Meet our Gator

[Jentortmom]

Meet Gator our new addition to the family...

S/he is a florida kingsnake, about 12" long and 7-8 weeks old.

Any advice is much appreciated as we have been researching cornsnakes and got this guy instead, now I am paranoid - I want to make sure everything is right for him.

 

[Itort]

Great snakes. I had a pair of south floridas. The male DH (Diamondback Hunter) was 5'6" long and the female ME (Moccason Eater) was 5'. A word of advice, wash hands after handleing any other herp or food item before handleing it. This is the voice of experience. After cleaning my boa cage I went to clean them and ended up with my thumb in the mouth of ME. Stupid me.

 

[Crazy1]

Jen, I don't know anything about florida kingsnakes but wanted to congratulate you on your new family addition.

 

[Itort]

The care of these guys is pretty straight forward. You'll need a a sweater box with a tight fitting lid, I used newspaper for substrat, a shallow water dish (nontippable), and normal room temp is good. I assume he is eating thawed frozen mice (fuzzies). As I said he will get to a nice manageable size. I think kings and milksnakes are great snakes.

 

[JustAnja]

Jen I hate to tell you but thats not a Florida King. Thats a Desert Kingsnake. (Lampropeltus getula splendida) We have a pair of adult breeders. Congrats on your new snake, but you might want to google this species for care info as it will vary from that of a FL King.

 

[janiedough]

don't these things get huge as opposed to corn snakes?

 

[Jentortmom]

Jen I hate to tell you but thats not a Florida King. Thats a Desert Kingsnake. (Lampropeltus getula splendida) We have a pair of adult breeders. Congrats on your new snake, but you might want to google this species for care info as it will vary from that of a FL King.

Thanks for that info.. The liars.. Oh well my son and I will love him the same..

 

[JustAnja]

My adult Desert Kings are maybe 4-4.5ft and not quite as big around as a quarter. They are not large and some of my Cornsnake adults are larger than the Deserts.

Jen where did the snake come from? Allot of pet stores have no clue what they are selling the majority of the time.

 

[Jentortmom]

They got it at petsmart, and obviously they didn't know anything, they made my kid get it out of the cage, cause the lady was scared of them. I wanted them to go to this all reptile store where they know a lot and are very helpful. Do they need uvb and a heat lamp?? I've been reading all morning and I get both answers so I want to know whats best and that is what s/he will get. He is in a 10 gallon tank right now with my turtle lights on him, my sons bday is in may so my parents are going to buy him a bigger tank and stuff. he currently is on aspen with a large water dish and a ritz bitz box for a hide and a fake plant thing on the top of the box. I am actually shocked at how docile s/he is, it is nervous when we brought out of the tank this am, but once out it wrapped around my sons hand and inspected him, then just moved around his arm, hand, and belly. My biggest fear is not feeding him enough, hubby said that he eats on thursdays, so will one pinkie be enough for a 12" snake? His widest part is between a dime and a nickle ( I think). How do you know if he needs more, and at what length can you tell the sex.

 

[JustAnja]

He does not need UVB. In a 10 gallon tank I would only provide an Under Tank Heater appropriately sized for a 10 gal. You can pick them up at any pet store. Eventually a 30 gallon long tank will be plenty big enough for an adult Desert King. One pinky is fine for now, but get the biggest pinky you can get. He could even eat a rat pinky at that size. If they are small pinks feed him 2-3. Keep the food size according to the girth of the snake. It should be about equal.

 

[Jentortmom]

I will go this afternoon and get a heat mat, is 85 a good temp for him?? Thanks so much, I always worry about making sure the husbandry is right. Is a large waterbowl enough humidity or should I make him a humid hide? If I make him a humid hide should I use moss or the sponge trick?

 

[JustAnja]

The water bowl should provide plenty of humidity for this particular species. 85 should be good.

 

[Jentortmom]

Thanks.

 

[JustAnja]

Anytime

 

[Jentortmom]

I got the under tank heater but it says since I am using aspen I should put a liner down first then the aspen. Is this tru?? Is it better to have it under the tank or on the side?

 

[JustAnja]

Put it on the underside of the tank on one end. It should be just fine.

 

[Itort]

I got the under tank heater but it says since I am using aspen I should put a liner down first then the aspen. Is this tru?? Is it better to have it under the tank or on the side?

A question about this heater, if you need a liner over the pad that is adhired to underside of the tank, doesn't that say there is risk of fire and or burning the animal ? Wouldn't a basking light and flat rock be a better option?

 

[JustAnja]

I got the under tank heater but it says since I am using aspen I should put a liner down first then the aspen. Is this tru?? Is it better to have it under the tank or on the side?

A question about this heater, if you need a liner over the pad that is adhired to underside of the tank, doesn't that say there is risk of fire and or burning the animal ? Wouldn't a basking light and flat rock be a better option?

Not in a ten gallon tank, I would not recommend a basking light for a 10gal at all. Can we say oven?

What she can do is not adhere the heater to the glass of the tank. Just leave it sitting below the tank, that gives a little space between it and the glass and it should be fine.

 

[Jentortmom]

Thanks guys

 

[Jacqui]

How is Gator doing?