first kingsnake

If my kings get upset at me they rattle their tails, but they've never bitten and are very docile. Now I did have a Mexican black king that was a grump. ..lol.

Some kings can have attitude but the majority are quite docile. The tail flicking is common too and generally the defensiveness stops there. You don't need to handle it everyday. Although we wanna hold them snakes would prefer to be left alone. Over handling can stress out the snake as well. It would be better for the snake to not handle it that often. Most snakes, including kinsnakes, can go long periods without being handle and that won't just make them start biting you once you touch them again. The kingsnakes I personally have dealt with generally got held once a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Bites from them were rare, to never happened. Even the snakes I have that can resort back to being nasty if left alone too long stay quite tame with only routinely being handled once a week.

Now I am not saying there is no chance you won't get a kingsnake that will just wanna strike at you any chance it gets. Some can be very bitey. And there are ways to tame them down or just deal with it if they are one of the few that don't change their ways. The one posted just made it seem like all kingsnakes are gonna be a terror. Although some can be the majority are quite docile.

Even if you do get a nasty one, kingsnake bites are actually quite harmless. Most don't grow large enough for their bites to do any real damage. Lots won't even be painful at all for that matter. I would much rather be bit from a kingsnake then musked on any day.

Yeah. My CalKing can rattle his tail like a champ when I go to pick him up but I've only been bitten once (day Fed-Ex brought him and he was starved on top of it). Never been musked or struck defensively. He's still really young and small, but once he's out he's ACTIVE, but completely non-aggressive.