Aggressive King...Need some help

My friend gave me his king snake and its super aggressive is there anyway I can calm him down?


and what is the proper way to pick up an aggressive king snake?

What species exactly of kingsnake do I have here?

And are kings usually this aggressive?

Anymore information would be greatly appreciated

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...e/100_0820.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...e/100_0821.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...e/100_0823.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...e/100_0824.jpg

thats a Californian King Snake I had one exactly like it although she was a sweetie and easy to handle.

When you say its aggressive are you talking about when its being handled or in its enclosure when you go near it?

Kings are not normally aggressive if you get them as babies and nurture them, handle them regular as they mature. They can be skittish on occasion and if they are allowed to grow without interaction they from my experience can be aggressive.

They are avid feeders and if you smell like food at all they will bite repeatedly ( I speak from experience there lol )

I like them though mine was a very big female over 5ft in length but as I said a sweetie as I had her from a hatchling.

Handling an aggressive snake requires a lot of patience if you aim to get them to calm down and I sugest you get suitable gloves it cannot penetrate.

Short handling sessions may calm it down on a regular basis but I have seen Kings that have been reared with no or little handling just basically go mental when you try and hold them.

What is the snakes history from a hatchling do you know it?

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Originally Posted by snakey68

thats a Californian King Snake I had one exactly like it although she was a sweetie and easy to handle.

When you say its aggressive are you talking about when its being handled or in its enclosure when you go near it?

Kings are not normally aggressive if you get them as babies and nurture them, handle them regular as they mature. They can be skittish on occasion and if they are allowed to grow without interaction they from my experience can be aggressive.

They are avid feeders and if you smell like food at all they will bite repeatedly ( I speak from experience there lol )

I like them though mine was a very big female over 5ft in length but as I said a sweetie as I had her from a hatchling.

Handling an aggressive snake requires a lot of patience if you aim to get them to calm down and I sugest you get suitable gloves it cannot penetrate.

Short handling sessions may calm it down on a regular basis but I have seen Kings that have been reared with no or little handling just basically go mental when you try and hold them.

What is the snakes history from a hatchling do you know it?

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Yall are great with the quick replies I love it.

I dont know any of the history at all, I just got it from my friend who was trying to get rid of it because of how it is.

He told me he feeds it 10 mice at a time. Even if that's something he does its not something I'm going to do because it doesnt sound healthy at all.

A king snake this size, don't you think the most it needs in a week is 3 mice?

When you go close to the tank and you run ya hand over the top of it he flicks is tongue when he gets close to the top he strikes at you.

This goes for when you run your hand on the side of the tank also sometimes not all the time.

Yep, banded Cali King. Pretty too.

When you say 10 mice, was that each week or each Month??? If the former, then the snake is very overfed, the latter (more likely) and the poor dear is 'aggressive' because it's hungry!

Also, of the Kingsnakes Cali's are known to be the most prone to aggression. But the striking in the cage leads me to believe that this guy fed that poor dear once a month and it's always looking for food.

See what happens when you get him on a proper weekly schedule of ONE, two at most, adult mice at a time. NO Kingsnake should ever be so large that it would need more than 2 large mice at a single feeding.
I predict that after a month or two of weekly, regular feedings and short but regular handling (AFTER the first three feedings), he should calm down for ya.
If not... well we'll burn that bridge when it comes. :)

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Originally Posted by Ballpython2

Yall are great with the quick replies I love it.

I dont know any of the history at all, I just got it from my friend who was trying to get rid of it because of how it is.

He told me he feeds it 10 mice at a time. Even if that's something he does its not something I'm going to do because it doesnt sound healthy at all.

A king snake this size, don't you think the most it needs in a week is 3 mice?

When you go close to the tank and you run ya hand over the top of it he flicks is tongue when he gets close to the top he strikes at you.

This goes for when you run your hand on the side of the tank also sometimes not all the time.

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If he is feeding it 10 mice at a time as in at one feeding then thats way way over the top and pretty ridiculous. What size are the mice that it is used to eating ? Please dont tell me 10 Large Mice in one sitting. Even 10 large mice a month is too much for an adult King IMO.

One large mouse a week is enough even though they will gorge on 10 if you stick them in front of it they are as I said avid and very eager feeders the King Snakes. Make sure you dont handle another snake or anything that smells like food before handling as the are confirmed snake eaters as well.

Have you read up on them ? Worth while if you have not the more you can learn the better.

He seems to be acting like he is hungry by what you describe try feeding him and see what he is like a couple of days later for handling and when you are near the tank or whatever you have him in.

Kings are very svisual snakes as well so running your hand along side will gather its interest I would not do that if I were you thats almost akin to teasing with Kings lol

Get it eating a decent sized mouse weekly see how he settless down.

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Originally Posted by Argentra

NO Kingsnake should ever be so large that it would need more than 2 large mice at a single feeding.

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This is NOT true. I have at least a dozen Calkings that eat one or two small rats per feeding with some individuals able to take md. rats. I have MANY calkings that will eat more than 2 adult mice per feeding.

As with any other snake, size will have something to do with the determination of size and number of food items. Calkings can almost hit the 6 foot mark.

As far as your assertion of aggression, I have found them more apt to pee on anyone who picks them up than most snakes but not any more likely to bite.

Many babies are cantankerous and will both bite and spray liquids on you. They're afraid so it's acceptable, even amusing. 99% of them lose those antics in a very short time of regular handling and feeding.

Calkings are excellent pets.

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Originally Posted by wilomn

This is NOT true. I have at least a dozen Calkings that eat one or two small rats per feeding with some individuals able to take md. rats. I have MANY calkings that will eat more than 2 adult mice per feeding.

As with any other snake, size will have something to do with the determination of size and number of food items. Calkings can almost hit the 6 foot mark.

As far as your assertion of aggression, I have found them more apt to pee on anyone who picks them up than most snakes but not any more likely to bite.

Many babies are cantankerous and will both bite and spray liquids on you. They're afraid so it's acceptable, even amusing. 99% of them lose those antics in a very short time of regular handling and feeding.

Calkings are excellent pets.

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I ONLY feed him 3 every five days but I'm going to move it up to four. Even if he does take four with no problem I'm not moving past four. Maybe next time I feed him on sunday I'll do hopper rats or something to close that instead of mice. below are some pictures

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...e/100_0823.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...e/100_0826.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...e/100_0832.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...e/100_0835.jpg

Well since I fed him/her they havent been out of their hiding spot so maybe the aggressiveness was just due to feeding and he may not have been fed in a while...we'll see how he acts next time he comes out.

Since he is still unpredictable i have just decided to keep him on newspaper and just do enclosure feedings

Sounds like you might be over-feeding him to me, three mice per feeding seems like too much, especially since the mouse you have with it looks like the same size as the snake. Maybe move up in prey size like you said, but you should definitely decrease the amount you are feeding it, three seems like way too much. It will eat it because if it's instincts...

:2cent:

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Originally Posted by ev477

Sounds like you might be over-feeding him to me, three mice per feeding seems like too much, especially since the mouse you have with it looks like the same size as the snake. Maybe move up in prey size like you said, but you should definitely decrease the amount you are feeding it, three seems like way too much. It will eat it because if it's instincts...

:2cent:

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Ignore this person and feed the snake more. Calkings are fully able to eat more than some people think.

3 mice, 4 mice on up to small and even med rats and of those sometimes 2 or 3 at a feeding.

When they're hungry anything that moves is food.

Of course, I only keep about 40 of them myself and I've only been breeding them for almost 20 years and over that time I've only kept a few thousand of them but hey, if you want to follow the advice of folks who have never kept them, well, you just go right ahead.

And when you want some good solid advice about your snake you let me know.

Yea, I was gonna say there is no way for a snake that is 3+ feet to get full off of 3 mice week when the this species of snake can eat other full grow snakes.

If you stretch out a full grown or maybe a juvenile rattlesnake (these are what i read most cal kings eat) and line up mice next to it from head to toe you will need at least 3 - 4 mice to complete the whole body of the rattle snake.

So basically if i am thinking this the right way one rattlesnake can easily equal the length of 3 - 4 mice lined up behind one another.

Also usually when it comes to snakes and moving them up to bigger prey for regular snakes (meaning ones that dont eat other snakes) feeding 3 mice per feeding usually means your snake can swallow a (assuming yall feed pre killed, frozen etc) small rat or two.

So There is no way 3 mice can be over feeding because snakes when they arent hungry they wont force their self to eat...

Snakes can get obese but this just means that some owners are feeding prey at a size not needed for the snake...or maybe too often

If I didn't think I knew something about the matter I wouldn't have said anything, but apparently I'm wrong, I apologize, I never said I was right, it's just an opinion.

But I just saw information on feeding on http://www.anapsid.org/king.html and it seemed pretty legit, don't worry about my opinion though I'm sure it's not good :confused:

I'm sure you were just trying to be helpful but the thing is, melissa kraplan is an absolute idiot.

All she did was copy and paste from a lot of different sources about 10 years ago and then take credit for writing all sorts of reptile related care sheets and how to manuals.

She is a petafile of the worst sort. Her goal is for NONE of us to have ANY reptiles as pet at all.

She comes off all sunshine and roses but it's a front.

You really should research those you wish to use as background sources.

You can have your opinion without being a jerk you know. He should be allowed to post his general opinion without being attacked. Its not like what he's saying sounds ridiculous. Actually, I thought that as well. Breeders can have totally wrong information just as easily as people who have never owned a snake before. So please, if you have an opinion to share, will you be a bit nicer about it?

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Originally Posted by Ballpython2

My friend gave me his king snake and its super aggressive is there anyway I can calm him down?


and what is the proper way to pick up an aggressive king snake?

What species exactly of kingsnake do I have here?

And are kings usually this aggressive?

Anymore information would be greatly appreciated

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...e/100_0820.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...e/100_0821.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...e/100_0823.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...e/100_0824.jpg

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Whilst the rest of them girls bicker it out, maybe I'll throw a bit in.

How was the snakes behaviour before you got him?

Is the aggressive/defensive behaviour confined to the Viv or does he display these traits as well when you have him out of his Viv?

Just noticed that you have him in a tank with a wire mesh lid. If the tank is open on all sides and basically an open roof, the snake is going to feel very exposed. This will result in a stressed snake who is always in a defensive/ vulnerable mood resulting in strikes which are misconstrued as aggression.

Guessing the age of that snake going by the pics I would say he looks around the two year mark. Two adult mice every seven days should be ample to keep his appetite sated. Don't go throwing him mice like you would throw baps to a bear.

Chances are he is still acclimatising to his new surroundings and you are a new threat. Persevere, make his tank a lot less exposed, get him into a wooden Viv and after time you should see a calming in his behaviour.

On the other hand you could just have a typical narky Cali. I've seen plenty of them in my days, not that that is the norm with Cali's.

I got a California King from a rescue shelter because it was "agressive" the owner gave it up. After settling in his new home and being fed two mice a week (he is apx 4 feet) he is still jumpy and thrashes about when first picked up, but calms quicker each handling. Have you been bitten? Perhaps try opening the top and letting him start to crawl out. Support his weight as he is crawling out and see how he does. This is what I do when he acting extra agressive. Make sure you are supporting his body weight with two hands, and do make sudden movement, exspecially in front of his face.

If you have to go over the top of your snake to pick it up, you are basically portraying yourself as predator. Scoop the snake up with both hands, supporting the majority of it's body and it will be less likely to become defensive.

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Originally Posted by Ballpython2

I ONLY feed him 3 every five days but I'm going to move it up to four. Even if he does take four with no problem I'm not moving past four. Maybe next time I feed him on sunday I'll do hopper rats or something to close that instead of mice. below are some pictures

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...e/100_0823.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...e/100_0826.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...e/100_0832.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...e/100_0835.jpg

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Change the water, it looks filthy man !

[QUOTE=Argentra;861441]Yep, banded Cali King. Pretty too.
NO Kingsnake should ever be so large that it would need more than 2 large mice at a single feeding.
QUOTE]

I guess you've never seen an average size adult florida king??? Two large mice would starve some of mine. Not all kings are created equal.

Brandon Osborne

a five foot snake should be eating a small or even large rat. it looks like he needs some hides in his cage and maybe something to climb on trust me he'll use it. Give him some time after you spruce up his cage and maybe he'll do better =]

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Originally Posted by Thor26

a five foot snake should be eating a small or even large rat. it looks like he needs some hides in his cage and maybe something to climb on trust me he'll use it. Give him some time after you spruce up his cage and maybe he'll do better =]

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Although I agree with the hides and climbing structures, I have never seen a kingsnake that could eat a large rat.....smalls and small mediums yes. I have seen lots of big kings in my days. The largest being a 7' florida king that was about as big around as a soup can.

Brandon Osborne

I'm not going to claim to be an expert on kings, I've only got two one of which is just a baby. However, I've found with my big king that if I feed him one weaned rat on the same schedule as my corns (3-4 days) it keeps him very happy and his growth rate is pretty good. He's never been particularly aggressive except when it comes to food lol. If he even thinks he smells a rat or a mouse he will bite. I don't know if what I am doing is the absolute "correct" way but it works for my particular snake and according to everything I've read on them it is the right thing to be doing. Good luck with your guy!

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Originally Posted by Brandon Osborne

Although I agree with the hides and climbing structures, I have never seen a kingsnake that could eat a large rat.....smalls and small mediums yes. I have seen lots of big kings in my days. The largest being a 7' florida king that was about as big around as a soup can.

Brandon Osborne

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I don't know where some of the opinions have come from regarding prey size for a Cal King, but as Brandon and Wes have stated, large specimens can easily take small rats or medium rats .

In terms of aggression, getting tagged by a king - while no fun - isn't the end of the world. The trick to getting any snake acclimated to handling is to do it and not be intimidated by the animal. If you become hesitant or let the animal's defensive behavior scare you, you succeed in doing nothing but lengthening the process. In essence, you are validating his fear that you are a predator keen on eating him who has been scared away by his behavior.

If you are worried about being bit, use gloves or a hook. Understand that your snake has been hard-wired by nature to react to anything picking him up as a predator. Therefore he will react as such until you condition him to associate handling with something other than being predated on.

Most snakes will calm down once out of the enclosure and properly held in a secure manner. I've had a couple of high strung exceptions to the rule who took a little more time and patience before they fully calmed down.

At the risk of being crude I'll say this: wash your hands with rubbing alcohol after visiting the restroom if you intend on going around your Cali. The scent of human urine even in trace amounts can trigger hunting behavior.

Feed for maintenance and not growth for a while.

Establish a feeding schedule and use a hook to move the Cali from its home to a separate feeding tub.

Darken/cover three sides of the enclosure.

When removing the snake from the enclosure allow it to come out on its own a bit, then use the hook midways on the body to lift it the rest of the way.

~In my most humble opinion, being that I am just a simple Gnome who deals with his phobia of snakes by having a few always at hand.:D

well im not an expert and i do not have any king snakes any longer but i use to have a banded cali king that was 4ft long and was eating 2 large rats a week. well i got rid of him due to the fact after i fed him the last week i had him 1 day later he got out of his enclosure while i was cleaning my timberland rattle snakes cage and got ahold of my rattle and ate him also lol. so then i was out of a rattler due to my king. he tried to get to all my other snakes so he had to go. make a long story short though he would eat 2 large rats a week and would have ate more if i allowed him to do so.

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Originally Posted by xanaxez

well I'm not an expert and i do not have any king snakes any longer but i use to have a banded Cali king that was 4ft long and was eating 2 large rats a week.

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I find that very hard to believe. My Cali King gets two large adult mice every ten to fourteen days and sometimes it takes her a good while to get them down. Plus if your Cali was eating two large rats every week, it would be doing nothing but digesting all the time.

The only Kings that would be capable of taking two large rats a week would be either an Eastern King or a Florida King and eve at that it would be a struggle with with a real danger of regurgitation.

If this story is true and you were feeding your King two adult rats a week, could there have been a chance you had mistaken your Cali for an Eastern?

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Originally Posted by fergie

I find that very hard to believe. My Cali King gets two large adult mice every ten to fourteen days and sometimes it takes her a good while to get them down. Plus if your Cali was eating two large rats every week, it would be doing nothing but digesting all the time.

The only Kings that would be capable of taking two large rats a week would be either an Eastern King or a Florida King and eve at that it would be a struggle with with a real danger of regurgitation.

If this story is true and you were feeding your King two adult rats a week, could there have been a chance you had mistaken your Cali for an Eastern?

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I totally agree. Even then, a 4' eastern can not eat large rats.....a 6-7' adult, maybe, but not a 4'. I'm guessing his large rats weren't really large. I know some suppliers have a different idea of size. Anyway, what is a timberland rattle snake?

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Originally Posted by Brandon Osborne

I totally agree. Even then, a 4' eastern can not eat large rats.....a 6-7' adult, maybe, but not a 4'. I'm guessing his large rats weren't really large. I know some suppliers have a different idea of size. Anyway, what is a timberland rattle snake?

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A rattle snake with a very expensive taste in footwear!