Caesar's got the blues

[EL Ziggy]

Hi everyone,
I hope you are all well. My kingsnake Caesar is apparently getting ready to shed. Hes been hanging out in his warm hide pretty much exclusively for the past 2 days and today I noticed his eyes were blue. He usually sheds once a month. I wanted to handle him a little but is it better to just leave him alone for a few days? He's also due for a feed on Thursday, it will have been 7 days since his last, but should I feed him while he's in the shedding process or wait til he's done? Hes just a baby but I want him to grow big and strong. Lastly, how do you all feel about buying your pets from reptile shows or on the internet??

[slowhite03]

Don't touch him
Feed him after it's done shedding, reptiles don't need to eat. They can go months and still e fine.
Reptiles shows are one of the better places to buy I would say

[Starbuck]

i would refrain from handling, as slowhite mentioned.
However, i dont see any harm in offering food as you would regularly. My kings will eat any time, all the time, regardless of whether they are about to shed etc. Just dont be perturbed if he doesn't want to eat.

I have never purchased an animal from the internet, but have had very good experiences buying from expos/shows. However, you have to be a smart shopper.
I dont buy from booths with dozens of species, but only one or two of each (they rarely have had the animals for very long, and often dont know much about its history). I also ask about the animals feed history, shed history, the parents, and its gender, as well as age.
I tend to buy juvenile, CBB animals only. I wont buy from booths that have obviously sick animals (almost every expo has some booths with half dead veiled chameleons that are way overpriced :( ).
Those are just my personal 'rules', but overall i've found expos to be meccas of really knowledgable people looking to educate and share their passions :)

[EL Ziggy]

Thanks for the advice. There's a reptile show coming in late July. I figure I'll try to be patient and buy my next king then but if I cant I was thinking of ordering online from bhbreptiles or reptmart. I prefer larger snakes and was wondering if any of the king species grew bigger than the others. Is it also true that the females are typically larger than males?

[Starbuck]

my king was purchased from bhb at an expo, and i am very happy with her :) Though i think you should be able to get cheaper prices in person at an expo, especially later in the day.

I believe florida kings grow to be the largest, followed by california/desert varieties. You may want to look into bull/pine snakes, they tend to grow large, but have the chunky, football player physique of kings.

[Lankyrob]

Most of my snakes eat when in shed but i never handle them during the process.