brand new snake!

[Sophi]

Hello!

I'm new here and new to snake keeping all together.

I just got my very first snake. It's a kingsnake, we think she is female but aren't 100 percent sure. We have been calling "her" Anja. Ive kept reptiles before, bearded dragons, anoles, skinks, so I'm decently familiar with building habitats. I've been doing a good deal of research on kingsnakes but I've found some conflicting information on feedings and handling? I was hoping to get some advise, as I don't know any snake keepers and I know not to put all my trust in pet store employees.

The person we bought Anja from says that she has been eating once a week on Tuesdays And feeding on frozen and thawed pinkies. We were told she was a good eater. She's pretty tiny, I'm not sure how old she is but she's definitely not full grown. Maybe 16 inches long. Is 1 pinkie mouse a week enough for a growing snake? Should I feed her more if she will eat More?

Also I have read lots of contradictory info on how long to wait after feeding before handling? Im very hands on with my pets and I would love her to get comfortable with frequent handling and I would love to get her very tame. She's a feisty little thing, very curious and very active, she's only bitten once so far and I think it was because I startled her. Some people say to only wait a few hours but others say up to 48 hours after feeding. Of course I don't want to cause her any stress or discomfort.

Is it better to handle at night or in the day time? Also is there any way to tell for sure of gender? Is it possible to tell before they are full grown?


Any other advise is much appreciated!
Thanks so much!

[millertime89]

Welcome!

Get a small digital scale from walmart/target/etc. and weigh her. I would feed 10-15% of her body weight weekly, you can go a bit over without issue too.

I would definitely not handle for at least 48 hours after feeding unless absolutely necessary. Snakes can be in "feed mode" for at least this long. Each animal is different though so your results may vary. This is to allow her a chance to digest her meal. Eating and digestion is very energy intensive and if you accidentally startle her she may regurgitate her food in fright. In addition, as she grows this can be crucial for her safety as well. Pinkies and other very young prey items don't have the same bone density that larger prey do, but when she starts eating larger prey bones, beaks, claws, and nails can pose health threats as they can damage a snake from the inside, but they need to be left intact as they provide essential nutrients. You don't want to love them while they're digesting unless absolutely necessary as there are documented cases of animals having their stomachs punctured by bones. A friend of mine had to move one of his snakes while it was still digesting and it resulted in a rib puncturing his snake, resulting in death.

IMO it's best to handle the snake when she's active and exploring, however I would still always encourage hook or tap training as activity can easily be hunting. Just reaching into the cage can result in a fright or food bite. Just use a snake hook (you can buy one at reptilebasics.com) or a paper towel roll to tap her to let her know that it's handling time. You may have to tap her a few times. As you get to know her you'll figure out what's best for her.

[Sophi]

Thanks so much, her safety is my first concern. This might seem like a dumb question but how do I avoid handling her after feeding if I am feeding her outside her enclosure?

I have read lots of people saying to feed her outside her cage to help prevent her from associating my hand in her tank with feeding time, but then what is the best way to get her home after she's eaten? I havnt even had her long enough to feed her yet, since her schedule has been pinkies on Tuesday and I've had her less than a week. I've got a plastic tub I was planning on moving her to before giving her her pinkie. After she's eaten it is it dangerous to her health to gently pick her back up and place her in her tank And then leave her alone to digest for 48 hours?

[D Grade]

What your asking is exactly what I was initially confused about as well before purchasing my King. For a 16" long King, you're definitely still feeding it a single pinky every 5-7 days. Mine is about 23-24" long and two weeks ago I upped him from two pinkies per feed to a single fuzzy.

Most people stick to a single mouse feed always, some don't. I judge while watching mine eat when he is on the verge of being ready to take a larger feeder. If I felt he wanted more to eat but I wasn't comfortable trying a fuzzy, Id offer a second pinkie after the first was consumed (the second pinkie was never rejected, always accepted). A lot of people have different opinions and methods for feeding their Kings. I would say nearly every method works for Kings since they are such opportunistic eaters, as long as the bottom lines are followed:

- A feed every 5-7 days
- Feed size should be 1-1.5 times the widest part of the snakes body
- Check your temps at feeding time (proper heat aids in digestion)
- ALWAYS allow 48 hours after feed time before handling

I would not attempt feeding outside of its enclosure unless you are having continuous problems with receiving feeding response bites. Feeding inside of the enclosure will keep stress levels down, minimize potential regurgitation, and will allow him to settle down after a feed.

[Rattlehead]

Thanks so much, her safety is my first concern. This might seem like a dumb question but how do I avoid handling her after feeding if I am feeding her outside her enclosure?

I have read lots of people saying to feed her outside her cage to help prevent her from associating my hand in her tank with feeding time, but then what is the best way to get her home after she's eaten? I havnt even had her long enough to feed her yet, since her schedule has been pinkies on Tuesday and I've had her less than a week. I've got a plastic tub I was planning on moving her to before giving her her pinkie. After she's eaten it is it dangerous to her health to gently pick her back up and place her in her tank And then leave her alone to digest for 48 hours?

I feed my snakes in their tanks without any issue, changing them to another container was stressful for both of us :)

If you don't want substrate sticked to the food item, use a paper towel of a small plate where she can eat

[Minkness]

I feed mine in a small kritter keeper and when I'm done, I just put the keeper in the tank, and tip it slowly so she goes out. No handling while maintaining a feeding in a separate enclosure.

[Dcuccio742]

after a feed let the snake rest,excrete a few times and work up their appetite and exercise before feeding again.take the snake out to free roam every once in a while (supervised) to cure boredom.kingsnakes are very active and love exploring new things.temps: 83-87 during the day and 73-75 at night.kings water dishes should be changed every day to every other day being that they absolutely love it.give them a good amount of substrate to burrow that will make them super happy and really fun to watch as well.

[millertime89]

Thanks so much, her safety is my first concern. This might seem like a dumb question but how do I avoid handling her after feeding if I am feeding her outside her enclosure?

I have read lots of people saying to feed her outside her cage to help prevent her from associating my hand in her tank with feeding time, but then what is the best way to get her home after she's eaten? I havnt even had her long enough to feed her yet, since her schedule has been pinkies on Tuesday and I've had her less than a week. I've got a plastic tub I was planning on moving her to before giving her her pinkie. After she's eaten it is it dangerous to her health to gently pick her back up and place her in her tank And then leave her alone to digest for 48 hours?

The short answer is you don't. This is another old myth associated with snake ownership that keeps getting passed around with now factual evidence to back it up. If it were true you would have the exact same problem when opening the feeding container or when the snake see the feeding container. If they smell food, they'll be prone to striking. They don't have the cognitive ability to associate seeing a tub or the cage being opened with food. In addition, as D Grade said, feeding in the enclosure reduces stress on the animal. Can you feed out of the enclosure? Sure. But it's unnecessary and based on an antiquated idea.

Also, you don't need to wait for the snake to poop before feeding again.

[Dcuccio742]

you dont NEED to wait for the snake to do its business before feeding again but its a good idea to do so.everyone thinks they have the best answer to everything on here,your not a complete expert like the rest of us dude.

[SnoopySnake]

you dont NEED to wait for the snake to do its business before feeding again but its a good idea to do so.everyone thinks they have the best answer to everything on here,your not a complete expert like the rest of us dude.

No need to get so defensive, everyone has different ways of doing things and no one claimed to be an expert...

[Dcuccio742]

dont get invloved stupid

[millertime89]

Watch it. Name calling won't be tolerated.

It's actually a bad idea to wait for them to poop as they don't poop on a set schedule, just like you and I don't. Many snakes can and will hold it in until they've had a few meals in them. So waiting can just slow their growth. Heck blood pythons with their extremely slow metabolism have been known to only poop a few times per year. Since that isn't the case here since this is a king snake(allegedly, Sophi be sure to post pictures so we can help identify it) and they have faster metabolisms they may poop in under a week, but I wouldn't want to wait two to three weeks if they wait that long. Furthermore you may not even find the poop if they burrow under the substrate and poop in there. Finally, when feeding smaller prey items, which have less fur, which is about the only thing that snakes can't completely digest (fur and feathers are pretty much it), they may not poop at all from their meal if they completely digest it.

[Minkness]

Mine does the poop holding thing. Goes about once every few feedings since I've had her, and she likes to bury it as well. It also apparently comes out a bit runny due to the fact she's still on pinkies, and basically gets all stuck in her substrate (I use sani chips) so super easy to puck out!

It's good to keep them on a weekly feeding schedule regardless. Mine is fed on mondays or tuesdays and hasn't missed a single feeding yet. (I'm a first time snake owner as well so this makes me very happy! Lol )

[Sophi]

Thanks for all the information, this is all super helpful!

She seems to be settling in pretty well. She's found her water dish and she ate her first pinky with no problems. She's been exploring and hiding a lot but I'll try to get some pictures of her Tomorro! 💜

[Sophi]

Here are a few pictures of Ajna.

http://i59.tinypic.com/2ytu39j.jpg
http://i58.tinypic.com/110m5b5.jpg

Just a tiny thing. I'm pretty sure he/she is a California Kingsnake. But either way she is already taking well to being handled. No more biting yet, and feeding seems to have gone well. I am planning on offering a pinkie every five days since she is still so small, instead of every seven? Is this a bad idea if she's already been in a seven days schedule? Feeding inside the tank went well. I used a paper towel to keep the aspen shavings from sticking to the mouse and she went right to sleep in her hideaway hut.

[D Grade]

Definitely a Black and White Banded Cali King (Lampropeltis Getula Californiae). Mirrored image of our lil' Amani.

[Sophi]

Definitely a Black and White Banded Cali King (Lampropeltis Getula Californiae). Mirrored image of our lil' Amani.

They could be twins.

[toddnbecka]

If the snake is willing to eat every 5 days, no worries about changing the feeding schedule. My little Okeetee corn would eat more often than that if I'd feed him/her. I generally do a 6 day schedule, but since I've been feeding 3 small pinkies at a time (to keep too many mice from growing out) rather than larger pinks of fuzzies it seems like they're digested faster. Last feeding was only 4 days after the previous round, and now we're waiting for a shed before feeding again.
The diamondback water snake is really a pig for fish. It's only about 10" long, but took down 3 fully grown and pregnant female endler's last night. Relative to the snake's size that's a much larger meal than the corn, more like the carpet python than a colubrid. I'm almost tempted to put a netful of fish into the water snake's "pond" just to see how many would be left in the morning, but I don't think that would be wise.

[EL Ziggy]

Congrats on your new king Sophi. Best wishes!

[Sophi]

Congrats on your new king Sophi. Best wishes!

Thank you! I'm enjoying her a lot and she seems to be getting tame real quick. We've been spending short periods of time together to get her used to being handled without having to be out for too long yet. She has given me a few mini anxiety attacks, as she is very good at hiding and I've thought she'd escaped a few times.

[D Grade]

They could be twins.

Yes indeed!