Caring for a baby Kingsnake, help please?

Question

I've recently adopted a King snake from a breeder, and I'm going to pick him up in a week or two. We have a vet nearby who specializes in exotic pets, including snakes. I was wondering, is it recommended to take it to the vet for a check-up when you first get one? Also, I have a 10-gallon tank with a lid that has a lock on it, will that be ok for the snake until it grows?

Thanks!

Answer 1

i have never taken any of my new snakes to a vet.  if this is the only snake you have then i wouldn't worry about it.  if you have other snakes at your house then a vet check wouldn't be a bad idea if you have the money for it..

a ten gallon tank should work fine until the snake is 8 months to a year old.  that is what we started out our mexican black kingsnake in.  after that then a 29 gallon long and then for adult a 40 gallon tank will be fine.  a 29 gallon long tank will actually be fine for an adult if the snake gets out a lot and is handled quite a bit...by a lot i mean a couple of hours a day.  what kind of lock is on the 10 gallon tank that you have.  our 10 gallon had a screen that just laid on top and had two clip things that locked it on (one on each end)...he never escaped from that, not that he didnt try though.

good luck with the new snake.  if you have any questions about setting up your tank or anything email me.

Answer 2

I wouldn't worry about the vet visit if you're getting the snake from a breeder. The 10 gallon will be fine for quite some time (about 2.5 years actually). King snakes only grow to be about 4-5 feet long. The sad thing about a lot of new snake owners is they get a beautiful new snake and try to create an elaborate cage setting for it only to have the snake feel insecure and refuse to eat. Snakes need to feel secure at all times. The 10 gallon is the best choice because it will be easy to clutter. Optimally you should have a water basin of some sort, a hide away box, and something rough to help the snake shed on. The water basic can be anything, even a bottle cap if its a new born king snake. The hide away box is the tricky part. Most commercial hide away boxes, such as the ones you will find in Petco, are all garbage. Snakes like to shove themselves into tight spaces so they don't feel exposed. In fact, there have been plenty of instances where my snakes have squeezed themselves into cracks in the wood in their enclosure so well that the only way I could get them out was to wait until they wanted to come out. Making sure your snake feels secure is one of the key elements of proper snake care. You can craft a hide away box out of just about anything, but if you do go out and buy a prefabricated one just keep in mind that your snake is about as thin as a pencil and probably only about 10 inches long, so study any possible purchases and think about how much extra room there will be with the snake in there. I'm assuming you also have a spot lamp for the tank already. Remember that the tank is small, so a lower watt spot lamp is sufficient enough. You don't want to overheat your snake with a powerful 100 watt. Ideally you want one side of the cage to be about 90 degrees while the other side is about 80. Also, remember to turn the lamp off at night. This will create a natural day/night cycle for your snake. If you leave the light on 24/7 the snake can become aggitated or stressed. One more thing to remember is humidity. Keeping the humidity up is vital to your snakes well being, and plays a key role in the shedding process. There are hundreds of ways to keep the humidity up such as covering the screen top with a damp cloth or lightly misting the enclosure with a spray bottle. You can find plenty of tricks by using google.

Lastly I'd just like to add that snakes are escape artists, and will take advantage of an unsecured cage. Since your new snake is so thin if it gets out it will be incredibly hard to locate so the clips are a must. I'm glad to see you've thought about this ahead of time.

I hope this helped and I think you'll love having your new snake. ^_^

Answer 3

that will prolly work for a very long time and ur soppose to but most people dont but it is recommended and when u say that its normally if its from a pet store urs is coming from a breeder so i wouldnt unles the breeder makes u