King Snake find, eye issue

leper65 · 06-07-14, 01:09 PM

I found this Eastern King Snake the other morning when I was getting ready to leave for work. He had a larger Black Rat Snake coiled up in my yard, so I grabbed the whole ball of snake(s) and put them in a spare tank in the garage. The Black Rat was dead and was maybe 3 feet long compared to the King's 2 foot length. (I screwed up and didn't take pictures!)

Anyways, when I checked on him after work, he was unable to eat the much larger Black Rat and was just laying there in the aspen bedding watching me. I disposed of the dead snake and took some pictures and offered him a FT adult mouse. He took it carefully off my hemostats after checking it out briefly and ate it. His left eye is all white, and I was wondering if there was anything I could do for him, the picture with the eye is the last one...

Primal Rage · 06-07-14, 01:46 PM

Nice pics! Thanks for sharing. Might I ask why you would interfere with the king eating the ratsnake? Not trying to be antagonistic just curious.

leper65 · 06-07-14, 02:05 PM

He hadn't started/tried to eat it at that point. Had it constricted up good and was biting/holding the Black Rat by the neck. I picked them up by grabbing the black rat's body and he never let go of it the whole time I was moving them. Also it was pretty obvious there was NO way in hell he was going to swallow that Black Rat Snake, it was way too large. I was impressed that he managed to kill such a much larger snake.

Primal Rage · 06-07-14, 02:35 PM

I gotcha. How is the kings temperament? Most of the ones I find around here(middle ga) are pretty reluctant to bite or even hiss. Is the blue eye stuck sheds or is there something wrong with the snakes cornea?

leper65 · 06-07-14, 02:46 PM

His temperament is pretty good. No aggression at all. No strikes, musking, etc. Hard to tell with the eye, I don't think it's a stuck shed, but I don't know for sure.

FWK · 06-07-14, 06:05 PM

Nice find, to bad you couldn't get pictures of their death match. As much as I love snakes, and wildlife in general, I don't think I would have disturbed them. They are wild animals, let nature take its course. I would have sprinted back into the house after a camera though. King Snakes are tenacious and absolutely fearless when they are in feeding mode, not surprising it was able to take down a larger animal. A King Snake can fold a longer snake up in its stomach, had you watched instead if intervening you may well have seen the King swallow the Rat Snake and go on its way. I wouldn't worry about the eye, let the snake go and nature will do its thing.

BIGT FROM F.B. · 06-07-14, 06:23 PM

I never have been able to get a wild caught one to eat before. This must be a pretty laid back and un-afraid one. Good deal.

sharthun · 06-07-14, 08:11 PM

Cool snake and find.

Starbuck · 06-09-14, 06:39 AM

To me the eye looks more yellowish than blue, is that the case (pictures can be misleading). If so it looks like he might have some retained spectacles and a possible infection. :-/

aaron_cg · 06-09-14, 08:43 AM

I had a desert king come to me about a month ago, with the same issue. Looks like retained eye caps from a bad shed. Could be wrong though.

Cmwells90 · 06-09-14, 11:53 AM

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but that "grey" eye looks larger than the other. I would go with infection (I'm not snake expert, just working off how the human body responds), but as a wild animal this would be just another part of life, if you're looking to keep this snake I would get him looked at, but if it is swollen then that tells me that the body is trying to fight off something, so it may be a loss all together!