My new king, Pretzel

[Tango]

I adopted a new 3' king snake from a local animal shelter last week. LOVE this snake!!!

From what the guy at the shelter said, he had been neglected and living in a plastic shoe box size container. However he was kept, he is in really good shape.

Well, when I first went to the shelter to get him, they had him in a 15 gallon habitat that was pieced together with whatever they had available to them. For example, his hide was two small half logs and a ceramic water dish that were kind of stacked together to make a hide to accommodate his size. As I disassembled the contraption to have a look at him, I could see that look in his eyes. He was ready for a new visitor!

Despite the cage aggression, he is a GREAT snake. I distract him from the front and pick him up him from behind to get him out, and I haven't been bitten yet. Once he's out, he tries to crawl up my sleeves and is a real sweetie.

However, when someone walks past his cage, he flies out of his hide with his mouth open. Is this a behavior that will change over time now that he is in a proper habitat with regular feedings and frequent handlings? It's not something that bothers me, but it may be intimidating to certain friends.