cali king snake???

i have a californian kingsnake and hes a fantastic little fella!

Hes non-agresive except around shedding time, eats fine, sheds fine and is genereally a wicked guy.

not to mention he has a cute little face!

never had any problems with him, before i had him the previous owner lost him for 9 months when he escaped out fo the tank but turned up one day fine!

id definatly recomnend a cali mate!

absolutly spot on snake!

I have both cornsnakes and cali king and I would take a cornsnake over a king any day of the week. The kingsnakes tend to be flighty unless handled alot. They bite, musk, and crap on you all the time. My corns never do that. Babies rarely will tail rattle or musk, but most tame down immediately. I've had many clutches of corns and only one baby out of there that has remained flightly. My cali still has not tamed down after a year. As far as ease of care though...they are just as easy to take care of as a cornsnake. They are kept the exact same way-so in that respect, they are ideal for first time owners. They are also beautiful snakes. If you get the snake from a reputable breeder and not from a petshop, you run little risk of someone "slipping" you a cornsnake. If you can't tell the difference between them though.....then you are on your own!

If you can keep a beardy alive then in all reality your probably competent enough for any number of snakes. A cal king would be a great first snake for someone with less experience than you since they are hardy, docile, and generally stay under 5ft. The down side to them is that they aren't particularly active, have a hard time eating anything larger than a mouse or a very small rat, and their pattern is usually sort of plain. For someone with reptile experience i would recommend one of the smaller breeds of boas or pythons as they are generally more entertaining snakes and tolerate being handled better than colubrids (kingsnakes, cornsnakes, and ratsnakes). Of course the best thing to do is to go to a reptile show or convention and browse until you find the snake that seems right for you.

Absolutely. Don't let someone slip you a corn snake. I remember those being difficult to handle. Kingsnakes though, are darling, if they are used to being handled.

This means - get it young (and don't be afraid to get nipped and pooped on a few times), or get it from somewhere you trust to have raised it to be accustomed to handling.

Putting a link in the sources, because I found the handling part to sum up exactly what I remembered from my reptile study courses.

Yes, my first snake was a blotched cali king, but sure enough i have about 13 cali kings now! I have ablino, banded, reversed banded, and blotched!!!! I figure they are a good choice but they are famous for gettting out of their cages, just last night i lost my beloved Benji, he got out f his cage and hes loose in my house!!!!!

kings are really cool, they can be active in the tank (sometimes) but musk like crazy when young until they get used to you, then they can be a little too laid back. when i handle mine now he just kind of hangs out, another good choice is a ball python. vary active at all times of the day and night, and when handling really curious and loves to explore.

*A Cal king would be great I have 4 of them and the corn snakes are great also and easy to care for we have 7 of them.

A Cal gopher are great too.