California Kingsnake Questions

[Egapal]

So I picked up a California Kingsnake as somewhat of a craig's list rescue. I knew from things the previous owner had posted on various forums that he had problems getting the snake to eat regularly. I weighed the snake the day I got it at 800 grams even. Here is a picture taken on our guest room bed with a yard stick for reference.



Ok so I get the snake all setup and 2 months to by without a feed. Then I go away for a night and come home to a fresh shed. I am 6 foot tall and maybe leaning a bit in this picture.



I gave him a day after his shed and then fed him 2 live adult mice successfully with a combined weight of 53 grams.

I have never worked with California Kings before and I did a lot of reading before I picked him up and more over the last two months. My questions are.

1. What would you feed an 800 gram Cal King and how many?

2. Does he seam overly large?

My thoughts are to keep him on a 2 mice every 10 day schedule. I would appreciate any suggestions.

Oh yeah forgot to mention my setup. I have him in a 3x2x2 Showcase cage with aspen bedding. There are 2 extra large Exo Terra reptile caves, 1 on the warm and 1 on the cool side and 1 Exo Terra snake cave on the warm side. Warm side is 89 to 91 cool side fluctuates with the room temp between 75 and 80. I am not measuring humidity currently. I planned to mist around shed but I totally missed the signs while trying to keep stress down to get him to eat. I also gave him a large Zoo Med corner water dish not seen below because I have caught him soaking on a few occasions (checked thoroughly for mites and haven't found any).

[wilomn]

Sounds like he found a good home. Are you sure he's a he? Makes no difference in regards to anything, just curious.

Your set up is fine, though 85 is about as hot as they need it. They are fine into the mid-90s though.

Shed skin stretches 4 to 6 inches per foot when compared to the snake it came from. Let him crawl up against a wall or use a string on him to get an accurate measurement.

That size he could probably eat 3 or 4 adult mice or maybe even a small rat. 2 mice every 10 days would be a minimum were he here.

Calkings do like to brumate, especially the boys, so don't worry about non-eating during the winter months.

They are very neat snakes. As babies they're whiz machines but once they figure out you're not going to eat them, Calkings make one of the best pets you can get.

[Egapal]

Sounds like he found a good home. Are you sure he's a he? Makes no difference in regards to anything, just curious.

Your set up is fine, though 85 is about as hot as they need it. They are fine into the mid-90s though.

Shed skin stretches 4 to 6 inches per foot when compared to the snake it came from. Let him crawl up against a wall or use a string on him to get an accurate measurement.

That size he could probably eat 3 or 4 adult mice or maybe even a small rat. 2 mice every 10 days would be a minimum were he here.

Calkings do like to brumate, especially the boys, so don't worry about non-eating during the winter months.

They are very neat snakes. As babies they're whiz machines but once they figure out you're not going to eat them, Calkings make one of the best pets you can get.

They guy I got him from said that the snake was sold to him as a male. I am going with that until I can get him sexed. I am not comfortable probing.

The temps are measured on the heat pad. When he wants to be on the warm side he tends to hang out in the snake cave and thats a bit cooler. I will see about getting a good temp reading tonight.

I used a program to measure a line drawn on his spine with the yard stick as a reference. I put his length at around 4.5 feet long.

I don't like the idea of feeding more than 2 rodents at a time so I will see about moving him to small rats. Do you think I will have a problem switching him to frozen thawed?

I wasn't worried about the fast at all. He was in pretty good shape when I got him so I wasn't planning on worrying for at least another month. That being said it was a great feeling to see him eat for the first time in my care.

He has calmed down a lot since I picked him up. The guy I got him from was shocked when I reached into the tank and went to pull him out of his hide. I told him "I am not afraid of getting bitten and I am certainly not going to pay you to take a snake with serious issues home with me." He came out ok and didn't give me any problems that day. Early on he was a bit quick to musk and or flat out urinate all over. He has calmed down a lot in the last two months and is generally good if I let him come to me. I still get some tail shaking when I go to pick him up but I really happy with him right now. My friends almost unanimously think he is creepy as compared to by BP, but I like his personality a lot.

[West Coast Jungle]

He is a nice looking King, great pick up.

They are great snakes and are relatively easy to care for. Mine take prekilled mice easily so you could go that way if you want. Its alot easier to get a prekilled adult mouse out of the tank if they dont eat it than a live one, lol.

Best of luck with him.

[PitOnTheProwl]

I don't like the idea of feeding more than 2 rodents at a time so I will see about moving him to small rats. Do you think I will have a problem switching him to frozen thawed?

Ours is an eating machine!!! She is always the last one fed just because she will eat anything so what ever the balls dont eat she finishes. Live, f/t, pre-killed, or fingers it doesnt matter to her

[Egapal]

I am really crossing my fingers that our two month fast was just a winter thing. He is definitely growing on me. I don't have any problems getting the mice out. With the sliding glass doors I usually just slide one open a little bit and put a paper towel tube in the cage. They run right up and into the tube. Here are some more pics of him just cause.

[TheWinWizard]

It is a big boy, I'm leaning towards girl. They tend to be eating machines, next time try it on a prekilled. i wouldn't be surprised to have it go to f/t quickly. They're just hogs anyway. Fine looking Cal king. I haven't found humidity too important for clean sheds on them. They seem to be okay with low humidity as you found out.

[Egapal]

It is a big boy, I'm leaning towards girl. They tend to be eating machines, next time try it on a prekilled. i wouldn't be surprised to have it go to f/t quickly. They're just hogs anyway. Fine looking Cal king. I haven't found humidity too important for clean sheds on them. They seem to be okay with low humidity as you found out.

My plan is to try and switch him to F/T. I have a single mouse left over from last week that I am going to feed next time. Then I will follow up with a F/T. If all goes well I will open with F/T on the feeding after next. Everything I have read said that humidity was not a big issue. My house is pretty dry but with the big corner water bowl the humidity is a little better in his enclosure.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Does yours get all spastic around feeding day? Our races all over the tank looking everywhere for the food.

[Egapal]

Does yours get all spastic around feeding day? Our races all over the tank looking everywhere for the food.

Mine is very active. He uses both hides and his cave. He will get his whole body in his water bowl put his head under water and do laps. He is all over the place in a 3x2x2 cage. This was my first feeding with him though. Took a solid 2 months off feed after I got him.