kingsnake.com - reptile and amphibian classifieds, breeders, forums, photos, videos and more

return to main index

  mobile - desktop
follow us on facebook follow us on twitter follow us on YouTube link to us on LinkedIn
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research  
click here for Rodent Pro
This Space Available
3 months for $50.00
Locate a business by name: click to list your business
search the classifieds. buy an account
events by zip code list an event
Search the forums             Search in:
News & Events: Herp Photo of the Day: Gecko . . . . . . . . . .  Herp Photo of the Day: Happy Rattlesnake Friday! . . . . . . . . . .  San Diego Herp Society Meeting - Mar 19, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  Bay Area Herpetological Society Meeting - Mar 22, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  Suncoast Herp Society Meeting - Mar 23, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  Tucson Herpetological Society Meeting - Mar 25, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  Greater Cincinnati Herp Society Meeting - Apr 02, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  Calusa Herp Society Meeting - Apr 04, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  Southwestern Herp Society Meeting - Apr 06, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  Hamburg Reptile Show - Apr. 13, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  St. Louis Herpetological Society - Apr 14, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  San Diego Herp Society Meeting - Apr 16, 2024 . . . . . . . . . . 

always hungry?? and another question


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Kingsnake Forum ]

Posted by KingOz on April 28, 2003 at 21:02:17:

In Reply to: always hungry?? and another question posted by greg woodie on April 28, 2003 at 01:06:26:

:i have 2 questions:
:1. anybody out there with juvenile Florida Kings...how often do you feed them?

That depends on who you ask. Osborne (a breeder and writer here) feeds young snakes as often as they will eat to max out their growth. He says, on his websight www.probreeders.com, that there are no signs of a fast growth rate causing probs. I am not sure about this but when a snake is young say 3 years and under...they are still growing faster than they do later in life, so making them fat would require ALOT of food. I feed my apricot pueblan milk every 5 days and she is under a year. I started her on one pink then moved her up to 2, and now she's at 3 because I don't have any fuzzys yet. She is not fat and she sheds every 4 weeks or so. My 4 mt old brooksi was rather skinny when I got her, so I am working on getting her back into condition. She gets 1 large pink every three days...and she is starting to look better and is in shed...she is large enough to eat small fuzzys but when a snake needs to be gotten into condition small but freq. meals work best IHMO. My adult black mex king (3 yrs) gets 2 hoppers and one weener every 7 days. I think it may be hard to tell if a snake is fat just by looking at the girth unless the owner has alot of exp. with that kind of snake. My rec. is to judge their weight by holding them and lightly rubbing the skin... you should feel some "padding" under your finger that moves a little when you move your finger in a circular manor...under that little movement you should feel firm muscle. If there is alot of padding cut down,but don't stop out right, on feeding.

:2. will snakes' shed cycles speed up at times? my Cali King shed just a few weeks ago and now he's in shed again.

He could be growing...cals do get bigger than four feet. But I would check and make sure he does not have mites, blister disease, etc.

hope this helped...but keep looking for info and contact GOOD breeders about questions. When it comes to weight, shedding, etc. different people have experienced different things…for one snake x feeding would make it fat, but for a different snake of the same kind x feeding does not make it fat.



Follow Ups:




[ Follow Ups ] [ The Kingsnake Forum ]