How to tame my kings

[Kingsnakechris]

Hello all. I just picked up my new breeding pair of cal. Kings. I'm just having a hard time getting them tame, I'd love for my son to be able to hold them (supervised of course) but they love to bite, I'm not sure if this is defensive or aggressive but either way, is there a way to tame these guys? My ball pythons and boas never gave me ths problem so I'm lost haha they are beautiful snakes and the male is one of the biggest cal. Kings I have ever seen. He's an easy 6 ft. And very thick, the female is a bit small for this season, I'm sure she could produce but would feel more comfortable waiting till she's a little thicker. Thanks guys,

Chris

[infernalis]

Don't quite know how to say his any other way....

They are simply being kingsnakes.

[Kingsnakechris]

Well, I guess "taming" is out of the question LOL!

[youngster]

Do you have a snake hook? If not, get one.

[theapexgerman]

Just keep handling them they will soon stop biting but may never be calm

[Kingsnakechris]

I have my field herping snake hook, I made it out of a golf club I cut the tip off and used one of those rubber protected bike hooks from walmart and welded the two together and wrapped duct tape around it all, looks pretty good but it's rather long, looks like I'm gonna be making a shorter one, gotta love garage sales for cheap used golf clubs!

[GarterPython]

The only way to "tame" a snake is to keep handling it. Even if it bites you/ tries to bite you, you still have to keep trying.

[Rogue628]

It's been in my experience that young kings seem to think anything that moves is either food or thinks it's food so they bite both out of defense and food. Typically the bite doesn't hurt nor does it draw blood but can make a new owner hesitant to handle. My king has literally latched onto my boyfriend's fingers a couple of times...I guess thinking his finger was food and once tried to eat it. lol

The way I've been taming mine is to wear gloves when handling. It's not that I'm afraid of the bite, but if she does decide to bite, it's easier to get her off the glove than a finger.

Consistent handling in short time increments then working up to more frequent handling is a great way to 'tame' any snake to handling. Never immediately put them back up after a bite as they learn pretty quickly that if they bite, they go back home. I always hold mine for an extra 5 minutes after a bite so they don't learn this.

Due to my work schedule I haven't been able to work with my king as much as I'd like (and I won't let anyone else handle her until I can trust her to not try to eat my fingers) so my taming process with her has been slow. I've only been able to get her out for about 10 minutes once a week and so far she's doing well. Last time I handled her I even took my gloves off and she was still calm. So I can say I've been successful.

One thing you must remember with any new animal, be it dog, cat, snake, lizard, etc, is that there is a level of trust that has to be earned between handler and animal. They have to learn to trust that you won't hurt them and you have to trust them to be good. lol Earning that trust can be a little time consuming but is worth it to and needs to be consistent. At least with a king, bites aren't bad and rarely break the skin so it makes them somewhat easier to work with during this time. However, you don't want to overhandle in the beginning as it can cause stress which will can cause problems like not eating. Regardless of how well they take to handling in the beginning it's best to start out with short handling sessions and work your way up to longer and more frequent handling.

Good luck!

[Kingsnakechris]

thats great advice! thank you. my ball pythons were slightly nippy but it stopped. these guys just dont seem to like being handled lol. ill try the short consistant route. hopefully they learn to trust me.

[a153fish]

Well, you might want to illiminate hunger. I have a few that come straight at me mouth open, but once they have fed they calm down. Many people tend to underfeed their kings. They have huge appetites, and so the snakes many times are showing signs of hunger. Having said that, some kings are just nervous, from birth and may never calm down. Most will eventually clam down with frequent handling, but it really varies from one individual to another. Calm parents also seems to be a factor, so buying snakes that come from a calm dispositioned pair of parents can be worth finding. I have a few Florida kings that nevr show any signs of even thinking about biting me, then I have a couple that rattle their tails, and get in striking position, as soon as I open the cage. I hope this helps?

[Kingsnakechris]

Def. I'm open to any and all advice. I just posted some pics of them in the colubrid section. The female is the little black and white banded. The male is the big cream ( yellow) and white banded one.

[Rogue628]

How long have you had them? They may need some (more) acclimation time.

[Kingsnakechris]

I've had these guys around a week 1/2 and just tried handling yesterday lol and today. Might let em be for a bit longer

[Rogue628]

My rainbow took about 3 weeks of acclimating before I could do anything with her without her literally launching herself out of her tub at me. She ate everytime food was offered as long as it was live, but actually handling her was another story. lol I think some just need more acclimation time than others.

Try not having any interaction for another week and then try handling and see what happens.

Have they turned down any meals?

[Terranaut]

Had my king for a while and he sometimes bites when he smells food and is cage defensive. If you have other snakes be sure to wash your hands before handling a king or it will smell "food" on your hand and bite. Kings are just like that. They can bite. Its in their nature. They aren't mean just high strung and dumb as dirt. Still great to have though!!

[Kingsnakechris]

My female has eaten two mice per feeding, my male however is not eating. He knows she's around and is constantly on the move but she's not quite ready for this season. He's massive tho so I'm not toooo worried about him not eating right now I offer but the extra mouse usually just goes to my female.

[Rogue628]

Are both of them nippy? Is he more nippy than she? Could it possibly be because he's wanting to breed? I've never had two of the same of the opposite sex so I don't have any experience with how they can act during that time.

[Kingsnakechris]

This is my first run at it as well, lemme tell ya, it's "fun" LOL! She's just as nippy tho...

[Kingsnakechris]

So after two days of handling my female let's me hold her and is perfectly calm and just curious. No more flighty action and no more striking. My male however tries with ever ounce of strength in his body to take my finger off lol. I think I'll just leave him alone a while longer and just bond a little more with my female. Btw I named them helga (female) and Salazar (male) lol yes I know Harry potter reference but it wasn't my idea haha

[theapexgerman]

Nothing wrong with harry potter and maybe your male king just like to bite

[Kingsnakechris]

Yeah, I'm coming to that conclusion. Lol

[theapexgerman]

I rather get bite than musk altho kings don't musk usely but musk really stinks

[Kingsnakechris]

Yeah no kidding. My buddy found one that had its tail run over by a car and he kept it for a while to let it recuperate but before he released it he got musked. Lemme tell ya that was the definition of STANK!!!

[theapexgerman]

Yea when my nelson was an babie he musk me once or twice that stuff really stinks I got musk when a few years ago when I caught my az miuntain king took me months to find one since its illegal to buy them in arizona

[Kingsnakechris]

Yeah, where'd you find one? I been looking for a while but no luck..

[theapexgerman]

Up north 20 miles befor you get to flagstaff there's an hiker trail I stumble across and it was an day when I wasn't out looking I saw it race out of an cave chase it to an corner and he started striking and I pick him up he got me on my nose

[Kingsnakechris]

Good thing it wasn't a coral snake! Hard to tell te difference at first glance! Lol

[theapexgerman]

I made for sure I wild caught my coral to lol so I can tell the difference pretty easy my coral is pretty calm and eats good to

[Kingsnakechris]

Nice! I want an az mountain king really bad man! How big do they get?

[a153fish]

He could be smelling the female on your hands. My first thought was feed him, but you said, he won't eat. Definately a sign that he is in heat. I wash my hands with Alcohol gel, before handling some of the ones, that I know might bite. It doesn't always work, but at least they will learn to distinguish you from, other animals such as female, or food. He will eventually know that smell is you. That's how it's supposed to work anyway, lol.

[Kingsnakechris]

I'll give it a shot. I been washing my hands just not using the alcohol gel...

[theapexgerman]

I normal use hand sanitizer works pretty good