Kingsnake help

[Chris_Skeleton]

So I have just acquired a kingsnake, roughly 7 or 8 inches. Haven't measured.

I believe it is a black kingsnake.

Here is what it is:
http://webpix.ekpc.coop/albums/wpw-20060502/normal_g black kingsnake - JES.jpg

Is this correct that it is a black kingsnake?

I just need some good care tips and info or a link to a good caresheet.

 

[pitbulllady]

So I have just acquired a kingsnake, roughly 7 or 8 inches. Haven't measured.

I believe it is a black kingsnake.

Here is what it is:
http://webpix.ekpc.coop/albums/wpw-20060502/normal_g black kingsnake - JES.jpg

Is this correct that it is a black kingsnake?

I just need some good care tips and info or a link to a good caresheet.

It does like a juvie Eastern Black, perhaps an intergrade with Desert King(L.g. splendida).
When you say "acquired", do you mean "bought", " was given" or "caught"? I take it that you were not prepared to have a snake at all and have no experience with them, is that correct? You can easily Google "Kingsnake Care Sheets", as the care for virtually all Lampropeltis getula sp. is the same, and they are very easy snakes to keep. I keep mine, which are Eastern Chain Kings, at room temperature in my bedroom, in typical glass enclosures with newspaper substrate and a large water bowl. Mine are rodent feeders, eating frozen/thawed mice or rats, but some youngsters, especially wild-caughts, will only feed on lizards at first and have to be switched over to rodents. A youngster should be fed one per week, the appropriate-sized prey item.

pitbulllady

 

[Chris_Skeleton]

It does like a juvie Eastern Black, perhaps an intergrade with Desert King(L.g. splendida).
When you say "acquired", do you mean "bought", " was given" or "caught"? I take it that you were not prepared to have a snake at all and have no experience with them, is that correct? You can easily Google "Kingsnake Care Sheets", as the care for virtually all Lampropeltis getula sp. is the same, and they are very easy snakes to keep. I keep mine, which are Eastern Chain Kings, at room temperature in my bedroom, in typical glass enclosures with newspaper substrate and a large water bowl. Mine are rodent feeders, eating frozen/thawed mice or rats, but some youngsters, especially wild-caughts, will only feed on lizards at first and have to be switched over to rodents. A youngster should be fed one per week, the appropriate-sized prey item.

pitbulllady

I caught it. It was on some hot blacktop and could barely move so we got it and hydrated it.

Very little experience with snakes. The main problem I have is with feeding. I had a water snake I caught that I could not get to eat. I put it in a sterilite to hold for a few minutes, turned away and it was gone. Never saw it again.

Do I have to forcefeed it? Or will it eat on it's own?

 

[JC50]

I have talked to some people who would capture the lizards the snake was used to eating and cut them up to rub on pinky mice to scent them during the transition.

 

[pitbulllady]

I caught it. It was on some hot blacktop and could barely move so we got it and hydrated it.

Very little experience with snakes. The main problem I have is with feeding. I had a water snake I caught that I could not get to eat. I put it in a sterilite to hold for a few minutes, turned away and it was gone. Never saw it again.

Do I have to forcefeed it? Or will it eat on it's own?

Since it's a wild-caught snake, IF it refuses to eat on its on, LET
IT GO where you found it! Try it with appropriate-sized frozen-thawed mice first, and try jiggling the mouse in front of the snake with tweezers. If it does not eat right away, leave the mouse(DEAD)in with the snake overnight and put the enclosure in a place where there is little "traffic". If it refuses to eat a dead mouse, then try a live one, assuming that live mice of the right size are easily available. I'd also recommend giving the snake a week in its new enclosure before you even try to feed it, since most snakes, even CB snakes, take a few days to settle in before they will eat in a new place. If the snake won't eat live or f/t rodents, let it go. It's not worth the trouble to force-feed a wild snake unless it's something very odd and unique that you plan to breed later on down the road. Keep in it a secure enclosure that is made for snakes, with a newspaper substrate that will be easy to clean and replace. Give it a hide box and a water bowl, no Sterlite or anything that holds moisture too well, because Kings are prone to "scale rot" or "blister disease" from being too damp, just like Water Snakes are.

pitbulllady