Kingsnake vs Ball Python?

Honestly, get the snake you want and adjust the husbandry accordingly. You're going to have this animal for 15+ years if you go with a King and 25 or more if you go BP. The husbandry requirements really aren't much more work to achieve for a BP, especially once you've got it sorted out and make seasonal adjustments depending on where you live. The difference may be that a King is more forgiving to sub par husbandry while a BP may refuse food if husbandry is off more than just a bit.

There are pros and cons to both species and it's really going to come down to what YOU want. I have kept both BPs and King's and currently have a BP and a Cal King. As long as I'm in the snake keeping hobby I will continue to keep both species.

I will share some of the differences and similarities with you, but keep in mind this is based on my experience and my animals.

Size: BPs will be much more full-bodied while Kings are more slender. Males of both species will stay smaller. My Cal King is an adult and just over 4 feet long and weighed 676 grams as of last weigh-in. Male BPs rarely exceed 4 feet but will be considerably heavier than King's.

Handling: BPs are super easy to handle from juveniles through adults. They are slow moving and pretty chill. They will usually just casually explore while out. Kings can be much more difficult to handle, especially when young and small. They can be quick and flighty and are pretty much always on the go, which results in a lot of hand over hand handling as opposed to a BP just slowly crushing your hands, neck, lap, etc... Kings will slow down and acclimate to handling with age but are still more active than a BP.

Aggression/Biting: I've been bitten by both. As they say, hang around a barber shop long enough and you're bound to get a haircut. Keep snakes and you're bound to get tagged eventually. Kings can be nippy when young, but will typically outgrow it with age and regular handling. Both species can be nippy when young, but Kings are notoriously nippy. Even as adults, Kings bites are less painful than a papercut.

Feeding: Kings are garbage disposals. I'm pretty sure my King would eat a slice of pizza if I dangled it from tongs (as long as it had meat on it, hahaha). Obviously I'm joking for effect, but seriously, Kings are garbage disposals. And yes, Kings can feed on adult mice their entire lives. My King gets the refusals from the BP and has eaten refusals from others as well. BPs can be notoriously finicky when it comes to eating. Security, husbandry, mating season, etc... can all cause a BP to refuse. Males often go on a food strike when they hit 1000 grams.

To answer some of your specific questions, I don't know which species of Kings stay smaller, just that males stay smaller than females.

As for which handle best, I've never really noticed much difference, but the biggest jerk of a snake I ever met was a banana King. The thing bit me about 6 or 7 times in a span of about 5 minutes. Only broke skin once though.

No, it's not true that you don't have to worry about humidity with Kings. It's just more common for the natural humidity where people live to be a proper humidity for Kings, so misting or additional steps are not required.

Other thoughts:
-Kings, especially when young and small, are exceptional escape artists and can fit through surprisingly small holes.
-I've raised Kings from juveniles and loved watching them grow, but, I will never get a juvenile King again. I will, however, get sub-adult and adult Kings again as I am able to grow my collection. Adults are just so much easier to handle and I personally no longer enjoy the hand-over-hand aspect of handling juvenile Kings.
-BPs are great snakes from hatchlings through adulthood and I will be adding BPs as well.


Sorry that this reply is so long, hope it helped!!!

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

Honestly, get the snake you want and adjust the husbandry accordingly. You're going to have this animal for 15+ years if you go with a King and 25 or more if you go BP. The husbandry requirements really aren't much more work to achieve for a BP, especially once you've got it sorted out and make seasonal adjustments depending on where you live. The difference may be that a King is more forgiving to sub par husbandry while a BP may refuse food if husbandry is off more than just a bit.

There are pros and cons to both species and it's really going to come down to what YOU want. I have kept both BPs and King's and currently have a BP and a Cal King. As long as I'm in the snake keeping hobby I will continue to keep both species.

I will share some of the differences and similarities with you, but keep in mind this is based on my experience and my animals.

Size: BPs will be much more full-bodied while Kings are more slender. Males of both species will stay smaller. My Cal King is an adult and just over 4 feet long and weighed 676 grams as of last weigh-in. Male BPs rarely exceed 4 feet but will be considerably heavier than King's.

Handling: BPs are super easy to handle from juveniles through adults. They are slow moving and pretty chill. They will usually just casually explore while out. Kings can be much more difficult to handle, especially when young and small. They can be quick and flighty and are pretty much always on the go, which results in a lot of hand over hand handling as opposed to a BP just slowly crushing your hands, neck, lap, etc... Kings will slow down and acclimate to handling with age but are still more active than a BP.

Aggression/Biting: I've been bitten by both. As they say, hang around a barber shop long enough and you're bound to get a haircut. Keep snakes and you're bound to get tagged eventually. Kings can be nippy when young, but will typically outgrow it with age and regular handling. Both species can be nippy when young, but Kings are notoriously nippy. Even as adults, Kings bites are less painful than a papercut.

Feeding: Kings are garbage disposals. I'm pretty sure my King would eat a slice of pizza if I dangled it from tongs (as long as it had meat on it, hahaha). Obviously I'm joking for effect, but seriously, Kings are garbage disposals. And yes, Kings can feed on adult mice their entire lives. My King gets the refusals from the BP and has eaten refusals from others as well. BPs can be notoriously finicky when it comes to eating. Security, husbandry, mating season, etc... can all cause a BP to refuse. Males often go on a food strike when they hit 1000 grams.

To answer some of your specific questions, I don't know which species of Kings stay smaller, just that males stay smaller than females.

As for which handle best, I've never really noticed much difference, but the biggest jerk of a snake I ever met was a banana King. The thing bit me about 6 or 7 times in a span of about 5 minutes. Only broke skin once though.

No, it's not true that you don't have to worry about humidity with Kings. It's just more common for the natural humidity where people live to be a proper humidity for Kings, so misting or additional steps are not required.

Other thoughts:
-Kings, especially when young and small, are exceptional escape artists and can fit through surprisingly small holes.
-I've raised Kings from juveniles and loved watching them grow, but, I will never get a juvenile King again. I will, however, get sub-adult and adult Kings again as I am able to grow my collection. Adults are just so much easier to handle and I personally no longer enjoy the hand-over-hand aspect of handling juvenile Kings.
-BPs are great snakes from hatchlings through adulthood and I will be adding BPs as well.


Sorry that this reply is so long, hope it helped!!!

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Absolutely brilliant post !!


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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Absolutely brilliant post !!


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Thanks Zinc!

Mountain kingsnaks are the smallest kings, many topping out at about 3 foot. They're not as readily available as CA or MBK, but are usually available, and are generally more costly. I haven't kept them, so can't advise on keeping them. I have kept CA and MBK. They're easy to handle and more active than BPs. even the larger species aren't really that large, longer but lighter than a BP

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Originally Posted by DennisM

Mountain kingsnaks are the smallest kings, many topping out at about 3 foot. They're not as readily available as CA or MBK, but are usually available, and are generally more costly. I haven't kept them, so can't advise on keeping them. I have kept CA and MBK. They're easy to handle and more active than BPs. even the larger species aren't really that large, longer but lighter than a BP

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Nice work ... I used to have a beaut little Mountain King snake and it was double the price of the other Kings and only half the size ... Very gentle as well ..

Looked just like this one copied off the inter web :)

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b10a8c0527.jpg


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