Care Sheet for King SnakesAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 4.00 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 04/30/2006 |
Main Category: | Snakes |
Sub Category: | King Snakes |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | PaulWTAMU |
Years Experience: | 10 to 15 Years |
Species: | California kingsnake |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | Any california kingsnake morph, as well as Mexican black and most other subspecies of L. getula |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Probing; males probe deeper than females. Don’t try this without help the first few times, please. |
Mostly Active During: | Day |
Substrate and Water Needs: | Nearly anything EXCEPT cedar or pine works. I’ve personally used newspaper, aspen, cypress, topsoil, and a couple of others without any problems.
Keep a small to mid sized bowl of clean water handy. Sometimes they’ll soak, sometimes not. People living in very dry areas tend to see more soaking behavior. Mine quit soaking after I put him on about 6 inches of topsoil; now he burrows into the substrate instead. |
Lighting and UVB: | Not needed, but can’t hurt. If you go for a planted tank, you will need a plant grow bulb, but the snake doesn’t care. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | Warm end at about 90 degrees F. Cool end at room temp, in the 70’s. |
Heating and Equipment: | I use a ceramic heat emitter for the heat. I also have a plant grow bulb since I use planted terreria. All you need is a water dish, hiding spot, and a heat source. You can do so much better though; a well designed tank made to look like a slice of the desert is a very cool living room display. Inventive use of rocks and plants can give the snake hiding places where it’s actually visible too, meaning you’ll see it more often; mine has a hollow in a large rock he likes that gives me a great view. |
Caging Provided: | When I kept a breeding group, I used 20 gallon longs with aspen, a water dish, and a cork hide. Now that I’ve sold off the group (except for the male that would never breed), I keep mine in a 29 gallon tank. It’s the same footprint as a 20L but it’s six inches taller. It’s a planted tank; I placed an inch or two of gravel on the bottom, covered that with window screening, and placed about 6 inches of topsoil on top of it. I planted both aloe vera and sasiveria (snake plant). I have a large piece of basalt rock, a cool looking cork bark tube, and a small water dish. I have a ceramic heater on one end, and a 20" plant grow light for the plants. |
Diet: | Carnivorous |
Description of Diet: | 1-2 adult mice every week or so during the summer. I hibernate him in winter, so no food then. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | Nope |
Maintenance: | Very easy. Feed weekly, clean out the poop every week or two, and replace water every week or so. They do NOT need to be handled, but you can go ahead if you want; some will let you, others won’t. It’s really variable. |
Some Words on this Species: | Kingsnakes are highly variable in size; I’ve seen adults at 30" and I’ve also seen some at six feet. 3-4 feet seems the norm for adults of the Cal king. These tend to be flighty, but are very pretty snakes, and display well in a naturalistic vivaria. A tank as small as a normal 29 gallon tank works for a planted vivaria with a normal adult of this species; larger adults (five foot plus) may require a 40 breeder. I have good luck with hardy succulents (aloe, sansiveria, jade, etc.). Keeping these snakes in relatively large, naturalistic tank is very rewarding. Given a chance, they will create burrows, coil around and under plants for shelter, climb on rocks, etc. I set up a great planted tank for less than 200 bucks, so it’s very doable. |
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