, but when she's mad she just bites and let's go, my kingsnake latches on and tries to constict me. I'm worried that I'm not feeding her enough, I feed her frozen rat pinkies that are about as big around as she is. She never used to bite anyone, and she used to especially love me, she would come back to me when I would let someone else hold her.

I'm worried that it might be a sign of internal parasites, her stools do seem a bit liquidy, think I should get that checked out? When I took her to the vet when I first got her she said that she was in perfectly good condition.

She escaped yesterday and the cat started batting at her so I would understand if she was stressed, but this has been going on for a while.

Thank you for all your help.

P.S. I do feed her thawed prekills, my girlfriend suggested that she might just still have that urge to kill, I think I'm trying to teach her that living things, me for example, are not food. Any thoughts on this? Thank you all.

I've heard that snakes that are fed f/t rodents are less aggressive than those that are fed live. I don't know whether this idea is true, but if it is, your feeding f/t is the right thing to do for curbing her aggressiveness.

Bill

-----
It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

I believe your kingsnake is very healthy! I have several in my collection (californias,easterns,goinis,floridas) that act the same way (as yours) for many years now. It is called an outrageous feeding response!
You probably have a kingsnake that does not fear you at all! This is a good and a bad thing. Good thing: The snake is probably not stressed at all, and used to you and makes a good pet to handle. Bad thing: It does not fear you and knows that your hand reaching for it usually means feeding time, so therefore it may just strike out or latch on to your fingers or hands thinking it's grabbing a pinky.
What can you do? Change a few things: Use foreceps for feeding. Start feeding the snake in a seperate container, so it does not associate your reaching into the cage as the "dinner bell" right away. Wash your hands thouroughly (of all scents) with soap before handling snake, especially after you've handled frozen and/or live mice. Be quick and deliberate when initially picking up the snake. This is a signal to the snake that a very large animal (you) has just seized it and it is too large to be a dinner. Don't be hesitant or jerky in your movements as this may make the snake think it's a moving prey item (after all, your fingertips do resemble pinkies to most snakes at first sight).
Hope this helps. let me know if you kave any other Questions.

Zee

-----
"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

I've tried feeding her in a different tank, the only problem is that she latches on when I try to take her out, and then it seems like all her energy is used up on trying to eat me that she isn't interested in the dead rodent. I took her out yesterday and she didn't bite at first, then she latched on and tried to constrict my wrist, I don't think my wrist could me mistaken as something she could eat, she's about the size of my index finger. What really worries me though is that she never used to be like this, I fed her live mice, I held her all the time and she never bit anyone, now she bites every time without exception. I've also wondered about handling, should I do it more often, less often. It seems like when she latches on and I have to run her under cold water for a few minutes just to get her to loosen her grip it would stress her out more than get her tame, but I don't want to just give up on her. Sorry if I'm being annoying or anything, I'm just concerned. Your advice does help though, thank you.

P.S. I love that snake you posted, I've come across a picture like that before and I think they called it a blotched kingsnake. It's really a beautiful serpent.

............i have snakes that are agressive when picked up by hand (feeding response) but once i lift them off the ground there ok with me handling them,it seems they know it's not feeding time.have fun!

Just wondering,how often do you feed her and how old/big is she? She does seem like a VERY healthy snake that just wants to eat a lot more!
PS: Thanks - the blotched Kingsnake in the pic is an actual wildcaught animal (which are getting very rare these days!)

Zee
-----
"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

i agree with all that blueking said here....but also,try this-maybe instead of,or better yet,after washing your hands,use a squirt of some hand sanitizing gel(your grocer should have it near the liquid soaps,or lotion,etc.).rub it on your hands immediately before picking up the snake-it's scent is pungent enough that it squelches any hyper feeding responses,even that of a common king's,which i have found to be as strong if not stronger than any other species.