Year-old male Cali King as first snake?

[melissafred]

Looking into a good first snake for my 12 y/o. This will be our first snake experience, other than fooling around with the ones in the herp lab in undergrad biology. Have looked into Corns and Balls. There's a year-old Cali King at our local pet store (I know the owner and it's a reputable place to get animals from). He's quite an escape artist. They were in taking care of the animals when I stopped by today. When they went to show him to me, they realized he was out. Luckily, he hadn't gotten any further than the confines of the reptile room. He was cold & active but didn't get nasty with me at all. My understanding is that he's been hand raised by one of the guys who works in the store. He's also beautiful - black with butter yellow.

How big do these guys get? (Length & weight) What is their temperament? Any special husbandry requirements? As a full-grown adult male, what do these guys eat? Are they compatible with a small and medium-sized dog? What's a fair price?

Many thanks!

Melissa

[bongzor]

Kings are a great snake, Just dont put two of them together. I had a colubrid as my first snake and it helped me realize the basic husbandry and needs for snakes.

[Shelby]

I love kings! Great first choice. They can get around 4-5' but not real fat like a python would be. Both of mine have little attitudes, but sounds like the one you're considering is quite tame. Both of mine are brats in the cage, but once they are out, they are well behaved.

An adult male would probably down a small rat, or maybe just large mice. Depends on how big it gets.

I keep dogs and cats and many snakes together with no problems. Obviously use common sense and supervise any interactions (I wouldn't recommend that anyway)

[melissafred]

Thanks for all the info. We did indeed get the yearling Cali King that we were looking at. He's yellow with black, about 2 - 2 1/2 feet long, and already has a reputation of being a little Houdini. He's a little grouchy tonight, shaking his tail at my son just for looking at him. However, he's in solitary till he settles down a bit, other than feeding.


Hopefully, I can post some pix this weekend. Thanks for all the help. The info from this board made my son feel much more comfortable with the King. He was thinking a Corn might be easier but he loved the way this King looks and really wanted him.

Melissa

[frankykeno]

This board is really great Melissa. My whole family depends on it whenever something comes up with our two snakes.

Hope to see lots of future posts about Crash or any questions you guys might have. I know many here will offer you lots of help or direct you to resources as they've done for so many of us newcomers to this hobby.

I really need to buy some snake racks. My 14 and 12 year old are starting to make noises about having "snakes of their own"....aaaack!


~~Jo~~

[melissafred]

Better look out Jo. You'll be looking like the Medusa in your sig!


Melissa

[frankykeno]

LOL most likely!


~~Jo~~