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#203293
Teebalyn
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 New baby king snake
how long do you feed a young snake pinkies? not sure how old baby is. it’s about 12-14 inches long. also, how old before determining sex?
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12/22/04 12:14am
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#203497
SCSnakeman
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Message To: Teebalyn In reference to Message Id: 203293
New baby king snake
You can have someone determine the sex for you now. Take the snake to an expert for probing. They will slip a probe up its vent and see how far it goes. If it goes about 10 scales it is a male if it only goes about 4 scales it is a female. A baby snake like yours can be popped which means if an EXPERT does it the penis will pop out. It looks painful to me so I recommend probing. You’ll want to feed your snake pinkies until it is as big around as they are and then move up to fuzzies. Always feed a king snake prey that is about 1.25 to 1.5 times bigger around than the snake and you always want to see a slight bulge in their tummy after they eat. Here is a method I tell folks to go bay. Feed it pinkies until it is about as big around as a dime or penny and then switch to fuzzies. Feed it fuzzies until it is about as big around as a nickle or quarter and then switch to small mice. As it gets bigger, feed it bigger mice. A full grown king snake may be able to eat a small rat but not all of them will get that big depending on the type of king you have.
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12/22/04 8:35am
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#203925
Teebalyn
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Message To: SCSnakeman In reference to Message Id: 203497
New baby king snake
THANK YOU SO MUCH. I have my baby in a 2 1/2 gal. tank with a heat rock. I was warned away from the heat rock, and told to go with just a florescent light. I plan to get a bigger tank for baby, and I want to be sure I’m doing the right thing for him/her. Also, I have 2 cats. . .will the snake be threatened by them, maybe stress it out? I was checking on baby one day, my male cat was nearby, and baby started shaking its tail like a rattler. I don’t know if that was because the cat was nearby or I startled it. Any insight on that? This is my first snake, and I will probably have a million and one questions. I’ve already learned quite a bit just reading posted messages! This is a great site.
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12/22/04 7:07pm
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#203980
SCSnakeman
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Message To: Teebalyn In reference to Message Id: 203925
New baby king snake
I would suggest that when you get a bigger cage go ahead and get a 30 gallon Critter Cage. Your snake will be bale to live in it all its life. I suggest that you use an under tank heater that covers about 1/3 of the cage floor and have several hides, one of which will be over the heater and one in the other end of the tank. Give it a water dish big enough for it to soak in and a rough rock for it to rub against. This helps with shedding. You can use newspaper for the substrate. Right now I am using aspen. Get a couple thermometers, I use the liquid filled ones but you can get digital ones that are probably better. The warm end of the tanks needs to be about 85 degrees and the cool end about 78 to 80 degrees. You will also need to keep the humidity in the cage around 50% or so. The good thing about the digital thermometer is that they have a humidity reader on them too. You can mist the cage a few times a day to keep the humidity up.
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12/22/04 8:11pm
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#204594
CalKingOnyx
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Message To: SCSnakeman In reference to Message Id: 203980
New baby king snake
SCSnakeman,Where do you get Critter Cages? Are they anything like Kritter Keepers? I see those all the time, but never in a 30 gallon size. Are they plastic? My UTH said not to use on plastic or acrylic, but on glass only. What kind of UTH do you have, and how does is affect the plastic cage? I need to get a new cage for my snow corn, but have shied away from plastic for this very reason. Thanks
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12/23/04 4:25pm
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#204616
SCSnakeman
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Message To: CalKingOnyx In reference to Message Id: 204594
New baby king snake
I get mine from a pet supply chain called "Animal Supply House". I think they are a local chain to the southeast USA. I know they have stores in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. They are all glass with locking screen tops. I have some 20 gallon and 30 gallon ones. Here is their website: http://www.all-glass.com/products/cages/crittercage.shtml I hope that this helps.
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12/23/04 5:13pm
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#205038
CalKingOnyx
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Message To: SCSnakeman In reference to Message Id: 204616
New baby king snake
Yes, that helps a lot. These are exactly the kind of cage I have been looking for. Thank you.
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12/24/04 7:54am
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