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King snake

Ozzy

SirKristoff is a poopiehead
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The pet store that I get crickets from every week has had a Chain king for 2 years. It hasn't sold because it is very aggressive. I've been watching this snake really close for the last two months. I have notice some really odd behavior for a king snake. While most kings are secretive and try to hide most of the time, this snake seems to have no fear of anything. When I first noticed this snake I would open the cage and put my hand in and she would come straight for me. I would have to keep moving my hand to keep from getting bit. With the cage closed I would put my hand on the screen at top and she would stand up and smell my hand and then open her mouth, like she was trying to get my finger in her mouth. The workers at the pet store were shocked that I was even able to stick my hand in the cage. They told me that none of them could do that with it striking at them. They told me that as it got bigger it kept getting meaner.
Today I decided to buy it. When I bought it the worker asked if I would pick it up and put it in the box. She didn't want to do it even though she is an reptile expert. Anybody have any tips on how to tame it? Right now I can touch her as long as I don't get near her head.
I'm sure that her behaviour is at least partly because she has been on display and alot of people have probably mistreated her. I would think that would make her more secretive and have more fear of people.
 
I agree with the mistreatment asessment. My California Kingsnake gets the best of everything here, and still is meaner than anything. No matter what you do, she will have her bite of you if she can, very aggressive, sometimes bordering on maniacal. The wife wants to let her go into the wild, but she was cage bred and born. Her over aggressiveness might feed her, but her lack of fear will get her killed for sure. I can handle being bit by snakes,big deal, no thing at all, but my Cal King, "Ringworm", doesn't bite in self defense, she bites because she's nuts. And she will chew and chew just to hurt you. Anybody have a snake psychologist hiding anywhere?? Her biggest problem--she is too beautiful to let go to certain death, and besides, I understand her problems with captive born situations. Like our plants, she has become a dollar sign in someone's eyes, and was treated accordingly. Her mental state is the end result. Take good care of that chain king (always wanted another), and know she may never snap out of that aggressiveness. Then again, lots of TLC may calm her down. Post her pic, Ozzy. I'd love to see her.
 
I woke up today and checked on her and she was (excuse the pun) mean as a snake. I put my hand in and it starting striking at everything. She was striking at me, at the reflections in the glass, at her hide box, anything that moved or didn't move. I backed off and left her alone for a while. Was this the right thing to do or should I stood my ground and showed her that I wasn't going to be scared off. Right now I don't want to upset her too much, I want to give her time to get use to her new home.
I will probably have a lot of questions in the near future, this is the first time I have tried to tame a snake that is this aggressive.
 
Tame, my butt!! There will be no taming this one. Let her be aggressive, and keep her till she dies, you will be doing her a favor. If she is cut loose, she will be dead in short order. She will be too stupid to know when to run, and when to be afraid.
 
Well you don't have to worry about me dumper her. She'll have a home.
I have to at least attempt to tame her. If I don't at least try, I could be missing out on a great pet. One of my favorite pets was also labled untameable. I just hope that I don't bleed to death from all the bites I'm about to recieve. I'm going to give her a few days before I let the punishment begin. Of course I'm talking about the punishment that she'll be giving me.
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Couldn't you use something besides a hand...say, another soft object?
 
I probably could but she needs to get use to me.
 
yeah someone in the springs was giving one away with an 100 gallon aquarium, but by the time we responded it was gone
 
From the day Ringworm, our banded Cal King , came home from the pet shop, she has had one mission--- to destroy the fingers of anyone holding her. She has recieved her black belt in finger chewing, and is graduating to hand constricting. Makes a daddy proud! Although she eats like a pig, and is well taken care of, she prefers to be as mean as she can be. I am glad that the other babies we bought, desert kingsnakes, were the exact opposite of her bad attitude. They are easy to handle, and do not bite. And excellent eaters. I do not know what happened to this snake while she lived with whoever hatched her out, but it is like a permanent scar in this snakes head. She would kill both of the other snakes if she had the chance, and looks at our dog like he's an oversize mouse. She is intense, but she is too beautiful!! I will keep her til she is dead, nature would appreciate that.
 
  • #10
Well, heres a little update on my snake.
Monday I noticed that her eyes were cloudy. So I left her alone until today. I checked her to see how she was doing and I noticed that her eyes was clear. Maybe it was a reflection or something that I saw when I thought her eyes was cloudy. Since I left her alone she has been hiding in a basket that I have overturned in her tank. Today when I saw that her eyes were clear and she wasn't shedding, I decided to touch her and see how she reacted. I rubbed my hand down her body, she didn't seem to really like it but she didn't get upset either. So I picked her up and let her crawl from hand to hand for about five minutes. She never tried to turn and bite.
So I think that her time away from the pet store has caused to be less defensive. I also think think that by me leaving her alone has let her calm down a little.
I first wrote this because I wanted to tell how she was so unlike normal king snakes. Since I've had her home she has been showing typical king snake behavior.
I know I have a long way to go with this snake but I also think I have made a huge jump 5 days I've had her.
 
  • #11
aww that's GREAT!
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maybe s/he'll become your best snake :p sometimes you like them more if they were a pain in the ... neck... at first
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like my birds! aldough I also love molly... :'( but that's another story.
 
  • #12
Well, one thing for sure, you need to wash your hands or use sanitizer if you have messed with another reptile before going to her. The scent of another snake will trigger a feeding response sometimes with kingsnakes, and I think chains are among the most aggressive snake eaters in the family. That may have been part of the problem at a pet store, if she was around other reptiles and they just went down the line in their care of their animals.

Cheers,

Joe
 
  • #13
Congrats on you buy
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I had a herp friend a while back that used a method of calming down maniac snakes that I've never heard of before.
What he did was this: After taking the snake home, he left it undisturbed for like a week. (covered cage to eliminate stress, etc) After that week, he offered food (eating is often a good sign, many wont eat if stressed).
Then he threw in an old used T-shirt of his into the tank, and covered it for another week.

He swears that this method calms the snakes down towards him. I never handled any of his snakes, as he kept mostly venom.
His theory was that putting the smell of himself in a safe environment to the snake, would help it to get used to that smell, and strike less at him.

I tried this method out with my Cheynei litter, as they tend to be evillish, and to this day I havent been bitten once by them.

It's too early for me to vouch for it, but it could be worth a shot...

/Quensel
 
  • #14
As I promised, here are some pics of my king.

king3.jpg

kings3.jpg

Kings1.jpg

kings4.jpg

kings2.jpg

kings5.jpg

kings6.jpg
kings7.jpg
 
  • #15
awesome! Looks real healthy too. I myself have a black rat snake and a corn
 
  • #16
I don't see its jaws locked around any fingers. Is that a sign of a truce between human & snake?
 
  • #18
Tried the covering of the cage with a cloth, as suggested, for my kingsnake, Ringworm. I'll be dam-ed. She hasn't bitten me at all for the last two weeks, and has calmed considerably. I was sure she was going to be mean forever, and now this. Thank you for that suggestion. I finally have a manageable snake. Looks like I have found my snake psychologist!
 
  • #19
Huh. I wonder if that method would work on pretty much any cage critter? Most animals get a lot of information through their noses....

Funny how a kennel will tell you to leave something with your smell on it for your animal while it's being boarded, but we never thought of this for things like snakes & such. Could this work on an iguana? Who knew....
 
  • #20
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I wonder if that method would work on pretty much any cage critter?
Maybe, But I know one animal that it won't work on. I tried it with the meaniest animal I've ever had, Wifus pmsen. It just makes them meaner and way more aggressive.
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