Rescuing a Kingsnake!

Hi there,

I currently own ball pythons, but have never had a king snake before. Tomorrow I'm rescuing a Durango Arizona Mountain Kingsnake, and was wondering what I should know about them. I know all the basics like husbandry and care, but are there any little quirks and issues I should know about the breed? Thanks :)

My experience with kingsnakes is pretty limited, and mostly with wild snakes, but the company I work for has a couple captive kingsnakes. They are pretty docile and fun. They do seem to like having water available for soaks when they are getting ready to shed, and seem reasonably (but not overly) active. They are not especially fast moving, so easy to keep a handle on.

My kings are very active. They will always come out to see what I'm doing. They will soak before a shed. Always ready to eat too!
Over all very simple to care for.

They will poop all over you if you spook them. I'll touch them first to let them know my hand is there before I pick them up.

Very fun to keep :)

I don't own any Durangos, but I do have Calis and can offer advice if their care is similar.

They're hardy like corns and can do well in glass tanks, but I keep mine in tubs. I have some three couple month old babies in 6 qts, a subadult in 28qt, and plan on 41 qts for adults. They seem to prefer cooler temps but I still give them a hotspot. I don't need to mist when they're in shed but if your will be in a tank see how the first shed goes and see if you'll need to mist. I give two hides as well. Kings seem to enjoy aspen over other substrate (so they can burrow) but mine still burrow under their paper towels. Kings/corns poo and pee A LOT so it's easier (and more sanitary for me IMO) to just clean out all the paper towels with fresh ones than try to spot clean aspen.

They will musk but it depends on the snake: my two baby females do it every time they're out while the new baby male I got hardly does it. My subadult male is really good about not doing it too. It's not a big deal and the smell isn't that bad IMO. Kings usually have very good feeding responses so feeding shouldn't be an issue, all mine are on F/T.

Thanks everyone for the input :) Sounds like I'm getting into a great experience! I'm such a BP girl it was hard for me to accept another kind of snake! I just found out tonight it's actually a female Tarahumara Mountain Kingsnake :)

Oops, yes all my kingsnakes are cal kings.

My oldest is 20+ still active as ever :)