Aggressive King...Need some help

[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 =]

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

[anendeloflorien]

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!

[Skiploder]

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 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.

[MONTY PYTHON FAN]

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.

[xanaxez]

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.

[fergie]

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.

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?

[Brandon Osborne]

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?

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?

[fergie]

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?

A rattle snake with a very expensive taste in footwear!