Well, I never thought I'd keep anything other than ball pythons, nothing else really captivated me like ball pythons, until this past weekend when I met this little noodle! Shaun's (PrototypePythons) little girl Caitlin named him for me - his name is Skittles!

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e90/rabernet/Skittles/IMG_4646.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e90/rabernet/Skittles/IMG_4640.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e90/rabernet/Skittles/IMG_4639.jpg

He's settled in nicely and already had two f/t mouse pinks for me. He still musks, but less frequently than at first.

I'm in love with a king snake!!!

Nothing wrong with Kings, nice addition, congrats! :letsparty:

nice king like the stripe

Musking is their way of saying how much they appreciate all the hard work and care that you are putting into them, if you are lucky enough he will musk your clothes and you can share that smell of love with the rest of the outside world...:D

Nice looking king, good addition!

Very nice King :)

Cool Robin. I felt my reptile life would be nothing but boas & pythons until I got a western hognose in my hands. Now that I have a pair I'm absolutely smitten. Its funny how a different species you never really think about or overlook catches ya up quick when you get your hands on one.

Thanks everyone - I love him!

Bryon - I've been eyeing the hogs too, but know zilch on their husbandry right now.

Noooo....I think this hobby is turning into a multi-species obsession! Good thing the company name I chose ends with "reptiles" instead of "balls" now! LOL (haven't officially announced it since there's no website yet).

Sigh......off to go look at more colubrid pictures! :D

Love the stripe and nothing wrong with a diverse collection

Very nice striped king.

Yeah I like those guys too!

Back when I kept snakes I had a lot of colubrids. The kings were my favorite. They are such a diverse group even without the mutations. You got your grey bandeds, your Mexican blacks, the calis with their different patterns, all sorts of milks which are just kingsnakes with "milk" in front of their name, lots to choose from.

My all time favorites were the desert phase cal kings and the Mexican blacks. You find a top quality specimen of either of those and its a really sharp looking snake.

And ease of care? Oh my, kings couldnt be any easier once you get them started. Cals usually kick in right away but sometimes the grey banded or the TINY ones like the multi colored Arizona mountain kings need a little help. Some of them are too small as babies to eat a pinkie. Or you gotta find a teeny weeny itsy bitsy pinkie which means you pretty much have to chase a pregnant mouse around with a catchers mitt.

I got really addicted to kings. An adult can live quite comfortably in a medium sweater box so I just kept buying more and more. And I didnt have to worry so much about high temps. Of course I gave them hot spots but if the temps did drop they did just fine. I never had a colubrid come down with RI. I cant recall any of my colubrids ever getting sick with the exception of one that was born kinked and did ok for a while and then died. And you really cant call a birth defect being sick so...

Nice lookin' albino stripe. Almost a perfect stripe and that one seems to have that lavender tinge that some of the albino kings have. I dig it.

Back when I kept snakes I had a lot of colubrids. The kings were my favorite. They are such a diverse group even without the mutations. You got your grey bandeds, your Mexican blacks, the calis with their different patterns, all sorts of milks which are just kingsnakes with "milk" in front of their name, lots to choose from.

My all time favorites were the desert phase cal kings and the Mexican blacks. You find a top quality specimen of either of those and its a really sharp looking snake.

And ease of care? Oh my, kings couldnt be any easier once you get them started. Cals usually kick in right away but sometimes the grey banded or the TINY ones like the multi colored Arizona mountain kings need a little help. Some of them are too small as babies to eat a pinkie. Or you gotta find a teeny weeny itsy bitsy pinkie which means you pretty much have to chase a pregnant mouse around with a catchers mitt.

I got really addicted to kings. An adult can live quite comfortably in a medium sweater box so I just kept buying more and more. And I didnt have to worry so much about high temps. Of course I gave them hot spots but if the temps did drop they did just fine. I never had a colubrid come down with RI. I cant recall any of my colubrids ever getting sick with the exception of one that was born kinked and did ok for a while and then died. And you really cant call a birth defect being sick so...

Nice lookin' albino stripe. Almost a perfect stripe and that one seems to have that lavender tinge that some of the albino kings have. I dig it.

Thanks for your post - it was really helpful! I'm really enjoying the experience of keeping this little guy - even when he musks me. I keep the handling positive and as soon as he's calm for a couple minutes, I put him back up - hoping he'll associate calm behavior getting him what he wants (to be left alone), not the undesirable behavior (I almost said bad - but he's not intentionally trying to be bad) getting him what he wants, which is to scare me off.

I can't wait until he gets some real substance to him - but I'm enjoying his "babyhood" as well!

Yeah , the size throws me too. I'm not used to feeding off mouse pinks.

Yeah , the size throws me too. I'm not used to feeding off mouse pinks.

Heck, I'm not used to laying food down in the enclosure and it just being eaten with no zombie dance.

I feed live to all my ball pythons so this f/t thing is all new to me too.
;) But definitely easier for me with one little worm to feed.

con grats i have a few cal kings i think they are cool they like to bite

nice king! Very pretty snake! :cheers:

Very nice Robin!! Nice name too..

Alan

Nice little Cali Robin! You are doomed now for sure because you will not be able to stop at just one! Western hognose care is easy, same temp range as BP's without the humidity (except during shed). They have the best personalities out there IMO!!!