Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all. I got a Mexican Black King last weekend. Beautiful animal and was hatched 6/25. The lady told me they hadn't been handled much and I would get musked...boy that was an understatement..lol. He doesn't strike, but every time I have got him out of his enclosure, he slings stuff everywhere. How long does it take for them to be secure/comfortable enough for this to subside? For now, I have put newspaper on the floor to catch any "stuff". Thanks, John

Its really hard to say how long he will keep up this behavior. All snakes have different personalities like us humans. He should calm down within a few months with regularly handling though.

It will help him to learn your "scent" if you could put a worn tshirt or somthing in there with him. Knowing your scent will keep him calmer as you reach for him. You can also try putting him in a shirt pocket and walking around with him like that for a while. The smaller snakes generally like the dark warmth of a pocket and its a good chance for him to get to know you as a comfort source.

Good luck
Dawn

The shirt pocket trick is also good for little snakes that are shedding. If you take your spray bottle and mist the inside of your pocket against your skin and then let the damp cloth warm for a few minutes before putting the snake in your pocket, you create a humid hiding spot. The warmth from your body will feel good to the snake and evaporate some of the water creating good humidity in the pocket. Your snake will move around a little and get good humidity against his skin. If he's having a rough shed, the rubbing against the pocket can help remove old skin.

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

John,

The good news is that there is a light at the end of the musking tunnel! My Kingsnake broke that habit pretty quickly (about 3 weeks to a month), but my Pueblan milksnake. . .wow. We adopted her from some people that were looking to get rid of her. She was hardly handled the first year and 1/2 of her life, and when she was handled the people were nervous about working with her. She was also neglected and parasite ridden. About month after her trip to the vet (and 2 doses of wormer later) she was healthy, but undersized. This is when is started working with her on a regular basis. I would gently handle her most every day unless she had just eaten or she was shedding. . .talk about getting crapped on. Because she is such a shy species and had such a rough "hatchling hood," it took her between 4-6 months to calm down, but this is a drastic case. Part of what made those months a little easier was using a towel. Find one you obivously don't want to use for anything else and hold the snake over it when you take him out. It also helped my snake if I sort of made a "nest" for her with the towel and let her crawl into the "nest" and hide pretty much as soon as I took her out of the tank. Then I'd let her chill in her towel for a minute. Needless to say that towel was bleached more times than I can count, but I noticed when I reached back into her "nest" to get her out she was more calm. The towel is also a great way to wipe the musk off you and your snake. It's even better to have an old tupperware container to make the "towel nest" in.She never musks on me or my husband anymore. And I'm happy to say she's healthy and has grown to the average size of a 2 year old pueblan milksnake. I know I'm longwinded, but I hope this helps. It sounds like you have a beautiful animal. Good luck!

I have had the same problem with a couple kingsnakes. I have found that if you reach in from above and grab for them this really stresses them out. You are essentially imitating their #1 natural predator - raptors. I find that if you reach in to the enclosure way to the side, then gently scoop them up it is much less stressful to your animal. Hope this helps

Matt