I bought a 1 and a half year old california king snake on sunday. How do i handle it safely?

Question

I tried handling him monday and he turned his head towards my arm. As this is my first snake i freaked out and dropped him on his heating rock in his terrarium. Tuesday he refused to let me near him. I fear i may have ruined my snake experience already. Can someone help me handle this california kingsnake? Teach me please :-)

Answer 1

First thing is to remove the hot rock from the cage. They are very dangerous for snakes and can lead to severe burns. An under tank heater pad with a thermostat is sufficient heat for your king.  I would recommend handling him over a soft spot like a bed. They will turn towards you...they are crawling around. You need to get over the idea that he might bite.  Kings can and do bite.  They also musk, and c**p too.  Gentle regular handling will work well.  Do not handle for at least 48 hours of feeding.  Gently but firmly pick up the snake from it's cage.  Let it crawl from hand to hand.  Avoid grabbing, especially by the head.  Avoid dropping :)  Snakes are incapable of having a bad experience so to speak. They really don't think about it.  Snakes really don't like to get held and some take a little longer to tolerate it. Some seem to do very well with it and will crawl out on their own, but just because he won't let you near him doesn't mean anything.  He's not like a dog that has a learned fear of you.  At least not after one experience. Just go in a pick him up, handle him gently for a short period and then put him back. Kings tend to be a bit jumpy anyway...at least my Cal King is, and take a little longer to calm down.

Answer 2

First off get the heat rock out of there...bad bad bad.  To set up the tank get a critter cage (it is made for reptiles and has a locking lid) a 29 gallon long would work but a 40 gallon long would be better at this age.  Put an appropriately sized under tank heater on one side of the tank (just go by what the back of the box tells you on size).  The best substrate is aspen bedding so that the snake can burrow in it.  Put about an inch of substrate on the bottom of the tank and put the snakes hide on the warm side of the tank then add more substrate in so that the snake can totally hide itself in it.  Since the snake burrows I don’t put a hide on the cold side of the tank I just use one on the hot side so that the snake can be on top of the substrate but still hidden when they want warmth.  Put the water dish on the cool side.  Put some kind of driftwood (pet store) in so that the snake can use it to climb on and also to rub up against when the snake is shedding.  Also a digital thermometer is needed to make sure the hot side doesn’t get too hot (84 F is the hottest you want it 78 – 81 F is perfect).  I don’t monitor the cool side of my tanks because as long as the hot side is in a good range then if they get too cold they can always get warmer.  

As for the handling part of it the only thing you can do is pick the snake up and if it bites it bites.  It more than likely won't though.  Kingsnake bites don't hurt that bad...believe me I have 2 kingsnakes one bites me at least every other week to let me know it's time for him to eat.  Just be confident with him.  Move calmly and confidentally when you pick him up...if you are nervous he will pick up on you fidigiting and that will eventually lead to a bite.

Good luck!!

Answer 3

Well, first of all, I'd take the advice of gallilano. and the others about the heat rock. Although they are getting safer, your best bet is still an under-tank heat mat with a mat thermostat, they're not very expensive.

Anyway, picking up smaller snakes usually takes a little bravery if you haven't done it before. My corn snake, which is only about 3' 5", always turns his head towards me when I come to pick him up. This is because they don't have very good eyesight, and try to figure out whether you're trying to eat them or not. Unless they hiss loudly (not the quiet type you often hear- that's just breathing) or gaping at your hand, it shouldn't be a problem to pick them up. (If they do, you should try and take it back to where you got it from, and see if you can get a tame one instead, and see if you can handle it before you buy, as well as ask them how they usually pick it up and handle it.)

If they buzz their tail, I usually ignore it and pick them up anyway, otherwise they might think that they can get away with it in the future, although I usually don't handle them for as long as I would normally.

Actually picking them up can also be an art in itself, as if there are lots of cage furnishings, they often entwine themselves in parts of the furnishings, making it almost impossible to pick them up without hurting them, in which case I just put them down carefully and try again the next day. If your snake does this, take out some of the furnishings around where it's hiding first, and then let it smell you with its tongue to let it know who you are, and then pick it up quickly once you have touched it, making sure you support its body, as this calms them down a bit, as they know they're not going to fall.

The most important thing is to never, ever drop the snake, as this could cause it life threatening injuries, especially if it hits its head on something, even if it bites you. If it does, which it shouldn't do, then put it back in its cage as quickly as safely possible, and then treat yourself with antiseptic and a plaster. With frequent, gentle handling, however, it should tame down quite well.

To make sure that it doesn't accidentally bite you, always wash your hands before handling if you've been in contact with mice, rats, etc, and don't try and handle it at the time that you usually feed it, as it may strike at your hand thinking that it's food. If it does this anyway, try wearing a glove when you pick it up, and once you're holding it, it should know that you're not food, and you can take it off.

Sorry for going on for so long, but I hope it helps =)

Answer 4

dont let it eat u