First snake and I'm scared.

[KMG]

Cause its not like u wanted a lab and came home with a shepherd . At the end of the day there different breeds but all in all there dogs and need the same things . With snakes it's not like that.

This is not true and dogs need different things just as snakes do. Some are great for indoors and do fine in a apartment and others need land to run. Some love the water and some cant swim at all. Some can stand the artic cold and others over heat on a regular Texas day. Some need grooming and some don't. Some are great with kids and some are not. Dogs are very diverse in their needs.

Selecting a dog can be a bigger decision than picking out a snake. Sure all dogs need food and water but then so do snakes.

As for the OP a Cal King is a great snake and I had one that was great. They are a good size, great eaters, and are not a pet rock. So you have to play catch up a bit. Your doing it and that's al that matters. This is not the first time a person bought a different snake than planned or a snake when it wasn't planned. It happens a lot. Snakes are addictive and its hard to pass up a deal or a beauty when you run across one.

[Alby1]

I have several Cal Kings and they're great little snakes.

I would ditch the light, leave the thermostat for the UTH set so the hot spot is 88*F, and put a hide over the UTH as well as on the cool side. You'll find they like room temperature, unless your house ambient is around 60*F. I use aspen as substrate as they like to burrow.

Unlike a BP these guys don't need to be super humid to have good sheds. I mist mine lightly each evening.

It's all too easy to overfeed a Cal King. Its body shape should be more square than round. If it's round it's fat.

Thanks for all the great information and support, guys.

One of my other concerns is that the UTH heater (now that it's been on for days) is too hot for the snake because (just like you say)if she burrows that thing will probably burn her. It's uncomfortably hot to the back of my hand (when touching the glass directly, of course). So do you suggest just putting the thermometer right on top of the substrate and monitor its temperature there? Are snakes 'smart' enough to realize that they're being burned and move off the UTH if she does burrow there?

[EL-Ziggy]

Congrats on your new king. They're great snakes to keep and not very hard to care for at all. First things first, please get a thermostat (not a thermometer) to control your UTH temps. That's going to be crucial. A heat lamp isn't necessary, and can draw humidity out of the air, but I do use a low watt infrared bed to bump up my ambient temps a little during winter. I use a dimmer on the lamp as well. I keep my warm side around 86 and my cool side in the low-mid 70"s. You'll also need hides on both sides of your enclosure. Throw in a water dish and some fake plants and you're good to go. Please share pictures of your snake and setup when you can. Best wishes.

[bcr229]

Thanks for all the great information and support, guys.

One of my other concerns is that the UTH heater (now that it's been on for days) is too hot for the snake because (just like you say)if she burrows that thing will probably burn her. It's uncomfortably hot to the back of my hand (when touching the glass directly, of course). So do you suggest just putting the thermometer right on top of the substrate and monitor its temperature there? Are snakes 'smart' enough to realize that they're being burned and move off the UTH if she does burrow there?

You need a thermostat to control the UTH, not just a thermometer to monitor temperatures! And yes, snakes will lie on the UTH and get burned. Personally I would just unplug it and only use a heat lamp until you can get a thermostat. A quick and dirty temporary solution is to get a lamp dimmer from somewhere like Home Depot or Lowes, they're about $12. They're not as good as a t-stat - the UTH temp will rise and fall with the ambient room temp - but they will let you dial back the UTH enough so it won't burn your snake when it burrows under the substrate.