Jeeze you guys wern't kidding.

[Vengeance]

In the last week I picked up my first Cali King snake. I already have a Ball python and was looking for something that was a little less picky and had a much more ferocious attitude toward eating, but at the same time still safe to handle. Through reading peoples post on this forum I came to the conclusion that the Cali King was for me and boy you guys wern't wrong about feeding response.

I'm used to my ball python who will only eat while it's dark, when he is still half inside is hide, the prey has to be moveing and dangling from tongs, if he only strikes and coils on the first shot and only if he can drag the prey item back into his hide to eat it. This all assumeing he eats at all But I fed my Cali king yesterday and the difference is insane, he is only about 2 months old and I got him from PCPC but I went to feed him last night, I hadn't even got the prey item to ground level and he was already going crazy for it. Striking the mouse, the tongs, went after my hand for a sec so I just tossed the mouse inside and he went and found it himself, and then he ate it backwards! But not only that, the little bugger was still hungry afterward (he is only on pinkie mice which I think are a little small I'm going to move him up to a larger prey item) so I thawed another one, and still the same reaction.

I think I'm really going to like this little guy, the contrasts between my Ball and my King are quite interesting. I'll post some pics after the 2 week period of not bugging the little guy so he can adjust is over.

[ruthupton]

My Cali is the same. She shed last night and within seconds was getting a rat pup down her neck - backwards. She tried one head-first but got stuck with the shoulders.

My Corn is more of a gentleman - he has much better table manners.

[Tigergenesis]

Hey Vengeance, I just learned the same thing. Ball Python my first snake (will only strike prey from tongs if 114 degrees or higher, 108-113 will stike if I make it dance and then drop it, when it hits the ground strikes), Kenyan Sand Boa my second snake (eats when he wants) and the weekend before last I got a Mexican Black Kingsnake - don't have to worry about wasting rodents there! He even got a little overzealous the last feeding and missed the fuzzy and got a hold of a bowl I gave him for a hide (may have been my mistake). What a difference! Not mention how much faster he is.

[marisa]

Yup. The differences between a ball's feeding habits and a kings are striking. It's a wonderful change when you own one or the other. Enjoy your snake!

Marisa

[DragnDrop]

I only have one kingsnake (Ruthvens), but he's a fanatic at feeding time too. I've timed him to see how long it takes him to find his feeding bowl. The longest was 2 minutes, and that's because he was in his hidebox sleeping, and I was extremely careful putting the bowl in the enclosure. When he's awake, he's already at the bowl as soon as I put it down. It used to take the corns as much as half an hour to zero in on their food, so I was almost shocked to see the difference with the king.

[gonesnakee]

Yeah the BPs are pretty lame when it comes to feeding time compared to the CKs. They don't call them KINGS for nothing LOL Mark I.