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- Feb 28, 2007
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How many much longer can a snake be before it's too big for a king snake
to eat?
to eat?
King snake meal
- Thread starter ballpython2
- Start date
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- May 1, 2004
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- 2,290
I would NOT recommend keeping another snake in with a King Snake, since I've actually had an Eastern King Snake that had gotten loose in my house once attack and try to constrict an adult Retic I'd placed on the floor while cleaning its cage! Like a Jack Russell Terrier picking a fight with an Akita, a King Snake does not always know its own size compared to its intended victim, and may still attack the other snake, especially if it gets the least bit hungry. I have only once been able to house two same-size Kings together, a male and female that had been together since the breeding season(and even that can be "iffy", especially with Easterns), but I'd have to separate them for feeding, and once I took the female out for egg-laying, I couldn't put her back with the male because they'd immediately go at each other like two fight-trained Pit Bull Terriers, and it wasn't easy separating two snakes that were bent on killing each other. Snakes of other species, which are natural prey of Kings, will often stress in the presence of one, or even just the scent of one, and injure themselves trying to get away. I have snake bags that I have to reserve just for Kings, since if I put a Rat Snake or a Corn or Water Snake in those bags that have contained a King, they'll rub themselves bloody trying to get out. I guess I would, too, if I thought I was about to be eaten by something. Bottom line, most King species, especially Easterns or California Kings, need to be kept in solitary confinement.
pitbulllady
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- Oct 20, 2005
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- 190
pitbulllady is right in her statement. I would also like to add that I have 2 Kings that were "picky" when sold to me, and are on frozen thawed now, no problem. As a personal feeling, why would you want to feed a snake a snake? Like feeding a Tarantula a Tarantula. If that is all your snake will eat, so be it. I just think we have animals specifically bred as feeders, that would do your King well.
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- May 1, 2004
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Ohhh...I got it wrong, then. I thought that the original poster was asking if it would be SAFE to put another snake in with the King, and wanted to know at what size the other snake would be too large for the King to consider attacking.
WHY would anyone want to feed another snake to a King Snake, when most Kings can and will readily accept rodent food items? Feeding it another snake is a really good way to introduce parasites and other nasties that will wreck havoc with a captive snake. In the wild, they don't seem(operative word here: SEEM)to cause problems, but captive snakes are much more likely to become overloaded fast with intestinal parasites that will kill them. Feeding frozen/thawed rodents is the best way to avoid this problem, since freezing kills most of the parasites that might be infesting the rodents, and captive-bred domestic rodents are far less likely to have them, anyway. The few wild-caught Eastern Kings I've had that refused to eat rodents, I simply let go where I found them. I didn't see the point in trying to find snakes for them to eat, and taking the risk that they'd get sick, anyway. Some ophiophagus snake species, like King Cobras and Corals, are nearly impossible to switch to non-snake food items, but this isn't the case with most Lampropeltis. If you've got a wild-caught native King that won't eat anything else, let it go. If you bought it, take it back and get your money back. That's just not worth the trouble.
pitbulllady
that is what i thought also