Grey band Kingsnakes? (questions)

oscar

New member
just as the last show came around in my area i started to become interested in grey banded kingsnakes. their grey and brilliant oranges really started catching my eye. i hadnt seen any at the show previously so i really didnt give it much thought and didnt research too much before the show. well of course one of the breeders had 2 babies.. one with a slight kink in its tail that he was selling for $25! i let them go cause i wast familar enough with them to buy them, but in 3 weeks another show will be coming around and i wanted to know what the board members here know about them besides their basic requirements.

i see that they arent all that popular on most of the classified sites and besides their tendency to be picky eaters when young, i am not clear on why. are they agressive? do they stress easily? are they hard to breed? or is it that they just arent that attractive to most people?

i do know that there are a ton of local specific morphs and was curious if this is one of the issues too.

Scott
 

Thomaz

New member
Well, If you buy 2 kingsnakes and one is bigger then the other, you end up with 1 snake, ... If you know what I mean :wink:

If they are the same size, you can keep them together

For the rest they aren't hard to keep.
 

oscar

New member
kingsnakes cannibalistic?!?! NO! you dont say!?!?!? :lol: just kidding :wink:

i have a cal king and that much i knew. it was more sp specific info i was looking for.

Scott
 

ScottW

New member
They are one of the most popular forms of kingsnakes, infact I would say they are the most popular form of kingsnake! I think its the variability of this species that makes them so popular on the pet trade. On kingsnake.com they have their own classifieds page that you may want to check! I dont seen how they are any more difficult to keep then your californae. The juvies have a bad reputation for being hard to switch over to mice as young but so do alot of the getula ssp. If you buy them at a show more than likely they are already eating f/t. I dont think a breeder would sell a lizard eating snake to someone who is new to them. I keep my w/c altera the same way I keep all my getula ssp. 75-80 degrees. Use aspen and news paper as a subsrate. They are primarily lizard eaters in the wild, Sceloporus are favorites of theirs! Sometimes the babies tend to be stubborn and only feed on lizards! I have heard that most will readily accept Med Geckos until you can successfully scent a pink with them.Try the Alterna forum on kingsnake.com for more thorough answers!
-scott W
 

oscar

New member
thanks Scott. i was kinda figuring that you'd be offering some advise.. or at least i was hoping so.

i look on KS's classifieds all the time and i have a pretty big list of online breeders that i check every once in a while, but in my 'travels', i've seen many times more cal kings than grey bands. maybe its just where i am looking.

one of my concerns is aggressiveness. i love the look of the alternas and some of the blairs, but it wont be worth it to me to get such a beautiful snake if i am constantly trying to avoid being tagged. i know many people dont worry about that much, but i do. maybe i'm just a wuss. :oops: :p

Scott
 

ReptileMan27

New member
Thomaz said:
Well, If you buy 2 kingsnakes and one is bigger then the other, you end up with 1 snake, ... If you know what I mean :wink:

If they are the same size, you can keep them together

For the rest they aren't hard to keep.
Even if there the same size its not a good idea to keep them together because snakes are solitary animals and keeping more then one together causes all kinds of health problems and dangers. The gray banded kings are beutiful but not the best king to start out with because they can be proble eaters. I would go with a cal or desert king.
 

oscar

New member
i'd heard that Jason and i wouldnt think of buying one that was nt feeding on f/t pinks.
btw.. i have a cal king already.

Scott
 
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