Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a question for all you seasoned herpetoculturalists. I've been reading about California Kingsnake behavior lately, particularly concerning feeding responses and possible agression. My striped Cal has always been really, really sweet. He hardly ever even rattles his tail anymore (maybe once a month), he seems to just enjoy the entertainment of getting to come out of his cage. He's never bit my husband or myself either shortly before feeding or during shedding (although we really don't handel him shortly before shedding). I understand that in keeping snakes one must assume that one is going to get bit at some point in time, but is this something that is probably going to happen a few times even with a captive bread snake? Can a feeding response just randomly trigger while you're handeling the snake even if there's no scent of rodent in the vicinity? I should also mention that Nigel(Cal King) is about one and a half years old. I've heard young kingsnakes particularly hatchling are a bit nippy/unpredictable, but the older the snake is, the more docile he/she is. Has this been your experience? We obtained Nigel this last August. I love this new hobby. I'm constantly looking for a better understanding of these beautiful animals. Thanks for you input!

If the snake is calm now, it will likely remain so. Keep in mind however that sexual maturity can bring about more vivid behaviors during the mating season. Some of my mature female Cal kings would become very aggressive feeders in Spring, meaning they would bite anything that smelled like anything they thought could be food.

Some of my older male Cal kings, while extremely placid as all heck most of the year, would sometimes get a very aggressive feeding response just after mating season, and I would have to be a little cautious when reaching into a cage during that period of time. One old male, if put on the floor, would sometimes come after my feet if I moved away. Maybe my shoes smelled like rodent. He actually chased me for about 5 steps one time. Hilarious.

You'll learn to assess your snake in time. Usually, using a snake hook to remove the snake from the cage is all that is needed to be bite free.

One of the neat things about Cal kings is that many overcome any shyness and become very bold in their interactions with the keeper.

That's true about them being bold. He really enjoys coming out of his cage and exploring all of his surroundings. He plays in his cage too. It's really cute when we put in something new for him to climb on or explore he loves it! He won't leave it alone for days. Also every time anyone enters the room even during the day, he just has to peek out and see what's going on. Out of all the snakes I've had some experience with (corns, kings, milks, & boas), his personality is the coolest. You'll have to show me a picture of some of the snakes in your collection sometime. Thanks for the input.

I have a more traditional looking California Kingsnake, but your snake sounds similar to mine. Mine isn't all that active in his cage, but he's a very sweet snake when I hold him. Sometimes, he doesn't like being picked up at first. He's never attempted to bite me just because I was picking him up, but he'll occasionally musk a little bit.

The only times that he's been aggressive in a biting way is during feeding. I tend to feed him in a paper bag, so I have to get him started to find the f/t mouse in the bag. Sometimes, I'll wiggle my fingers outside his cage near the entrance to the bag. He'll come after my fingers aggressively and sometimes finds the entrance to the bag and his food inside the bag. Once or twice, he's taken a sudden strike at my fingers through the glass. Once, he didn't seem to be able to find his way into the bag after about fifteen minutes of crawling around searching. I reached into the cage to put his head into the bag, and he bit over the end of one of my fingers for a moment. When my finger didn't taste like mouse, he let go without even drawing blood.

I find mice a little distasteful to handle and clean my hands as soon as possible after handling one. Typically, I'll put the mouse in a small paper bag, put the bag in my snake's cage, and then clean my hands immediately with one of those alcohol-based hand cleaners. I think there's an advantage to taking these steps before touching my snake because my hands will smell like alcohol rather than mouse when I reach into the aquarium. In fact, I tend to clean my hands with the cleaner before handling my snake anytime. This practice may not produce any real benefit, but I hope that it lessens at least a little the chances of me passing anything to my snake.

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

That's an awesome setup, Bill!
Todd Hughes

Thanks, I've spent a little time and money trying to get the cage to be nice. I enjoy trying to understand the psychology of my snakes and learning what they will and will not like. The setup is always evolving as I see those things that they use and those things that they ignore. I very much appreciate hearing positive feedback from those who've been practicing snake husbandry longer than I have.

Thanks,

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

With all snakes, there is always the possibility of getting tagged now and then, some more, some less. With time and frequent handling,(but not too much!) this becomes less and less a problem for most. There will always be biters and some with exceptional feeding responses, but most are fairly tame. I would take each snake on an individual basis and learn its' personality. Sounds like you have a winner!
Todd Hughes