Quote Originally Posted by craigafrechette View Post
Hello. Like Bogertophis said, he's a striped Cal King.

At only 3 months old, they are still nervous and skittish. Think about it this way...when they're that tiny, just about anything can be perceived as a predator, including you. As they get some size on them, they gain confidence and that defensive behavior will lessen drastically.

The best way to get him to mellow out a bit is to handle him. Short and sweet sessions, maybe 10 minutes tops. I would handle every day if possible (with the exception of feeding day and the following 2 days for digestion). He'll get used to your smell, he'll get used to your presence, he'll get used to you entering his enclosure (his safe area) and he'll gradually realize that you are not a predator. So his defensive behavior will fade as he gains more confidence.

As for the feeding, sounds like a Kingsnake to me. As I mentioned in your other thread, Django is an absolute sweetheart. Typically very chill, makes slow, calculated movements. But.....as soon as he smells his meal in the air he goes into "feed mode" and he acts like he drank a 6-pack of Red Bull and ate a box of Nerds and a dozen Pixie Sticks. He'll strike and miss and fly across his enclosure like a madman.
Kings have a crazy food response and it sounds to me like that's all that's going on with your King. VERY different from a BP in feed mode.
Yeah .. feeding king snakes really helps focus the mind

Mine are all drop feeders and so I check where they are in their vivs then open the sliding glass at the opposite end ... then throw the mouse in and slide the glass back into place .. takes me about 0.03 of a second :


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