Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I finally figured out how to register and log on here after a week of lurking about here and the classifieds. I recently moved to North county San Diego onto a 25 acre ranch that has quite a lot of reptiles. Last week, I found a Cal King (banded), on my back porch slab. It is about 35" long and I decided that I would try breeding it if I can get another King of the opposite sex. I would like to increase the King Snake population on my land to help with the rattlesnake problem. Question #1; how can I tell which sex it is, so I know which sex to buy for a mate? I don't want a bunch of designer snakes crawling all over the hills here, so would like to get "another one, just like the other one"
I hear on this board that I can get a plain Cal King for under 10$, so I am only finding 50$ to 100$ snakes in the classified section here. So, question #2; Where are all the 10$ snakes?
Thanks for any help you can offer.
SA

Glad to hear that reptiles are plentiful where you are. I am in Rancho Palos Verdes, and I can say that the snake populations have plummeted, or else they are not showing themselves. Lizards on the other hand are making a huge comeback. The side-blotched here were far and few between, and now they are increasing due to the practice of restoring native vegetation.

Back to your cause - if there were that many rattlesnakes to provide food for Cal kings, there would already be more Cal kings. Or, better put, you putting new/additional Cal kings into the wild may not do squat to the rattlesnakes - the babies may just be food other Cal kings. You can breed them if you want, but putting babies into the wild may not be a valid solution in this case. You would need a "coastal" Cal king, hopefully from someone local. Pretty sure it is not legal to bring in normal Cal kings from out-of-state breeders in this case unless you have a permit to do so.

I am a snake lover too. I would want to fill every canyon with kings, etc. But, we just cannot do that and know the results, or else the results may be very different from our intent. Hopefully some field people will offer info on this.

Thanks for your opinion, I had no intention of releasing baby Kings, only adults. The Attrition on the babies would not be worth the effort. I have Road runners come through every day like vacuum cleaners. PV is one of the more up-tight places you can live in Ca; you really have to toe the line, but not around here; I don't see humans for weeks at a time which is a big reason I moved out here; It's my land and I do as I please. In Ca, pretty much everything is illegal now days. I'm So glad to get out of the city.
I have found that my King prefers lizards to furry critters, which suits me fine, as they are easier to find and catch and they won't chew up my snake if I leave them alive in the tank. That's probably why he was hanging around my house in the first place. Wish I could tell what sex it is, So I can get a mate for it.
I really don't want to pay 50 to 100$ for a Cal King, plus shipping anyway; my friend just moved to a new place on the other side of town and says he sees kings all the time around the house, so I told him yesterday to grab me one or two, so chances are I will get a pair going soon.

It's illegal to release snakes, even native species, into the wild in CA due to the possibility of spreading diseases. I think it's a good law. CAF&G also reads these forums on a regular basis. That said the main foods of kingsnakes are lizards and rodents. They can eat rattlesnakes but rattlesnakes are not their main food item. Kings and rattlesnakes coexist and the ratio of one to the other is dependant mainly on type of habitat and other evironmental conditions. If you release a kingsnake it is just as likely to eat another kingsnake as it is to eat a rattlesnake.

The best way to reduce rattlesnake encounters on any given piece of property is to alter the habitat so it's not conducive to harboring rattlesnakes. This generally includes things like trimming grass and other vegetation around the house, keeping boards or other things stacked up off the ground and away from walls, ect. Often local snake rescues will have a specialist that can tell you more.
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www.hcu-tx.org/

just another ridiculous law that I will choose to ignore. As I mentioned before, nearly everything in Ca is Illegal. I will let the snakes go inside my Marijuana plantation, no one goes near there without risking stepping on a mine!

The law is there for a good reason. Releasing reptiles that have been in contact with non-native herps can carry bacteria and diseases or possibly even genetic defects and weaknesses that can harm wild populations. I consider the release of captive herps to be an important issue so I hope you will reconsider or at least do some more research. Personally I would not do it or recommend it even if it wasn't illegal.
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www.hcu-tx.org/

First, if a person wants them on the property(crote control) I am positive, that animal had a mate and would have contributed to the numbers in the area. After all its what they do.

To think captive breeding them is "better then" them doing what they do naturally, has a word, something like Narcissistic, I believe.
My bet is, this thread was a troll type thing. It happens you know. and up until you responded, few fell for it. hahahahahahahaha