Welllllllllllllll it's not an MBK.............

[trailblazer295]

So as many of you have read I've had a few threads about MBKs over the past few months. Growth rates, cage size etc. I was still tossing the idea around and waiting for the next expo to come around. Last night I decided to check the local classifieds and see what kind of kingsnakes were for sale and if any were MBKs. None were but I saw a great deal on a California Kingsnake and cage. A few texts later and it was done.

Met this morning. Had to go to reptile store for a few supplies. Seller was using a lamp for heat and had gone years prior with no heat source. I kept quiet about that being wrong as she was selling the snake anyway. I wanted to use a UTH instead so got a new water dish, UTH and some bedding.

The cage as you can see was really dirty and needed a clean but other then that it's in great shape. It's supposed to be only a few months old. It's a 36x18x18 front opening. As you can see the king also didn't have any hides and had to burrow to feel secure. She now has 1 hot 1 cold 1 skull "hide" and a humid hide in the back right. There was no maiden release pics as I had her in a 10g while I was cleaning her new home up. She ended up curling around inside the empty humid hide so I didn't want to disturb her yet again so moved the whole thing into the new home. I'll add moss once she moves on her own time.

She is a very relaxed snake, despite being driven around, tank jostling, picked up and probed her response was curling around my arm and resting her head. She is in fact a she, seller didn't know. I was told she is 10yrs old. She is a bit smelly lol but that's due to her cage condition. She has fresh bedding, cleaned everything and a big stable water dish.

The pics in the add she looked black and white but clearly is brown and white. I don't know if she will change colour with proper husbandry and feeding. She was fed bi weekly rat pups.

What is the correct feeding frequency for an adult king?

Regardless she seems to be fairly cage active, was exploring the 10g within an hr of being put in it and she is very easy to handle so I'm really happy with her. She is a tough SOB to survive years of no heat, dirty cage and no hides but is so calm to handle and just pick up. When I got home she had buried herself completely and had to dig around to find her and even then after a jostling drive home she didn't bite or strike or any defensive behaviour just tried to wiggle free but calmed down in my hands in seconds.

A pic of the tank before and after and few snapped while I was cleaning her cage. I'll snap some more in her new home once she settles and starts moving around. Her hot side is set to 85f and is centered front to back about 2-3" in from the left side.