Posted by:
FR
at Tue Mar 31 09:54:20 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by FR ]
Please please give your snake some credit. They have all the skill and knowhow to do all the things they DO. And feeding is something they are GREAT at.
The actual key is to understand that your kingsnake is a snake and a snake is a reptile, which means, you must provide the conditions for their metabolism to function. They do not make heat like mammals, or humidity, these must be supplied by you.
I will make this easy, it does not matter what type of cage you have, what matters is what is IN the cage. Like a deep substrate, like aspen or fine pine shavings. Then have a whole bunch of things like tupperware lids, some under the shavings and some over. Also place some little tubs of moist sphagnum moss(butter dish with hole in lid) around the cage, not one and not in one place. Then place an under tank heater in one corner. Make sure the temps where the heater is over 85F and under 100F, If its hotter, then move the heater so it heats less. A water bowl(clean water) and a lid that is not screen, screen CAN allow the snakes to dry out. Not always, but a solid lip never causes a problem unless the whole cage gets to WET. If the cage is at a normal room temp, YOU AND YOUR SNAKE IS OFF AND RUNNING.
You should not have to do anying except train your snake. Like feeding in a certain corner. If your snake is healthy, it will LEARN thats where the food comes from and be there when he is hungry. This way, you do not have to guess when its hungry, IT WILL TELL YOU. Again, if healthy, they will feed almost everyday. Of course you do not have to feed them as much as they want.
Such things as feeding in a seperate container, are all things done for reasons that have nothing to do with the snake. Mainly because the keepers do not know what they are doing, so they do something to avoid their naivity(inexperience) Remember, as with all walks of life, humans have various degrees of ability, same here, most are beginers, some are great keepers, and as normal, there are bad to good, but all have a voice here. You must remember, your snake is the EXPERT at being a snake.
The key is providing what the snake needs. If you do the above and the individual still has problems, then you may need to see a vet, as most snakes are mistreated somewhere during the petshop process. You know, shipping, keeping etc. Consider, its not a petshops job to take great care of a snake, its their job to try and keep it alive until it gets to YOU.
So give your snake a good home and give it some credit that its the real expert. Cheers
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