She bit me! - Page 2

Skits · 05-26-15, 07:24 AM

It's definitely in how you approach a snake and how much they are fed as well. Going for it's face with an open hand seems like something he's misinterpret as feeding time. It happens, people get bit. Kings are..well..crazy. My kings all have on and off days. Not sure how big your king is (do you have a picture?) but maybe you're not feeding enough. My own kings, depending on their sizes and species, get a 30g (or 50g, not sure) rat a week.

Albert Clark · 05-26-15, 08:26 AM

I think she is just being a Cal king. It also is something that comes with owning reptiles. It's what they do and some are more inclined to do it than others. We need to respect the wild in our captives and have the mindset that every time we reach into that enclosure we are taking a risk at getting bit. If we prepared like that it probably would happen less.

**EL Ziggy** · 05-26-15, 11:33 AM

I think kings get an undeserved bad rep sometimes

. I only have two but neither of them have ever attempted to strike or bite me. They would musk a little when I first got them but that was about it as far as defensive behavior. They're both super tame and sweet now. I know many other king keepers who have never had issues with them either. Don't get me wrong they often have very strong feeding responses and can go into a frenzy and strike anything that moves when they're hungry but other than that I think kings are pretty docile for the most part.

prairiepanda · 05-26-15, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

I think kings get an undeserved bad rep sometimes

. I only have two but neither of them have ever attempted to strike or bite me. They would musk a little when I first got them but that was about it as far as defensive behavior. They're both super tame and sweet now. I know many other king keepers who have never had issues with them either. Don't get me wrong they often have very strong feeding responses and can go into a frenzy and strike anything that moves when they're hungry but other than that I think kings are pretty docile for the most part.

I agree. I've never seen a king that was a total spaz other than at feeding time. Some are flighty and musk or pee on people, but normally if they're striking it's in a feeding response. I think a lot of the crazy ones people are always talking about are just hungry.

jossh27 · 05-26-15, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

I still think she's hungry. 2 mice every 14 days doesn't seem like much for an adult king IMO. My kings eat every 7 days on average. Occasionally they'll go 10 days if they have a larger meal. I'd increase the frequency of your feedings and maybe increase the amount as well. I'm not sure what size your mice are but on Big Cheese the small adults are 13-18g each and adults are 19-29g each. The jumbos are 30g (+) each. Both of my kings are a little over two years old and 630-650g each. They eat 2 jumbos each every 7 days.

so does anyone else agree with ziggy? no disrespect, ziggy... just want to get reassurance before i start doubling her food intake.

SnoopySnake · 05-26-15, 04:16 PM

She's hungry. Biting and coiling isn't a defensive bite, its a feeding response.

jossh27 · 05-26-15, 04:53 PM

Someone asked for pictures to see her size. The eating picture was taken about a month ago and is a adult mouse. Hope these help

**EL Ziggy** · 05-26-15, 06:00 PM

No offense taken Josh. It's just my opinion and I've been wrong more than once

. Looking at your girl does give me confidence IMO though. She's gorgeous and larger than I originally thought. She looks like she could handle small rats. She also appears healthy and well cared for so she's not malnourished but I think she's trying to tell you something. Feed that beast! I'm not saying you should double her intake but try giving her slightly larger meals and a little more often and see if she calms down. My MBK and both my bulls are also wanting to eat more lately. I'm not sure if it's the warmer weather or what. The kings slow down a bit during the cooler months but the bulls are always turned up. Best wishes and keep us posted.

jossh27 · 05-26-15, 07:17 PM

Im not sure the place i buy from sells "jumbo" mice so other than switching to rats I'm not sure how i can up her meal size? and right now i only have one snake so i dont want to order online :s... only one thing to do... buy more snakes! lol

Lefitte · 05-27-15, 01:27 AM

Buy more snakes. Always the right answer, isn't it?
I only have one, a 1 year old California king. She used to angry pee on me all the time and she's feinted twice, bumping my hand both times but not striking. Each time she was telling me something. Each time, I had scared her, approached too suddenly and too scary for my teeny worm. I learned from each of them and she hasn't done anything more, I've had her most of the year and handle weekly or more. Hopefully upping the food size and frequency will solve the issue. If anything, take it as a lesson learned =D

Also Ziggy, I'm amazed at your kings being over 600g and 2 years! My girl is around 50g and around 10mos. Can't imagine her growing that much within the next year even if she nearly tripled her weight in the last 6 months.

prairiepanda · 05-27-15, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jossh27

Im not sure the place i buy from sells "jumbo" mice so other than switching to rats I'm not sure how i can up her meal size? and right now i only have one snake so i dont want to order online :s... only one thing to do... buy more snakes! lol

If you can't get jumbo mice, she does look like she could handle small rats. I feel like two adult mice is a pretty small meal for her, looking at the photo of her eating one. Looks like the "adult" mice that Petsmart sells which are half the size of the adults a the pet store across the street. She does look really healthy, though, so maybe they're not as small as it looks. Try two every 7 days and see how she does. You could do 3 per meal, but at that point it would definitely be more economical to switch to rats. She's gorgeous, by the way!

EDIT: if you do decide to switch to rats, don't go straight to smalls; start with ones that are a similar size to the mice you're feeding now and then work your way up from there. Sudden changes in prey size can cause a snake to refuse food.

**EL Ziggy** · 05-27-15, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jossh27

Im not sure the place i buy from sells "jumbo" mice so other than switching to rats I'm not sure how i can up her meal size? and right now i only have one snake so i dont want to order online :s... only one thing to do... buy more snakes! lol

I couldn't agree more about buying more snakes Josh but I still think buying online is more convenient, and cost effective, even with just one snake

. Like Panda said, if you don't want to switch to rats, and those are the largest mice you can get, you can feed her more and/or more often. Instead of every 14 days try her every 7-10 days. If she slams 2, give her a third sometimes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lefitte

Buy more snakes. Always the right answer, isn't it?
I only have one, a 1 year old California king. She used to angry pee on me all the time and she's feinted twice, bumping my hand both times but not striking. Each time she was telling me something. Each time, I had scared her, approached too suddenly and too scary for my teeny worm. I learned from each of them and she hasn't done anything more, I've had her most of the year and handle weekly or more. Hopefully upping the food size and frequency will solve the issue. If anything, take it as a lesson learned =D

Also Ziggy, I'm amazed at your kings being over 600g and 2 years! My girl is around 50g and around 10mos. Can't imagine her growing that much within the next year even if she nearly tripled her weight in the last 6 months.

I agree with you too Lefitte. I think our snakes try to tell us in their own way what they need. If I startle my bulls, they'll rattle their tales. Or they'll hiss if I'm too close while they're eating. When they're hungry they'll cruise the front of their tanks more, strike the glass when I walk by, or they'll come bolting out of their hides when I open their enclosures. I'm learning to 'read' their signals better.

There is a noticeable difference in our king's sizes. I think I feed my snakes a little more generously than some but they're definitely not power fed. I stuck pretty closely to the 10-15% of their body weight per feeding formula until they turned one. Now that they're young adults they get about 10%. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. They weighed 630g and 635g at their last weigh in ten days ago. Their last meals were 60-62g. That's either (2) jumbo mice or a jumbo mouse and a chick.

jossh27 · 05-27-15, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prairiepanda

If you can't get jumbo mice, she does look like she could handle small rats. I feel like two adult mice is a pretty small meal for her, looking at the photo of her eating one. Looks like the "adult" mice that Petsmart sells which are half the size of the adults a the pet store across the street. She does look really healthy, though, so maybe they're not as small as it looks. Try two every 7 days and see how she does. You could do 3 per meal, but at that point it would definitely be more economical to switch to rats. She's gorgeous, by the way!

EDIT: if you do decide to switch to rats, don't go straight to smalls; start with ones that are a similar size to the mice you're feeding now and then work your way up from there. Sudden changes in prey size can cause a snake to refuse food.

they aren't from petsmart but they are the same size mice as they would sell because i have bought mice from petculture and they are the same size as the ones im feeding her now

ill feed her tomorrow which will be 7 days since her last meal then ill try to switch her to rats that are close to the same size as the mice she currently eats. ill keep you guys posted. hopefully this calms the psychotic worm down!

I WANT MY OLD GIRL BACK!!