Over the past few months I have decided to make changes to my husbandry. I now would recommend using a halogen bulb on a dimmer for your hot spot, and uvb for all snakes. Of course, you’ll want to research which halogen wattage and uvb light will work best for your specific animal, but this is what I have started to change all of my enclosures to. I no longer feel like a ceramic heat emitter and/or heat mat will provide the correct type of heat to help these animals thrive, and those types of heat should be used for supplemental use only for increasing ambient temps and helping with the heat gradient. :)
@@vICTORYLAPS727 I’m not worried about the cost. IR-C is the weakest form of infrared heat, which is what you are using. Snakes deserve a halogen and UVB. They can survive without it, sure, but that’s not personally what I’m trying to do for them.
My pet California Kingsnake is nearing her second birthday, at the moment. She has never bitten anyone until this year, and my spouse and I suspect that it might be due to mating behavior, or she never went through the biting phase during her juvenile phase. Whatever the case, we are now hook training her, and handling her with gloves in the meantime, until she gradually grows out of it.
I have mine since he was six weeks old. And he never bit ot musked on me before. And yes he's a California Kingsnake. He's such a cutie. 24 August I have him 3years. I allways handled him and still do it offcourse. He's such a curious boy. Never bites or even musked. He's like your Florida kingsnake.
A moist hide is actually better at hydrating these kinds of snakes compared to standing water, but of course we all should have some water in the cage at times. I keep my Pueblans without a water bowl unless the ambient humidity is low. But other than that, they get a moist hide that I spray. I see them drink droplets at times, but not often. In the wild, many of these species do not see standing water often if at all. They will drink condensation (dew), and they get water from their food as well. And they avoid dry surface conditions. But if using screen tops and dry bedding, then yeah, have a water bowl, but a moist hide will go a long way to hydrate the snake. Good luck with your snakes, I like that Pueblan!
I've had a cali kingsnake since the beginning of 2023 got him a couple weeks old he's only bit me twice and I can say it was 100% my fault he's very sweet and it was clearly just warning nips
Hey great video. Genuinely I have watched hundreds of videos on these topics the past few months leading up to getting my cali kingsnake. And this video has everything I’ve found out rolled into one. Absolutely fantastic, and your snakes!they look so healthy and happy. Beautiful animals 😊 Thank you for the time and effort put into this.
I've handled a few California King snakes (wild caught) and never has one ever tried to bite me...had one evacuate it's bowels all over my arm but no biters. All were returned safely to the area where I caught them within an hour or two.
I'd just suggest sticking the probe to the uth between the glass and the uth. A uth is such a burn risk. And since they're burrowers and tape can become unstuck, you're risking a burn as well as your snake becoming stuck to tape. You're not getting a truly accurate read from the uth either from the probe being inside the tank either. Xoxo
Never had an issue with the probe getting unstuck, but I see what you’re saying. You’re getting even less of an accurate read if the the probe is between the uth and glass when you have a certain temperature for the snake in mind. If you tape it down good enough and pay attention to your thermostat and snake, should be fine.
I know all the baby Ca. King snakes I caught over the years seen to be biters. Once a wild CKS gets older they seem to calm down. I currently have a captive breed baby CKS and it’s a sweet heart. Very gentle and has never tried bite. Wild or captive all my CKS are great eaters.
I just got me a California king snake. He is awesome he doesn’t bite. He’s very sweet. I just fed him a pinky and he eats like a champ. His name is Kelly I was just wondering if anybody sees this do they get super big or do they stay on the smaller side? My mom doesn’t want a really big snake like a boa.
Nice snake but the only King snake I recognize is the King Cobra. Unless the Kingsnake can take down a King Cobra, it should not be called a King Snake in my humble opinion. Perhaps we could call it a Prince snake. ;-)
Well, do you think a king snake eats other things? I do know there are mice around my yard but I don't know that it's enough to feed this baby king snake in my yard. Would he eat grasshoppers & other insects? I brought him in (no biting, masking or pooping on me) beautiful snake. He drank a bunch of water!! We are in serious drought in AZ, up North is severe! Can I feed a baby anything else? Thanks! Nice set ups! I've got all the light & big & small tanks.
I have a California kingsnake I just got and she's never tried to bite me. She kinda bluffs from her enclosure...if I chase her around with a mouse she bites at it. If it's my hand she doesn't try to bite. The breeder said she would eat live but she doesn't want to eat that so I'm trying frozen thawed for a bit. Giving her a chance to get hungry. That way maybe she won't leave me stuck with a pinky mouse that will slowly die😭
Did it work miss? My cal King took after 3 days allready a mouse from me (he was only six weeks so yes a pinky) now I have him allmost 3years.and still no biting or musking. Cal king's are awesome.
Can you please tell me if I’m doing the right thing?I’ve ordered a hatchling brooks king.the oak Viv is 41x65x40 will only use this while it’s small.heat pad 28x28 and 14 watts.was gonna use coconut husk chips but can easily get aspen.is this set up ok or what should I change.thanks.I know about water bowl and hides etc!
Anybody have any suggestions where I could buy California King Snake baby?(interested & need a push in the right direction to a reliable website... or store nearby in Cali)
If you’re careful you can use both. I like to give the option of both in case the snake decides to either stay below or above the substrate. Heat mat with a thermostat set at around 88-90 degrees, heat emitter from above the enclosure and I check the temp from that with a temperature gun and make sure it doesn’t get above around 90. Too much heat will do more harm than cold
Hello! Great video! When you made that switch for feeding every 5 times to 7 times. Roughly how old are the snakes? When are they considered adults? thanks!
Kind of just depends on size. I only do every 5 days for about 3 months now. Then every 7 days. Then after a couple years every 10 days or so and when they’re adults every 15 days
I keep track of their weight with a scale once every month and I keep that data to compare to other months. If the prey item is smaller than the widest point of the snakes body and/or they aren’t gaining much weight, I move them up. After 3-4 years or so the snake will be an “adult” and will get a large mouse around every 10-14 days. That’s when I’d definitely not feed as often because they can become obese pretty easily.
I don’t feed them at an exact schedule anymore. Advanced husbandry groups seem to share the same thought that random feedings work better and mimic a more natural experience. So I give or take a day or two every once in a while.
my cali kingsnake is 3 years old now and hes only bitten me once when he was like 1. I it was my fault he was going up my shirt so i pulled my shirt up and startled him. He gave me a baby tap on my tummy thats it. when he was younger he woul do defensiv strikes but closed mouth most the time I love him. but i was wondering do you ever soak yours? he soaks in his water a lot and from being native to cali I assume thats enough?
Don’t soak your snake, it’s unnecessary and often stressful. They may soak in their water dish for a number of reasons. Make sure the temps aren’t too hot, and make sure he doesn’t have mites. Provide a humid hide as well.
JUST SUBBED. thats so funny man. my first two snakes were a pebluan and a cali king. (my cali king will take a shot at me 6 times out of ten) i have 8 other snakes and my cali king is the only snake that will bite, BUT I IMPLORE anyone reading this... dont let that steer you away from getting a cali king, when they get confident, and you have enough enrichment in their enclosures, watching them 'hunt' around is very entertaining. with that being said, alot of snakes are a little..prone to biting, for instance my carpet python for the first year of his life hated me. cali kings are underrated!
That’s one of my favorite things about my Cali king. ALWAYS out hunting. I used to think corns or ball pythons were the best pet snakes but honestly I now lean towards anything in the lampropeltis genus. My Florida king and Peublan milk are the most chill snakes