eastern king chainsnake questions

[Pheonixx]

my girlfriend and i were at a petshop today and saw a ginormous snake. It is an eastern king chainsnake (male) Lampropeltis getula getula store wants 129.00$ for this guy. He was bred several times before. We would be buying him as a pet. we have established he is a rather strong constrictor. to give you an idea of his size i can only say I am 6'5" tall and he is just a tad bit shorter than me. NO CRAP! here is a link to what a similar snake would look like, i'll post some pics tomorrow of the snake.

http://www.strikersherps.com/EasternKingPage.htm

we will be getting him a tank about the size of a 40 gallon long aquarium.
i have SEARCHED and did not find much on the net and even less on arachnoboards. Kingsnake.com had almost nothing i could find. So how does one take proper care of these guys? I know very little about snakes. I am pretty sure the need a "pond" of sorts to chill out in and they need some heat and lighting, i have extra spider stuff for that (LOL). The petshop guy said they feed him 1 mouse once or twice a week.
What do i do if he starts clamping down on me or my girlfriend? How do i get him off? what types of things will tell me he is getting pissed off and about to strike or wrap around me or her? she loves snakes and i am ok with them. i am not afraid of this guy as we handled it in the store with no problems, he is BIG and VERY STRONG which worries me a bit if my GF were home alone and handiling him or something.
thanks for the help....

 

[Malkavian]

If you'd search for the more conventional common name "eastern kingsnake" you'll find tons of information on 'em. Relatively easy to care for critters and excellent feeders.

If you take care to feed him out side of his own aquarium there will likely be very little feeding response and he wouldn't be apt to bite. Even if he did i'd be very surprised if he attempted to constrict (rather than biting and letting go) so you wouldn't need to worry.

 

[Vanan]

Couldn't go wrong with an eastern king. Had an adult pair of them a while ago. Gorgeous snakes. So majestic. They don't need a ginormous water dish just cos of their size. Mine could barely get half their bodies in. All they need to do is drink out of it. If they drink enough they shouldn't have a problem shedding unless you have your house at 20% humidity!

Follow Malkavian's advice about feeding him outside his enclosure. It may help, but only a lil as Kings have the biggest appetie of any colubrid I've owned. Even after being handled and stressed after a bath or something, theye'll still grab anything if there's the faintest smell of food in the air. Keeping a bottle of vinegar or rubbing alcohol (or even hand sanitizer) handy helps to "unclamp" a king off your finger. Don't mean to scare you away as this guy of yours may not be like that at all. But I find that 60-80% of kings act that way about food.

Good luck, and post pics when you get him. I miss my guys!

Vanan

 

[Pheonixx]

will there be an issue with keeping his aquarium in the same room as my tarantulas? his cage is gonna have some serious clamps on the lid..
In the petshop he was as gentle as a puppy. But he is no puppy.

 

[Pheonixx]

Couldn't go wrong with an eastern king. Had an adult pair of them a while ago. Gorgeous snakes. So majestic. They don't need a ginormous water dish just cos of their size. Mine could barely get half their bodies in. All they need to do is drink out of it. If they drink enough they shouldn't have a problem shedding unless you have your house at 20% humidity!
Follow Malkavian's advice about feeding him outside his enclosure. It may help, but only a lil as Kings have the biggest appetie of any colubrid I've owned. Even after being handled and stressed after a bath or something, theye'll still grab anything if there's the faintest smell of food in the air. Keeping a bottle of vinegar or rubbing alcohol (or even hand sanitizer) handy helps to "unclamp" a king off your finger. Don't mean to scare you away as this guy of yours may not be like that at all. But I find that 60-80% of kings act that way about food.
Good luck, and post pics when you get him. I miss my guys!
Vanan

BATH? i am supposed to bathe this guy? Feeding out side the enclosure? how exactly would i do that? drop a mouse and let him get it and eat it on the floor? hand sanatizer is a good idea, i have heard the "wash your hands" stories on the boards. The teeth they have would they be comparable to a Bass(fish) basicly sandpaper for grinding and keeping food in the mouth?

 

[Vanan]

lol! You don't have to bathe your snakes. I just used to give my bigger adults a swim in the tub once in a while and was using that as an example.

Feeding outside the enclosure is acheived by using a container (blanket box or pail) and placing him in there with the food. make sure it's secure. Once he's done, place him back in his cage.

I keep my inverts in the same room as my snakes. Don't know of anything which is transmissible between the two. And yes, secure caging is a must.

 

[pitbulllady]

Eastern Kings are one of the best, if not THE best, pet constrictor around! I have a very large pair of them myself, as well as two extra females, one just a yearling, and one young adult "Mosaic phase" female. None have ever bitten me. I've caught dozens, and only a very tiny percentage of those will even attempt to defend themselves; it's almost like they are born willing to be pets! I keep them at normal room temp, lowering it slightly to the low sixties in winter for brumation. My larger ones will eat a small rat or three-four adult mice at a time. They don't need a huge tank, or a huge soaking bowl, but they do need to soak every now and then to facilitate shedding.
The biggest thing to be aware of with these guys is that they are hard-wired to kill other snakes. Nothing will drive on into a frenzy quicker than the sight or scent of another snake, even another King. They will try to cannibalize each other, too, especially if there is a big size difference between two of them. Breeding them is like breeding tarantulas, or Pit Bulls, and can be rather tricky! If a King is going to bite, it will not be in defense, but because it smells another snake on you, so always make sure you wash your hands and arms thoroughly after handling a snake before you pick up the King. I've found them to be more trustworthy than CalKings, though, when it comes to biting.
Incidentally, these snakes are much-prized in the rural South, even among people who normally kill every snake they see, due to their propensity to seek out and kill venomous snakes. They are immune to the venom. My grandfather, who was usually a very passive and peace-loving man, once threatened to shoot somebody over a Kingsnake; that's just how people feel about them around here.

pitbulllady

 

[Pheonixx]

thanks for all the help folks, hopefully i can do this right and keep this guy happy for a long time to come. This is really going to be my girlfriends pet, but i learned with my tarantulas, reasearch, reasearch, reasearch is the key to keeping a happy exotic. will a 40 galoon long aquarium be too much for this guy? that is what my girlfriend plans to get to keep him in. Currently the petshop has him in a 20 gallon long and he appears extremely cramped.

 

[Malkavian]

for a king that size a 40 long should be plenty.

I'd advise going to walmart and picking up a big plastic rubbermaid tub to use as a feeding enclosure, get one with a lid that clamps down and you'll be fine.

Kingsnakes dont have much in the way of teeth but they are strong--a bite from one wont do much damage but from a 5+ foot specimen it would be a painful pinch. As pitbulllady said, most of the time they bite is because you smell like food or they think your hand coming into the cage is food, so just make sure your hands are clean and feed it out side the cage and you should be fine