PDA

View Full Version : A challenge of a new snake


DreamQuestin
10-10-14, 08:54 AM
Greetings and good morrow folks,

I am new to the forum and confess I am here looking to garner advice and probably on a long term basis for my new family member. I work in a pet store and adopted a baby kingsnake that we have been having agression trouble with. He has bit two staff members (one took ten minutes to extract her finger from him) and attempted to strike several more.

I have only ever had garter snakes and corn snakes and never experienced this sort of aggression, but I am content to have him as a "watch me" kind of pet if he cannot be rehabilitated.

At any rate, I am setting him up in a 20 gallon tank (under tank heat on one end). I am keeping it bare to start with (paper towel for floor, water bowl, hides on both sides of the tank) for a bit so I can watch him and see if there is anything amiss that wasn't noticed at work.

For myself, I live in the heart of the Canadian prairies, absolutely LOVE winter and snow (no sarcasm there - I really do love it :) ). One of the reasons I have pets (besides loving animals, of course) is the winter months afford a LOT of time to spend with them and winters here run 7-8 months :). I also HATE the heat (anything over 25C or ~80F is too hot) so summer also affords me time to spend with my pets lol.

Look forward to chatting with you folks and gaining the sage advice I will need for looking after this little guy.

Obsidian_Dragon
10-10-14, 01:54 PM
Welcome!

My king was labeled as "fiesty" and "bitey" in the pet store. Employees handled him with gloves and were generally side-eyeing him pretty hard! Once settled in at home with me, he's been utterly mellow and never struck at anything but his dinner. I couldn't ask for a sweeter, easier to handle snake.

It could be that the pet store environment just didn't suit him--and of course, they are known to be defensive little bitey babies. Let 'em grow up and they're often fine.

Once you've had enough time to observe and see nothing is amiss, you could try putting in some nice, deep substrate. Mine LOVED to hide in it for the first month or so. He doesn't seem to feel the need to anymore, but it may have been part of what helped him settle in the beginning. :)

Please take all of the cold, I want none of it. I'll take all of your 80+ temps in return.