Stressed Mexican Black Kingsnake

[Craiga 01453]

Ehhhh I think their response could have done much better without attitude but I sure appreciate your reply! None of my others had been so nippy when they were that young and just with no improvement whatsoever the past few weeks I got skeptical about whether this would be something I’m still dealing with later on. Which is fine considering I’ve worked with venomous but never had interest in kings at all before so wanted experienced opinions! Thank you!

Gotcha. Yeah, Kings and colubrids in general are a bit different, especially if you didn't start out with them.

Since you're not a new snake keeper you'll have it figured out in no time. They're just tiny and afraid of everything til they get some size on them, which raises their confidence levels.

I've never rushed into frequent handling with Kings and all of mine have been very good with handling by the time they're around 150-200 grams (I'm guessing a little since I didn't track weights back when I first started out in 1999-2000ish). Just be patient, they do mellow out. That being said, I've definitely met some Kings that are just usually jerks. One I was thinking of buying was an adult female who tagged me about a dozen times in about 3 minutes. She never held on, and kinda gently chewed a few times, but she was just a jerk. I didn't take her home, hahaha!.

Anyway, hope I helped you out a bit. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have regarding Kings. They've been my favorite species for almost 20 years.

Oh, and P.S. just my two cents: @Bogertophis is a very knowledgeable colubrid keeper who I've interacted with frequently on the forum. I doubt her reply was meant in a mean way, but I understand how it could be perceived that way. I guess my point is, she's gained my utmost respect, especially in regards to colubrids, so I hope you two can "shake hands" and move forward because she's great to learn from.