King Snake Temps??!

[catydid1126]

out of curiosity, b/c I haven't ever kept one... What are the temps that a king snake should be kept at? I can explain more if there is more to explain once I know the temps [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] thank you!

Cathy [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]
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[Karen]

I dont have any anymore but when I did I kept mine at 85 warm end and 75-78 cool end. Did ya get a kingsnake? [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
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[catydid1126]

I didn't ...but this moron (I mean girl) that I work with has one... I would say that he is about 5 feet long from her description of him... he is kept in a 60 gallon tank with a "cave" and a heat rock! UGH! a heat rock... I know I know... I have tried to tell her about the heat rocks... but it doesn't matter... she is a moron! They (she and her husband) also feed it 5 mice at a time -LIVE-...all dropped in together! According to her the snake kills them all and then goes and eats them... but he won't touch anything that has been killed before he gets to it. I told her that he would if he were hungry enough...she just doesn't want to bother with it! She says that they are keeping the snake in its tank outside now b/c the weather is nicer, and they aren't using the heat rock at all in the summers... I asked how they were controlling the temps from being to hot or to cold... and her reply is "well he is just fine" --I was like "it isn't like he can just speak up and tell you that he is to cold! or that he isn't feeling well" ...ugh! she just passes it off... It is her hubbys snake, and I know that she isn't going to tell him to change how he has raised it since it was a baby... They feed it live snakes sometimes too... ugh! it just bothers me to see these idiots trying to take care of another living being (they also have a baby now) and not know how to take care of it! ugh ugh ugh!

Anyway... so that is basically the story... any thoughts? lol!

Cathy

[eddie]

Not to mention that in direct sunlight, the impurities in the glass ca act like a magnifying glass and raise the temps to a point of cooking the snake.

Don't be too harsh with her about it but just be persistant in helping her out with it.
Make a trip out to see it and then give her suggestions and tips. She'll come around eventually.
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[catydid1126]

Eddie... thank you for the reply...though I don't believe that I will be making a trip out to her place...she doesn't want the help [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img] ...she doesn't care about the snake... It is her husbands, and she just goes on with what he tells her is right...she has no mind of her own, and he likes it that way. That is what I was thinking though when I told her about my concern about keeping the snake outside...the crazy high temps could kill it... not to mention it still can get into the 60s here at night ( I would think that is to cool for it...especially after being practically fried during the day) UGH! SO SO SO frustrating!

I sent her the link to that article Lori (I believe) posted a while back on the danger of feeding live and the pics of that poor ball... it made no impact on her...she just passed it off, and stands on that their snake hasn't been bitten -yet- so they will continue as they are... Not to mention that the snake hasn't ever seen a vet! UGH! Can you imagine the parasites and such in that thing [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img] UGH!

I hope that she learns from some of the tips that I give her, and that she does pass them on to her idiot of a husband... pray for the change! UGH!

Cathy
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[eddie]

hmmm.....
Ok.
When it is time for a rescue, then you know what ya got to do..
Unless it is too late then...
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Keeping it outside, very bad. Unless it's in a non glass containing cage and has some refuge from direct sun , like a hide in the shade. That doesn't sound like the case.

60's at night aren't really anything to worry about for a Colubrid, they experience them all the time in the wild.

feeding multiple live mice at one time is bad, although the mice will most likely retreat as far as possible from the snake. I highly doubt it kills them all and then goes back and eats them, snakes just aren't that smart...

Feeding it live snakes I don't really have a problem with, Kings eat live snakes in the wild all the time. Now, if they're feeding it w/c snakes, then there's the parasite issue.

If she won't listen, there's not much you can do. You can keep trying to bang your head against the wall and maybe it will filter through. Most people aren't very good at admitting they're wrong, espically when they use the "well, it's worked fine so far".


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[catydid1126]

thanks J... I believe that it is a regular 60 gallon aquarium that they have him in... her hubby has built some sort of "cave" something where there is like a false bottom in the tank and that leaves some room for the snake to hide under there... does that make sense... I know that is where the dreaded heat rock is when it is cooler here... they have that on (and I have warned her several times about that already) and keep him in the garage when it isn't summer. She swears that the snake kills all 5 mice first and then goes back for them... I don't believe it... but there doesn't seem to be anything that I can do [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img] I have tried to get her to start buying frozen for 2 reasons -1- health of the animal -2- cost... she won't go for that though...says that the snake is "to used to feeding on live" that it wouldn't go for something that was dead before he got to it... UGH! They have fed it snakes, and I know in the wild that would be alright, or if the snake was CB and the food item snake was CB that it would be alright... but this isn't the case... I don't know if their king snake is CB or not...but they feed it wild caught snakes out of their yard... just pick them on up, and throw them on in... UGH!

Frustrates me to no end! Can't wait to be out of here!

and Eddie you are right... a rescue may be necessary... but I feel that I would be to late if I did find out some action was needed [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img]

btw-- I wasn't sure about the night time temp... just thought I would mention it since it seemed pretty low to me... but then again... I am not really familiar with the care of colubrids [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Thank you all!
Cathy [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
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[Thade]

Ok what she says makes no sense. Snakes can't count that I know of. So if it kills the prey first then goes back and eats it after they are all dead.....then it IS eating prekilled prey, and by the time it got to killing the last on the first few would already be getting cooled off.
Just a thought [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Thade
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[catydid1126]

Thade... I was fairly sure they couldn't count [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] lol!.... she is a moron though... that I have figured out a long long time ago...

I believe that I will just have to tell myself that there isn't anything that I am going to be able to tell her that is going to change the way that she or her husband care for the snake [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img] Stinks... but I would say that is the sad truth [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img]

Cathy
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I believe that I will just have to tell myself that there isn't anything that I am going to be able to tell her that is going to change the way that she or her husband care for the snake [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img] Stinks... but I would say that is the sad truth [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img]
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sometimes that's just the way it is...at least you know they're not starving it...

*mutters under breath* even if they are slow cooking it outside

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