Snake people?

California Kingsnake. 
If you have a heat pad, you do not also need a light.
Very secure screen top.  Don't get the kind from walmart...not very secure
ReptiBark or Aspen.
Bowl large enough for soaking.
Two hides.  One of the warm side, and one on the cool side.
It will probably eat pinkie mice.  Since it is wild caught, it may only eat live, but frozen would be MUCH better.  I would definitely try that first since it is injured, you don't want to risk more injury.  Not that a pinkie can do much damage, but it is easier to transition at younger ages.  I would wait a few days before trying to feed.  After shed.  Put him in a small dark box for feeding and leave him be.  Cal Kings are usually great eaters.  Right now, the smaller tank will be better.  Add some extra hides for security...even TP rolls work great at this size. 

http://www.repticzone.com/caresheets/1600.html
here's a little fact sheet with some extra info

I live in florida, and a few years back i found a little king snake when i was fishing. since i was in a cow pasture i was worried the cattle would trample him (my landlord treated his cattle like pets and they were being nosey while i was fishing)
I took him home with me, not far from where i was fishing anyway, i figured he was safer there and would be useful in eating the mice in the barn.

just curious, are you keeping him for a little while because he's injured or are you thinking of keeping him as a pet?
i dont know about your state laws, if they are protected or not, but it might not hurt to check up on that.
one of my cousin's found a particularly rare snake in her yard, Corn Snake, she home schools her kids so they kept him for a few weeks to study him and what kinds of things they eat. i suggested they find out if there was a captive breeding program for them and donating the snake in the name of species preservation. Not sure if she did or not. I do know that there are a lot of cats in her area and such a small snake is at risk of being eaten by cats []

Thank you thank you for the extra info. I will be getting things setup on Monday. He/she is currently being housed in a plastic container. Close to the kind breeders keep their snakes in. Luckily I had some pine shavings left. I will just put a piece of wood in there to help him remove his skin. And keep him in the warmest room in the house until things are setup.
 
I knew he was a California King, they are everywhere around here.  They keep the rattlesnake population down. But they are very pretty snakes. I prefer them over cornsnakes and gophersnakes. The reason I mentioned the light/lid is because I'm going to use the fish tank, which has that kind of lid on it. Luckily, this lid is a complete seal. I guess I can just remove the light part, and let the natural light show through the glass.
 
If there's anything else, let me know.
 
Hopefully none of his injuries kill him. You never know if he was damaged internally.

I never thought about laws against keeping California Kings.... I'll be checking on that before I make a decision. I would like to keep him. My children love animals as much as I do, and would love to watch him grow.

On that aquarium lid, does it have tiny little holes at the back for air lines or cords?  I've never seen one without...if she, he can get out.  Plus, he needs a lot more ventilation that an aqarium lid can provide.  They don't need high humidity and that will make it too high.  I would get rid of the pine shavings.  They have oils in them similar to cedar.  Aspen is safe.  Pine will be ok for short term, but not for a permanent solution.  I really like the ReptiBark because it looks nice, but it is a bit expensive.  So, I alternate between that and Aspen. You can put neosporin on his injuries to help him heel faster too.  Now that I'm thinking about the injuries, I would keep him on paper towels until he is heeled.  That will keep any dirt from getting in the cuts or sticking to them.  Much cleaner!

DumDog(sorry, I dont know your real name!) Corn snakes are actually very common snakes.  There are many, many breeders and tons of color morphs now.  They are very common in petstores and usually sell for around $20-$40 for common color morphs. 

This is only a temporary setup, but it will work until I gather a few things. He's without a heating pad until tomorrow evening. He should be fine though, it's 78 in there currently. The lid situation will be handled this week. All the little holes or cracks are sealed up. And the light that you see in the tank was only turned on for the picture. It's way too bright for the poor guy.
 
At least he's not in pieces because of Mr Kitty! I felt so bad for him when I walked out onto the porch and saw him coiled up.
 

Looks good to me!

You are doing great. I love kingsnakes, they are so gentle.

Snakes are a lot more delicate than people think. It might be a good idea to take him to the vet and get some antibiotics into him.

I doubt they are protected, we used to catch them all the time, too, when I lived in CA.

Tank looks good.  My hubby has 5 snakes, one of which is gravid(pregnant)  We use newspaper for the substrate.  It can't get in their mouths!  I'd try the frozen pinkie also he may take two of them. After he sheds again, I'd try to move him to "hopper" mice.  Just don't feed him in his tank.  He'll think that anything that comes into "his" tank is food!  If you do feed live food, don't leave the mouse in the tank for more than 45 minutes if the snake doesn't eat it.  Mice can chew on the snake a cause injuries!  If you need anymore help/info, just e-mail me.  My hubby is an expert on snakes and he'll be glad to help!

ORIGINAL: Bullymom

Tank looks good.  My hubby has 5 snakes, one of which is gravid(pregnant)  We use newspaper for the substrate.  It can't get in their mouths!  I'd try the frozen pinkie also he may take two of them. After he sheds again, I'd try to move him to "hopper" mice.  Just don't feed him in his tank.  He'll think that anything that comes into "his" tank is food!  If you do feed live food, don't leave the mouse in the tank for more than 45 minutes if the snake doesn't eat it.  Mice can chew on the snake a cause injuries!  If you need anymore help/info, just e-mail me.  My hubby is an expert on snakes and he'll be glad to help!

Not trying to argue, I promise!  Fuzzies come after pinkies.  But some people get tiny hoppers so they skip fuzzies.  What kind of snakes does your husband raise?  I have a pair of Mexican Milksnakes that I'm trying to get a good clutch out of this year.  My incubator malfunctioned last year and I lost all of the eggs.

He has a female Albino Burmese Python w/ Het for albino male.  She is gravid and about 15 ft long.
A regular Reticulated Python about 13 ft long.
Tiger Retic mating pair

ORIGINAL: ColleenC


DumDog(sorry, I dont know your real name!) Corn snakes are actually very common snakes.  There are many, many breeders and tons of color morphs now.  They are very common in petstores and usually sell for around $20-$40 for common color morphs. 

no worries, my name is Gin, but i didnt write it in the sig. box because it seems there are already a couple of gins running around here. dont want to add confusion.. just... call me DD i guess lol - thats what my husband wanted to name Kaydee until i asked if it stood for "Dumb Dog".. he didnt like to connotations and i didnt like the name DD..

Anyhoo, just going by what i was told by an old timer about corn snakes. i assumed he knew what he was talking about, but then again, this guy seems to think he knows everything and doesnt like being questioned. You know how old men can be... he's also ex military so he's even more of a grouch about being questioned.
We had an incident once involving a copperhead and an MGB convertible that had been parked with the top down under a pear tree for several years. We bought it, and my husband drove it home the night we bought it. The next day my husband was working on repairing the rusted floorboards (i called it the Flintstone's Car because you could see the pavement through the floor) i was in the office when my husband came inside looking scared to death. the way he was acting i thought maybe he had cut himself and needed to be driven to ER.... no, he said he found a snake in the floorboard, all coiled up and ready to strike. he wasnt sure, but it looked like a copperhead ( he has only seen two coppers in his whole life since i've been with him) So when he said snake... i then got scared thinking it bit him! ...no, just scared him, especially since he thought it was poisonous. I went outside to look to make sure.... some species look like copperheads, but its mimicry... Sure enough it was a copperhead, a young one, ready to shed its skin. its eyes were milky and i couldnt see the pupils (a dead give away besides the pits on its face) then the snake slithered under the seat.......... which was a  bad thing! The guy nextdoor saw us tearing this car apart and heard us talking so he came over to help us find it. He got a half a glimpse of this snake and said it was a corn snake, "they're worth a lot of money!", and proceeds to stick his bare arm up under the seat cushion, feeling around all over the place.... he wouldnt listen to me, nooooo he knew what it was. [:@] what did i know? i'm just a girl, a house wife, no better than a third grader that plays with barbie dolls all day..... Well, fine. i went back in the house and made sure the phone was close by for when he got bitten. I wasnt gonna drive him to the hospital. they could come get him themselves.....
We never did find the snake... and no, the guy nextdoor didnt get bitten, but i dont know why not. Fortunately my husband believed me and gave up searching. the guy nextdoor went home after some convincing that the snake was probably long gone by now..... I guess there were so many holes in that car that it escaped without notice. the only thing we can figure is the it took up residence in the car because because it was easy pickin's, eating the mice and rats that came after the pears... and this car was FILLED with pears.


Also about the little king snake's injuries.... there should be medicine designed just for reptiles.... one product is called sulfabath i think.... i know some people use it on their turtles.  If he has really bad punctures then you might want to call a vet or a local herpatologist. Since you live in California there should be listings in the phonebook.... lots of reptiles out there []
From what i've read in the past, broken ribs dont mean much to a snake since they have so many of them. but i dont know if that info is outdated. it still wont hurt to ask someone and have him assessed. he might need extra care with punctures.

ORIGINAL: Bullymom

He has a female Albino Burmese Python w/ Het for albino male.  She is gravid and about 15 ft long.
A regular Reticulated Python about 13 ft long.
Tiger Retic mating pair

My friend actually got an albino burm. male and het albino female(possibly het for sunglow{I think thats the word im looking for}) just a few weeks ago!  I think I'll stick with smaller snakes!  I don't want anything big enough to eat my dogs!  They are cool to look at though!  I think my next venture will be a pair of hypo honduran milksnakes.
I agree with the others, if these are puncture wounds, a vet visit is in order.  Scratches are one thing, but punctures are much more serious in snakes because of they way they are built.

Not quite holes. I guess he was lucky Mr Kitty didn't make him into a snack. He's moving around good though. No blood, or open wounds anymore. They have closed. It was more like a few deep scratches.