Are they all jerks?

MouseKilla · 08-26-03, 01:34 PM

Just curious if anyone has a king that isn't a miserable SOB. I have a eastern that I bought as a sub adult and he has always been an unmanagable, biting, snapping jerk. Can't seem to tame him, he bites me at nearly every opportunity and sometimes strikes at me through the glass of his enclosure, bashing his own face repeatedly. He has a particular hatred for me personally it seems but I'm the only one who dares to get near him. I also have a 50/50 Cal king that looks really cool that I have had since he was a hatchling. This guy was docile at first but it seems the bigger he gets the more high strung he becomes. He has become untrustworthy and seems to bite for no reason while being handled. I've been trying to make sure that I handle him more frequently to keep him accostomed to it and am sure to wash my hands to make sure I don't have any provocative scents on me (my other snakes, the cat, prey animals). What I'm wondering is if it is just in their genes to be belligerent.

marisa · 08-26-03, 01:36 PM

They aren't all jerks. I have a cal king that is a TOTAL baby and I allow my roomates 7 year old to hold him. BUT this is not the same king as yours, and my cal king lived in a pet store for a year. People were obviously constantly asking to handle him and I believe this gave him a good start on his friendly attitude.

Jose my Mexican Black king is NUTS and I have tried all the tricks for two years now, nothing helps. But hey, the bitey crazy ones are the most fun!

Marisa

Wrath · 08-26-03, 01:45 PM

Quote:

But hey, the bitey crazy ones are the most fun!

That's hilarious. It sounds like a bumpersticker or a slogan or something.

Pookie · 08-26-03, 01:45 PM

I've had my cal king for about 6 years now! Ever since i got her she pee's on me when i pick her up. She seems more scared than angry! I'm not sure what to tell ya!

marisa · 08-26-03, 01:53 PM

Wrath- Gotta car? I will sell this to you for 5 bucks. LMAO:

<img src="http://members.rogers.com/mattl/bite.jpg">

HAHAHA

Marisa

MouseKilla · 08-26-03, 02:03 PM

My 6 yr old daughter still loves to handle the little guy that has only recently become bitey. She's been bitten a couple of times now and seems to mind less than I do. The other, totally belligerent one is a favorite of most of our guests cuz he likes to put on a show instead of just hiding out or staring blankly. I don't have any problem with this tendency (though my wife is terrified of him) I just wondered if they were all like this.

vanderkm · 08-26-03, 04:02 PM

Several of our Cal kings have been very active but none have been aggressive except that they have a high prey drive and like to think everything might be food. We use a hook to touch snakes before picking them up and find that once these guys know they are being picked up and not fed, they are not interested in biting. One Cal King is totally reliable and very calm - she will play dead if you put her on her back and roll her in a coil - she just stays that way. Our albino is more active than the coastal phases have been and likes to wrap his prey up in 4-5 coils instead of just eating it, but he has never bitten or musked.

Our Mexican black king is one of our most dependable snakes - was active as a young one, but settled into calm temperament as an adult and I would rank him as very unlikely to bite.

Our variable kings are the calmest and sweetest personalities of the kings - not hyper to hold, tend to sit still rather than cruise when picked up and would virtually never bite - but still strong food drive. They are really an under-appreciated kingsnake - very attractive and great personality.

We had a brooksi Florida king that was very shy, reclusive but not aggressive.

mary v.

MouseKilla · 08-26-03, 04:19 PM

Our cal can be picked up, unlike our eastern who is nuts. You may be on to something about the feeding response, our cal would eat everyday if we let him. He is nearly in perpetual motion, tearing his cage up day and night, never still. Both kings we have are greedy eaters. They seem to go blind when they know there is even food in the room. Ironically, this makes them clumsy hunters I find. They will chase prey around, mouths gaping, missing and snapping and rattling their tails. It's kind of funny to watch. When I feed pre-killed they seem to want to double kill it and coil and roll with it for several minutes.

jay76 · 08-26-03, 04:35 PM

My mex mex is a little suck... he's never even snapped at me and loves to coil on my fingers. Even though he was from a pet store he wasn't handled much, since he spent all day buried (worked to my advantage... no one else saw how what a great snake he is ha ha). Try using a hook like Mary suggested... you might get laughed at for buying a hook that small - I sure would at my lps, but they're just nuts there - but if it works it works, right?

MouseKilla · 08-26-03, 05:04 PM

well I have a makeshift hook that I use just for my eastern king, there's usually no other way to take him out without being bitten and he never relaxes enough to handle. My cal is easy to pick up but may just suddenly decide he wants to eat one of your fingers. Not that it hurts or anything but my daughter has what you could call an advanced vocabulary for a 6 yr old though because of seeing the snake bite me and hearing me shout obsenities at it. She thinks it's hillarious. She is very mellow about it when he gets her. "Daddy, Beetlegeus is biting me." Strange snake, strange kid, what can I say?

Wraith · 08-26-03, 05:20 PM

My cali is very easy to handle and has never bitten me. Some times I don't think he would know how (he's not the brightest hunter I have ever seen). He is in constant motion and always renovating his tank and he eats like a pig.

Invictus · 08-26-03, 05:38 PM

We have a newborn lavender CalKing, and it's still kinda hard to say what his personality will be like. He musks, is high strung, and ALWAYS on the move, but that's kind of expected from a baby. I'm hoping he mellows out. But, he's never bitten. (I should be careful what I say on here though... I said my blue beauty has never bitten me in a thread, and guess what she did yesterday?)

MouseKilla · 08-26-03, 06:38 PM

what exactly is a blue beauty? another king?

**Andy_G** · 08-26-03, 08:46 PM

My king used to be nuts but now she's pretty good for handling and very similar to a corn snake aside from her feeding response. How often do you feed your kings, well fed kings tend to be a small amount less strung and a bit less bitey.

MouseKilla · 08-26-03, 09:29 PM

The frequency of the feedings varies but if anything they're overfed, especially the younger cal. He's only big enough to just get a rat pinky into his mouth but he'll eat 6 or 7 of them, look like a striped sausage and still be looking for more, I just have to cut him off. Both my kings are greedy but the younger one is like a garbage disposal. He seems to get hungrier and more twitchy, not to mention bigger, all the time. The older one cannot be handled and I don't mind that but the little guy is my daughter's favourite so I'm hoping he doesn't go that way too.