First snake and I'm scared.

I originally wanted a ball python, but I walked into the only locally owned pet store in my town (I had plans of buying from a reputable breeder online but I'm all about keeping the money where I live) so I decided against it. I walk in and the only BP that is in the building is this ~2 foot long classically colored (I wanted something a little younger and more interesting) snake. There's no hide and I know the temperature or humidity isn't high enough and it is breathing very heavy; it looks pissed off. But to its right is a beautiful 18" long albino California King Snake. I hold him/her (let's go with her) and she's chill, and given the current state of these snakes' living conditions, I feel sorry for her. So I get her. I definitely wasn't planning on walking out with a snake.

I don't know a damn thing about King Snake setup (again, planning on BP) so here I am, walking out with everything I (supposedly) need.

I've got a 20 gallon tank (BP was going to go in a plastic tub), a UTH and a spotlight, analog thermostat, aspen bedding and a hide. The shop owner claims that this little girl ate on Monday. So here's the dilemma:

This little girl evidently loves to be cold. The spotlight and UTH are placed above and below each other and it gets to be around 83 degrees ish right under the spotlight/above the UTH (which is below a hefty amount of aspen bedding). But she just sits in the opposite corner of her tank and just sleeps. It's almost like she's trying to hibernate. (Hell, I don't know). I am going to wait until tomorrow to feed her (that would make 6 days after her feeding). She seems to have pooped twice (or musked, but she did whatever she did in her cage and not on me so I don't think it's musk)

What is up with this girl? Is she sick? The left side of her cage has to be room temperature as only a screen is on top of the cage and the heat goes right out the top.

If the light is bright, she may just want seclusion. How are you determining temperature? It may be too hot. Pictures would help. Calkings are REALLY hardy.

I moved the spotlight directly over the Petco analog thermometer and it's approaching 95, actually. It's a 75 watt heat bulb. I am trying to upload pictures but Tapatalk and my iPhone are clashing. Keep in mind, though, the thermometer is an inch and a half closer to the bulb than the bedding. I'll see if I can work around it for some pictures.

O.k. Cool. I understand that. Normal bps go for about 25 or 30 dollars at any reptile show depending on the sex and the vendor. But try to get that 95 degree temp down to the mid 80's. King snakes are temperate species reptiles meaning they don't tolerate extreme temps like the tropical species. They do need a warm spot to aid in digestion and thermoregulate but the mid to upper 80's is sufficient. Just my opinion. Good luck. Stay in peace and not pieces. A.C. :gj:

My advice don't feed her if u just got her let her settle in a week . U shouldn't have jumped on the snake and purchased it without doing any research . What if this spices of snake is not at all what u want . I don't know much about king snakes but I believe they are way different from balls and I think there more aggressive and really don't like to be bothered . I'm not so sure but I believe I read that somewhere .
Anyways good luck but u shouldn't have jumped on it so fast . All spices of snakes are different and need lots of different things u educated urself on balls u should of just stayed that way . Cause its not like u wanted a lab and came home with a shepherd . At the end of the day there different breeds but all in all there dogs and need the same things . With snakes it's not like that .
I'm not trying to b a di*k about it . But u should have made a better decision . And then jumping on here looking for help makes look not good bro .

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Originally Posted by steve_r34

My advice don't feed her if u just got her let her settle in a week . U shouldn't have jumped on the snake and purchased it without doing any research . What if this spices of snake is not at all what u want . I don't know much about king snakes but I believe they are way different from balls and I think there more aggressive and really don't like to be bothered . I'm not so sure but I believe I read that somewhere .
Anyways good luck but u shouldn't have jumped on it so fast . All spices of snakes are different and need lots of different things u educated urself on balls u should of just stayed that way . Cause its not like u wanted a lab and came home with a shepherd . At the end of the day there different breeds but all in all there dogs and need the same things . With snakes it's not like that .
I'm not trying to b a di*k about it . But u should have made a better decision . And then jumping on here looking for help makes look not good bro .

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Gotta love EXPERTS who THINK they read it somewhere. Better for those EXPERTS to just shut their stupid yaps than come off as holier than thou while looking dumber than dirt.

None of us, especially you steve, need judge another we know not at all.

The OP came here looking for help and you basically crapped on his head. Thanks buddy. No go away.

OP, it happens, as they say. Kings are great. There's a forum here, there's a few facebook pages, but you did nothing wrong in my view. Take care of it or find it a good home and all is well.

calking-o-rama on facebook is mine. Feel free to go there. The people are pretty cool and is it all CalKings.

I have several Cal Kings and they're great little snakes.

I would ditch the light, leave the thermostat for the UTH set so the hot spot is 88*F, and put a hide over the UTH as well as on the cool side. You'll find they like room temperature, unless your house ambient is around 60*F. I use aspen as substrate as they like to burrow.

Unlike a BP these guys don't need to be super humid to have good sheds. I mist mine lightly each evening.

It's all too easy to overfeed a Cal King. Its body shape should be more square than round. If it's round it's fat.

Relax clown I wasnt bashing no1 and I never called myself a expert I'm just saying that s*it makes u look dumb . I simply gave my opinion . But since I'm a nobody on here i was wrong . If it was one ur little buddy's that said what I said it would b ok and u would b cosigning to it .
Nobody should jump into something they don't know about .
Clown...

ur a clown . That's about how I feel right now .

"Lets act like children on a friendly community where we share a common hobby/interest. Lets attack each other"
I've seen too much of this in the last three days. Stop it. Just help people who ask and if there's opposition then ignore or state it MATURELY with evidence to back your claim. And don't retaliate either.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by steve_r34

Cause its not like u wanted a lab and came home with a shepherd . At the end of the day there different breeds but all in all there dogs and need the same things . With snakes it's not like that.

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This is not true and dogs need different things just as snakes do. Some are great for indoors and do fine in a apartment and others need land to run. Some love the water and some cant swim at all. Some can stand the artic cold and others over heat on a regular Texas day. Some need grooming and some don't. Some are great with kids and some are not. Dogs are very diverse in their needs.

Selecting a dog can be a bigger decision than picking out a snake. Sure all dogs need food and water but then so do snakes.

As for the OP a Cal King is a great snake and I had one that was great. They are a good size, great eaters, and are not a pet rock. So you have to play catch up a bit. Your doing it and that's al that matters. This is not the first time a person bought a different snake than planned or a snake when it wasn't planned. It happens a lot. Snakes are addictive and its hard to pass up a deal or a beauty when you run across one.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

I have several Cal Kings and they're great little snakes.

I would ditch the light, leave the thermostat for the UTH set so the hot spot is 88*F, and put a hide over the UTH as well as on the cool side. You'll find they like room temperature, unless your house ambient is around 60*F. I use aspen as substrate as they like to burrow.

Unlike a BP these guys don't need to be super humid to have good sheds. I mist mine lightly each evening.

It's all too easy to overfeed a Cal King. Its body shape should be more square than round. If it's round it's fat.

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Thanks for all the great information and support, guys.

One of my other concerns is that the UTH heater (now that it's been on for days) is too hot for the snake because (just like you say)if she burrows that thing will probably burn her. It's uncomfortably hot to the back of my hand (when touching the glass directly, of course). So do you suggest just putting the thermometer right on top of the substrate and monitor its temperature there? Are snakes 'smart' enough to realize that they're being burned and move off the UTH if she does burrow there?

Congrats on your new king. They're great snakes to keep and not very hard to care for at all. First things first, please get a thermostat (not a thermometer) to control your UTH temps. That's going to be crucial. A heat lamp isn't necessary, and can draw humidity out of the air, but I do use a low watt infrared bed to bump up my ambient temps a little during winter. I use a dimmer on the lamp as well. I keep my warm side around 86 and my cool side in the low-mid 70"s. You'll also need hides on both sides of your enclosure. Throw in a water dish and some fake plants and you're good to go. Please share pictures of your snake and setup when you can. Best wishes.

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Originally Posted by Alby1

Thanks for all the great information and support, guys.

One of my other concerns is that the UTH heater (now that it's been on for days) is too hot for the snake because (just like you say)if she burrows that thing will probably burn her. It's uncomfortably hot to the back of my hand (when touching the glass directly, of course). So do you suggest just putting the thermometer right on top of the substrate and monitor its temperature there? Are snakes 'smart' enough to realize that they're being burned and move off the UTH if she does burrow there?

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You need a thermostat to control the UTH, not just a thermometer to monitor temperatures! And yes, snakes will lie on the UTH and get burned. Personally I would just unplug it and only use a heat lamp until you can get a thermostat. A quick and dirty temporary solution is to get a lamp dimmer from somewhere like Home Depot or Lowes, they're about $12. They're not as good as a t-stat - the UTH temp will rise and fall with the ambient room temp - but they will let you dial back the UTH enough so it won't burn your snake when it burrows under the substrate.