Hello from a new snake family!

[saturnascends]

Hi all!

I'm new to the forum and new to snake ownership as well. I've owned all sorts of animals over the years, but never a reptile. Snakes have always interested me, but I never necessarily thought I would own one. Then, in recent times, my 7 year old son started to ask me for a pet snake (we saw some at Petsmart while picking up dog food and of course he was mesmerized). I considered it lightly, then started to do some research. I decided this weekend was time, so we went for it!

We purchased a young California King Snake from a reputable reptile store here on Long Island. We've set him up with some basics in his tank, but I am already itching to upgrade and customize. I have my eye on one of the Exo-Terra terrariums but we'll see how that goes.

Anyways, so far he/she seems pretty friendly, though quick and fiesty, which I am told is normal for their age. My son and I both held it a lot at the store, so I was happy to see my son didn't fear it. He's in love with "his little guy" already and I am hoping we have a great pet for a long time to come. I wanted t name him Lazarus, my son wanted to name him Taco Del Mar (don't ask). I thought it was too hilarious to day no, so we compromised and he has been dubbed Taco Lazarus Del Mar. I will be calling him Lazarus :)

I hope to learn from this forum over time, thanks for reading!

[afsgr88]

Hi there! And welcome :) It is nice to see young children interested in snakes, instead of fearing them! He looks gorgeous and I absolutely love the name xD All the best for you guys :)

[EL Ziggy]

Welcome and best wishes. Congrats on your handsome new king snake. It's amazing how many of our kids helped ignite or reignite our passion for reptiles. My son was 4 when he decided he wanted a blue lizard. We ended up with a Cal King a lot like yours. He turns 8 in a few months and we have 8 snakes now. :)

[saturnascends]

Thank you both! And yes, one of the awesome parts of being a parent is you get to experience a taste of childhood all over again...unless I just never grew up!

So in 24 hours under our care, Mr. Taco has been upgraded from a 10-gallon glass tank to an Exo-Terra medium low terrarium :D I nearly had a heart attack once I got him into it though; I hadn't pushed the styrofoam decor all the way flush to the back, so there was a little space for him to squeeze into. Not a huge deal I thought, until I look over and he's crawling out of the top air vent (that I didn't know existed)!!! I managed to pick him up before he tumbled out but man, what a scare. Those vents are now securely closed and the background is pushed back as tight as possible! :eek:

[TRD]

Welcome :) My daughter was today jumping around my computer and saying she wants a black snake... she's almost 2 (1 month from now).

On my screen was a big black spitting cobra, might not be the best idea :)

Goodluck with the little Taco Lazarus from California, they'll grow big and confident soon!

[BillyCostume]

Welcome to the forum :) it's a great community here. My 10 year old niece recently got a ball python and reignited my love of keeping reptiles. Just a warning it's highly addictive haha

[GyGbeetle]

I have to know where your 7 year old got the name now. Very awesome that you are doing this as a team. All 3 of my kids have snakes, and we make it a family activity. It's fun (until you ask for help cleaning the enclosure and they conveniently have to be anywhere else but there).

[dave himself]

Hi and welcome :)

[saturnascends]

I have to know where your 7 year old got the name now. Very awesome that you are doing this as a team. All 3 of my kids have snakes, and we make it a family activity. It's fun (until you ask for help cleaning the enclosure and they conveniently have to be anywhere else but there).

Oh man, I'm totally anticipating him to be suddenly "busy" when it comes time for cleaning!

As for the name, it's not really a big story but it's just random, haha. Back before Xmas, my son found this YouTube channel called Cute Mario Bros. It's a couple of 20-something guys making little skits with Mario, Luigi and other various plush toys. In one video, an elf on the shelf magically appears in their house. Luigi is pressured by the group to name the elf, even though he warns them that the elf is probably evil. He's looking around the room and sees a paper that says Taco Del Mar. That's what Luigi goes with. Turns out the elf goes on a killing spree or something, haha. So my son is walking around calling me Taco Del Mar and I'm like "What??" I came to find out afterwards that it's a chain we don't have here in NY, and Luigi was looking at an old taco wrapper. Then it became a joke between us and thus, it was the logical name for a pet in a 7 year old's mind.

And thanks again for the welcomes!

[afsgr88]

Oh man, I'm totally anticipating him to be suddenly "busy" when it comes time for cleaning!

As for the name, it's not really a big story but it's just random, haha. Back before Xmas, my son found this YouTube channel called Cute Mario Bros. It's a couple of 20-something guys making little skits with Mario, Luigi and other various plush toys. In one video, an elf on the shelf magically appears in their house. Luigi is pressured by the group to name the elf, even though he warns them that the elf is probably evil. He's looking around the room and sees a paper that says Taco Del Mar. That's what Luigi goes with. Turns out the elf goes on a killing spree or something, haha. So my son is walking around calling me Taco Del Mar and I'm like "What??" I came to find out afterwards that it's a chain we don't have here in NY, and Luigi was looking at an old taco wrapper. Then it became a joke between us and thus, it was the logical name for a pet in a 7 year old's mind.

And thanks again for the welcomes!

That's such a funny and cute story! ^^ I need to subscribe to that YouTube channel. Sounds awesome!

[GyGbeetle]

Oh man, I'm totally anticipating him to be suddenly "busy" when it comes time for cleaning!

As for the name, it's not really a big story but it's just random, haha. Back before Xmas, my son found this YouTube channel called Cute Mario Bros. It's a couple of 20-something guys making little skits with Mario, Luigi and other various plush toys. In one video, an elf on the shelf magically appears in their house. Luigi is pressured by the group to name the elf, even though he warns them that the elf is probably evil. He's looking around the room and sees a paper that says Taco Del Mar. That's what Luigi goes with. Turns out the elf goes on a killing spree or something, haha. So my son is walking around calling me Taco Del Mar and I'm like "What??" I came to find out afterwards that it's a chain we don't have here in NY, and Luigi was looking at an old taco wrapper. Then it became a joke between us and thus, it was the logical name for a pet in a 7 year old's mind.

And thanks again for the welcomes!

hahahahahah!!!!! I love this! That is the cutest thing ever!

[Klim]

Hi, I'm new also. This group has been great on giving advice.

[saturnascends]

Hi all,

I wanted to ask a question I pretty much know the answer to, but need some reassurance. We got Taco Lazarus (haha, still makes me laugh) on Saturday. Sunday we moved him to the Exo-Terra. So in reality, he has only had a little over 48 hours in his new home. I have noticed he's hiding at the top of the terrarium a lot of the time - there is a small gap between the foam rock background and the roof - is this normal? I kind of feel it must be. We're leaving him be, and I do notice he moves around a little more when the light goes off at night...I just hope I'm not doing anything wrong. Will he come around eventually? I really hope he will be friendly and calm (I guess that's obvious to hope for)...and right now there's no way to tell what's going to happen. Is this normal new (and young) snake behavior? Any estimation of how long it will take a new guy to be comfortable? Thanks and sorry for being such a newbie!

[afsgr88]

Hey there! It sounds like he is still settling down. Most of my snakes were very inactive during the first week in a new home. Just make sure you have the temps right and, of course, that you're providing enough hideouts for him. He should be cruising around in no time :)

[Albert Clark]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Young kingsnakes and most snakes in general will explore new surroundings and become relentless in finding weak links in the enclosure. Kingsnakes also are great climbers so just be sure to "baton down the hatches" to prevent any potential escape. The more room he has as a juvenile young snake increases his possibilities and routes of escape. Just be vigilant with your enclosure security and enjoy him.

[saturnascends]

Thank you both! Right now I have 3 hiding spots in the enclosure - a medium sized "rock" hide, one of those half-log hides and I threw in a toilet paper roll because I read they like those sometimes. So far I haven't seen him use any. He either seems to chill at the top or under his bedding. I guess it'll take some time still.

As for temperature, I am going with what both shops told me (they have two locations). They sold me a Flukers Repta-Clamp Lamp and a Zoo Med 60 watt Daylight Blue bulb. They said a king snake didn't really need the floor level heating when I asked about a heating pad. Does this sound legit to you? I've noticed the temperature staying around 75 degrees when the light is on, dropping down to around 70 when the light is off at night - they also said I didn't need a night time light?

[saturnascends]

Okay here's an update. I went to the reptile shop again today because I needed to get the first frozen mice I'd be feeding our dude. While there I picked the guy's brain about the current heat situation. He said 75 was too low, which I honestly figured anyways. He gave me some options for trial and error. My first new tactic is swapping the 60 watt bulb for 75 watt incandescent spot bulb (Night Black Heat by Zilla). He said this type of bulb pushes the heat down more than a regular type bulb, and the higher wattage will make it warmer as well. Then he suggested laying a towel over half of the enclosure's top, because we all know heat rises and that might keep some of the warmth in. Does this sound reasonable? He mentioned a heat pad if I want, but it won't really warm the air in general, which I guess I knew. I guess I can also go for a different/higher watt bulb if this doesn't cut it. I also wonder if the thermometer I have is not very accurate...it's the Zoo Med Thermometer Humidity gauge. Maybe something a bit more heavy duty would be more reliable?

As for the first feeding, it was...interesting. Ha! I was driving home thinking "Wow, I've got 6 frozen mice in my car...this is different." I got what the dude called pinkies but I see a little bit of fuzz on them so I wonder. Anyways I thawed it, warmed it and went to show it to Laz. He was up at the top of the tank like usual, and seemed scared of the mouse as opposed to interested. I waved it around a bit and now I guess I was squeezing with the tongs too hard, because the abdomen area started coming open and blood was coming out. Oh god I'm thinking...I decided to keep going and Laz finally came down. He showed a bit of fright again, but after a bit of repositioning with the tongs, he did his thing and struck. I was psyched! But I quickly got worried again. The doofus either lost his grip or whatever, and started eating the mouse from the back end. I watched him for a good half hour, poor guy was trying so hard to eat but couldn't seem to get much of it past his mouth. I started fearing the mouse was too big for him. I left for about 30 minutes, then came back and he still hadn't made much progress. Ugh. I had to go pick up my son from school. Got back and checked. Snake is hiding under the bedding. I'm thinking I need to see him to confirm he actually ate the mouse. I rustled the bedding a bit and he came out with a nice little bulge in his middle. Success! I took the bloody bit of bedding out (fun) and he's now resting. I'd say it took him an hour and 15 minutes to get the mouse down. But he did it, and I'm hoping next time is less eventful :D Congrats to you if you actually read all of my rambling!

[EL Ziggy]

Congrats on the 1st successful feeding! That's always a good feeling. Don't buy too many pinkys though. Your snake will be ready for fuzzys really soon :). I've always used belly heat for my kings but the heat lamp should work too. Whatever gets your hot spot to about 86-88 and a cool side in the low-mid 70s.