Need advice on picking my snake! :)

[ckdavis9]

Hi everyone,

So tomorrow, the breeder that I'm getting my male mex mex kingsnake yearling from is emailing me with pictures of the 5 he has available and I get first pick! I was just wondering if there is anything I should look for that would help me choose one snake over another? Certain traits that some how indicate a healthier/"better" snake? I might be over-thinking this but I just wanted to ask! Thanks!

[ErikBush97]

Originally Posted by ckdavis9

Hi everyone,

So tomorrow, the breeder that I'm getting my male mex mex kingsnake yearling from is emailing me with pictures of the 5 he has available and I get first pick! I was just wondering if there is anything I should look for that would help me choose one snake over another? Certain traits that some how indicate a healthier/"better" snake? I might be over-thinking this but I just wanted to ask! Thanks!

Just like with any other snake; If you're trying to see if it's healthy, look at size, and inspect it's scales, if he has an image of ALL the scales (which he doesn't lol). It's a lot easier in person, honestly. But try and see if it's under weight or anything. Other than that, just pick which ever one you like the most! If you don't know how to tell if it's under weight, look at images of healthy Mex Kings on Google for a while, and then look at images of under weight/unhealthy Mex Kings. You'll see the difference instantly. But weight/appearance doesn't tell you a whole lot about it's health. It could look 100% healthy, but it could have internal parasites. So just find the one you like and then look at it and try and see if it looks healthy.

[ckdavis9]

Thanks! What you said is pretty much what I had in mind! I appreciate you getting back to me so quickly!

[ErikBush97]

Originally Posted by ckdavis9

Thanks! What you said is pretty much what I had in mind! I appreciate you getting back to me so quickly!

No problem, man! I am not an expert or anything, but that's what I know. Nice to meet you.

[EL Ziggy]

Best wishes with your new kingsnake CK. They are really awesome pets. My cal king and mbk are both really beautiful animals. They're great eaters and pretty tame too. I agree with Erik if you can't personally inspect the animal you just have to look over the pics as best you can and go with the one you like the best. Hopefully you're buying from a respectable breeder who only sells high quality animals. Keep us posted on your progress.

[ckdavis9]

Originally Posted by ErikBush97

No problem, man! I am not an expert or anything, but that's what I know. Nice to meet you.

haha WOman it's okay, with a name like Chandler and my profile pic as my dog, it's hard to tell I'm a girl! hahaha

[ckdavis9]

Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Best wishes with your new kingsnake CK. They are really awesome pets. My cal king and mbk are both really beautiful animals. They're great eaters and pretty tame too. I agree with Erik if you can't personally inspect the animal you just have to look over the pics as best you can and go with the one you like the best. Hopefully you're buying from a respectable breeder who only sells high quality animals. Keep us posted on your progress.

Thanks to you too! I haven't even gotten him yet but I feel like my next snake is going to have to be an MBK. The black is so beautiful and sleek!

[Mikoh4792]

Originally Posted by ckdavis9

Hi everyone,

So tomorrow, the breeder that I'm getting my male mex mex kingsnake yearling from is emailing me with pictures of the 5 he has available and I get first pick! I was just wondering if there is anything I should look for that would help me choose one snake over another? Certain traits that some how indicate a healthier/"better" snake? I might be over-thinking this but I just wanted to ask! Thanks!

Look for an alert snake that is not underweight. No folds in the skin, clear eyes, not mites, tongue flicking..etc.

Other than that choose the one you like.

[ckdavis9]

Originally Posted by mikoh4792

Look for an alert snake that is not underweight. No folds in the skin, clear eyes, not mites, tongue flicking..etc.

Other than that choose the one you like.

I will do the best I can with this but unfortunately, I don't have a lot of go off of because I am ordering online. There aren't a lot of breeders around here in College Station, TX haha.... aka middle of NOWHERE-ville

[Mikoh4792]

Originally Posted by ckdavis9

I will do the best I can with this but unfortunately, I don't have a lot of go off of because I am ordering online. There aren't a lot of breeders around here in College Station, TX haha.... aka middle of NOWHERE-ville

In that case I would just choose whichever one I like. You can only tell so much by looking at the pictures the breeder is providing.

I guess you could also ask the breeder about temperaments, feeding behavior, and health issues.

[ErikBush97]

Originally Posted by ckdavis9

haha WOman it's okay, with a name like Chandler and my profile pic as my dog, it's hard to tell I'm a girl! hahaha

Sorry about that! I say "man" all the time. It's like an instinct at this point!

[ckdavis9]

Originally Posted by ErikBush97

Sorry about that! I say "man" all the time. It's like an instinct at this point!

No worries!

[ckdavis9]

Originally Posted by Mikoh4792

In that case I would just choose whichever one I like. You can only tell so much by looking at the pictures the breeder is providing.

I guess you could also ask the breeder about temperaments, feeding behavior, and health issues.

Yeah he claims they are all feeding well on f/t fuzzies and all pretty well tempered. I will double check on health issues but at this point, a lot of my decision will have to be based on looks primarily :/ I think whichever I choose will be great though! They are all so beautiful.