New to snakes.

[Scotty B.]

Hey guys and gals. new to the web forum. Have done some research on California kings and wanted to ask something.

My girlfriend and i have a ferret, cat, bearded dragon and a tokay. I read online that they are opportunistic feeders and that they will make other animals nervous if they are housed close together. Is this true?

I know that there is a risk of the snake killing our ferret if it gets out. That is why I am taking extra precautions when securing its lid before I get it. I was wondering though, if it would be more aggressive because it could smell ferret all the time or if our other animals would become nervous all the time because they can since or smell the snake? Any one who has owned or even had a friend who has had one will know that they stink like crazy.

Anyways. looking forward to maybe having a snake. Any info would be appreciated.

thanks,
Scotty B.

[Daybreaker]

I have a Cali kind myself (around ~150 grams so he's not an adult) and I house him in his own enclosure (of course) in my snake room nearby to two BPs, two boas, and a corn snake. All the other snakes don't seem to notice him or anyone else for that matter and all are not stressed and are great feeders. Each doesn't seem to notice one another and I have my king housed in between my two BPs (stackable tubs).

He is a tad smelly, but his musk (when he musks me) isn't bad at all so I'm wondering if I just got lucky and he's just not bad. I can see how they can be smelly though but I only smell him when I open his tub (he urinates and deficates more than my other snakes), and even then it's not repulsive or anything - it's not bad at all. More frequent tub/tank cleans will probably be needed and your smelly problem will be solved.

If you're worried about him getting out and he's in a tub, I use binder clips. Mine is currently in a 28 qt until he can move up to a larger tub and I have three clips on each side length wise and two on each end and he's never escaped (8 total). Luggage straps work too I've heard. If you're looking at a tank, I would use 4 lid clips total on each side as that's what I have on my corn's 20L and he's never escaped as well. Personally, I would be more worried of the ferret possibly harming the snake if they were to make contact: ferrets have killer teeth.

Hope this helps


Edit: I have rabbits and a dog and all arn't affected by my King

[C&H Exotic Morphs]

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Personally, I would be more worried of the ferret possibly harming the snake if they were to make contact: ferrets have killer teeth.

+1
I would definitely be more worried about your ferret killing your snake rather that the king snake killing the ferret.
I also agree with Daybreaker that the king snakes feces stink more than our BP's do, but it's still not very bad.

[razrbak]

I think the "stinky" he was refering to was from the ferret, not the King.

[Scotty B.]

ya it was. Im not so much worried about it as my girlfriend is. I really would never live it down though if it did end up eating our ferret. i was a little concerned about the ferret killing the snake as well. they are kin to mongoose.

I dont have many options for cages. I have a 20 or 30 gal tall tank that i think would be good for him. I am going to lay it down on it side and make a secure door for it. I just dont know how im going to heat it. i worry that if i put a heat lamp on top of the glass that it will crack, and that it i put it on its side facing the door that it will not heat enough. I have a uth just dont have enough money for a thermostat. do calli kings/ball pythons really require a uth, or would a heat lamp be enough?

thanks for the info guys and gals.

[Daybreaker]

I use a UTH attatched to my tub for mine (and a UTH attatched to my 20L for the corn as well with no cracking to the glass): I don't use CHEs (heat lamps) on my tubs as well as the tank and no one needs them. If you don't have enough for a tstat pick up a dimmer for $10 bucks at your Home Depot, this will ensure that the UTH won't possibly burn your snake in the meantime of getting a tstat. Along with the dimmer since they don't regulate the temps to a certain temp that you set it at (it fluctuates with the ambiant temps that the room is at while a tstat maintains the temperature to the temp that you set it at regardless of the room ambient temps) I would pair it with a thermometer with a probe set above the UTH under the substrate and/or have a good temperature gun at hand to check the temps daily - I picked up mine from Lowes for $30.

For the smell of the ferret making the King hungry, antsy, or aggressive: I wouldn't worry abut it as this is, IMO, very unlikley.

[Daybreaker]

I dont have many options for cages.

Also, for cages: if you need a lid for the tank they make mesh lids and clips for lots of different sized tanks and you can get them at any big petstore (and perhaps at a mom and pop store also: found some good deals in those before).

And to save you even more money: why not look into tubs? They're super cheap ($6 for my 28qt) and you can get them pretty much at any larger chain of store (Walmart, Target, etc). I use UTHs with them and they don't melt the plastic (with appropriate temperature regulation on the pad - ie the dimmer or tstat), they hold humidity and temps perfectly, and even though they don't look too nice they're easy to move and clean and take up half the space of a tank. Then you have more room to get more snakes

[Scotty B.]

thanks for all the info daybreaker. It has helped me out a lot. Sorry for all the ?s. I just want to make a good decision on getting a snake and making it feel comfortable.

Is it possible to take an adult king snake that is a tad bit nippy and tame it? The reason I ask is that one of my friends moms has about 4 ball pythons, a red tail boa, 2 calli kings, 2 blue tongue skinks , and a few tarantulas. Its gotten a little overwhelming for her to take care of them all and she is looking to give most if not all but one of the calli kings away. They just dont get enough handle time to be completely tame.

Im worried that it will never be able to be handled, and I dont want to get another reptile just yet that I cant handle especially a snake that you cant feed in its tank. my beardi is cool and so is my tokay. but she is not to partial to being held and i can feed her in her tank just fine. I hope you can tame them cause that would let me give it a better home.

once again sorry for all the ?s, but thanks for all the info.

[Daybreaker]

Is it possible to take an adult king snake that is a tad bit nippy and tame it?

Im worried that it will never be able to be handled, and I dont want to get another reptile just yet that I cant handle especially a snake that you cant feed in its tank.

I'm glad I'm being helpful, I don't mind answering questions based on personal experience.

If he's a tad nippy from not being handled often I wouldn't think that he won't calm down with regular handling. Though some kings are just nippy by nature, I would imagine that his guy could tame down into a real nice snake with time and patience. Be prepared to be musked as I'm sure he'll do that often: even my King who is "puppy dog tame" musks me from time to time (it's not a big deal - it washes right off). I would handle him as much as you can before you devote to taking him in/adopting him to see how you mesh with him and how comfortable you are with handling him before you take the plunge with this particular snake.

Who said you can't feed in it's tank/tub? I don't really agree with the whole "it will become aggressive and try to bite you if you feed it in its tank/tub as it will see your hand as food" thing that some (not all) people believe. I feed mine in his tub and he is perfectly fine when it comes to reaching in and grabbing him for handling. If this one that you're considering is showing signs of cage aggression (striking at you when you reach in) then you can work with him to overcome that (using a snake hook would be one way). You may end up getting bit a few times but those are minor at best so that shouldn't lead you to believe that you should give up on him (if you get bit don't put the snake away right away as they will come to believe that biting you is an easy way to get out of being handled). Perhaps watch how he reacts when the current owner goes in to handle him also: he might have no cage aggression at all.

[Scotty B.]

Thats cool. Ill have to go to her house and check him out. Im still iffy about. What about water. I read online that they dont soak so water bowls can be smaller. Is this true?