Another Cali King question?

Question

sorry i have so many post but i want to keep my new snake happy and healthy!

Ok I thought my snake was about 18 inches but found out he is 20... What size food should i feed him? He is not very big around actually very small so i am not sure. And I have heard not to handle for a week after getting him but would like 5 mins a day be alright for the 1st week?Or is that a bad idea? Thanks for all your help

Answer 1

He should take pinkies no problem. Kings are thin snakes so when in doubt, go small. It's always better to feed two or even three smaller prey items rather than one large, cumbersome one. You want to feed him nothing larger than his own gearth, he'll be able to manage 1 1/2 times his own diameter but try to avoid that. At that size he'll probably take two pinkies at a time, then you can move him up to three a week and then onto fuzzies after that.

I also recommend frozen rodents. You should be able to get them at your local Petsmart, Petco or even a mom & pop shop. They are killed humanely with carbon monoxide gas, which is much more peaceful than being strangled to death, if that eases your conscience.

Warm them up in warm (just before boiling, but not there yet) water for 15 minutes and then feed. You might need to move the first one around a little at first to stimulate your snake's feeding response, but after the first frozen he'll be switched over in a breeze. They work great for me, are clean, always available, and can't bite back when your snake gets bigger and needs to be eating adult mice.

Kings are usually good eaters, if you have everything right in the cage he should eat frozen with no problem. Feed him about a week after getting him settled in, snakes can go months on end without eating so don't worry about him for a couple of days. As a juvie you'll want to feed him every week, you can even do every 5 or 6 days if you want to grow him faster.

For more info, here's a great site on Kings and reptiles overall - http://www.anapsid.org/king.html

Read the part in particular about cleaning. My first snake was a variable kingsnake, she died of a bacterial infection because I was not disenfecting the cage properly. She was a really great snake and I wouldn't want to see that happen to anyone else's pet.

Answer 2

when i got my snake i started holding him and he is find but  you are suppose to wait.....you can take him to your local pet store and they will tell you what to feed him but he is probably on fuzzies