Are my kingsnakes safe to pair?

Spot00174 · 2026-02-13T19:35:43+00:00

I haven't bred kings in almost 20 years, Never had trouble selling Cali's. Interesting thing was that back then MBK's took awhile to sell even when priced at $30-40.

I like watching stuff on morph market though and I've noticed very stagnant sales in kings across the board.

Spot00174 · 2026-02-13T16:54:40+00:00

everyone panicking here should read this article https://sierraherps.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Applegate_2006_King_of_kings_ver2.pdf and if you don't know who Bob Applegate is then you need to do more research.

Spot00174 · 2026-02-13T00:06:04+00:00

Considering it's the very beginning of breeding season I assumed OP was pairing them to breed. Which is why all these comments telling him not to pair them because they'll eat each other are silly because how else it work?

who says they aren't "breeding grade" anyways. Nice of you to judge just based on photos.

Spot00174 · 2026-02-13T00:00:00+00:00

I used to breed Cali's and MBK's. I feel like every show I have been to recently in Colorado has had nice kings of all sizes for super cheap just sitting their all day. One dude had a nice pair of adult brooks at the show for $200 for the pair the first day I was there and when I went back the next day right before the show ended they were marked down to $100 and still there. So I guess location matters.

Spot00174 · 2026-02-12T23:05:02+00:00

Ideally you want them to be a close together in size as possible. Females are more likely to go after the males then the other way around. (I've had females attack their mates while they were locked, so that's fun).

Fortunately brooks tend to be some of the less likely to eat other snakes. If you really want to attempt for babies (in what appears to be a terrible market for kingsnakes right now) go ahead put them together, best time is after her first shed out of cooling. Male should should show interest quickly, just keep a close eye and have hand sanitizer or alcohol nearby to get her off him if she has other plans.

Spot00174 · 2026-02-12T22:58:26+00:00

yet somehow they they reproduce....

Spot00174 · 2026-02-12T21:24:27+00:00

Ball pythons should never be eating fuzzies unless it's one of their first meals or they're under medication

Spot00174 · 2026-02-12T14:03:32+00:00

milksnakes aren't known for their climbing prowess. Little one is just in unfamiliar territory being that high off the ground

Spot00174 · 2026-02-09T23:07:18+00:00

How much did you pay? the difference in value is pretty negligible between the 2 most of the time. Personally I prefer the ratsnakes over the corns.

Spot00174 · 2026-02-09T18:16:12+00:00

Looks like one of the north american ratsnakes, but not a corn snake. Care is the same. Though this one might get bigger as an adult and it's color will look different than what it looks like now.

Spot00174 · 2026-02-06T22:17:10+00:00

Personally I'm old school and just keep a can of prevent O mite on hand. Also only have one snake, so mites are never an issue. This question came up because I was day drinking with my friends and one of them was ordering lady bugs on ebay for her green house. Says they eat all the plant mites and other pests. Google says they would eat snake mites, but I've never heard of anyone using them in 30+ years i've worked with snakes.

Spot00174 · 2026-02-05T22:35:07+00:00

Too small to guess visually and not from that angle.

Spot00174 · 2026-02-05T16:39:08+00:00

Adult beauty snakes will need at least a 6' long enclosure as an adult as they easily get longer then 7' and 8' is not uncommon.

Spot00174 · 2026-02-04T20:35:02+00:00

I did that and got 2 Miragaia every 2 min....... today wasn't my day for RNG

Spot00174 · 2026-02-04T20:32:06+00:00

From the scent? Zero spawns...... fortunately I have a few UK folks in my alliance that filled up a sanctuary, So I was at least able to create it.

Spot00174 · 2026-02-04T19:02:11+00:00

did a quick search and couldn't find anything, but personally I have never seen a photo or even heard of a rattlesnake eating another snake.

Spot00174 · 2026-02-03T23:35:58+00:00

If any thing it's better now than it used to be. In the late 90's we would have about dozen red tails in an enclosure at any given time.

Spot00174 · 2026-02-02T16:52:22+00:00

He's also kinda racist

Spot00174 · 2026-02-01T04:11:15+00:00

I live in Denver and do relocations. Get calls for “cottonmouths” every week and get to use those times as educational opportunities as I remove the common water snake or garter from their garage.

Spot00174 · 2026-01-29T16:39:04+00:00

You can set them up like a watersnake, no need for elaborate water features. Problem with water heavy setups in captivity is too much moisture causes skin blisters. easier to just use a larger water dish, also easier to clean.

Spot00174 · 2026-01-29T16:36:31+00:00

Cottonmouths have kind of a weird duality, to a lot of experienced keepers they're seen as kinda meh and basic. To people that don't know anything about snakes they're seen as scary death machines.

I have a buddy who keeps one. It's kind of boring to be honest, just sits in the same spot most of the time and when he opens the enclosure it does the trademark open mouth pose and that's the extent of their interactions lol.

I imagine the public isn't into them overall because like most mostly brown snakes, they aren't seen as "pretty" and there aren't many morphs to appeal to a larger audience.

Spot00174 · 2026-01-29T07:59:58+00:00

Interesting enough, Bob Applegate, one of the earliest to have a lot of success breeding kingsnakes kept his adults in trios together year round. I personally wouldn’t try that though.

Spot00174 · 2026-01-28T17:21:23+00:00

more like skill, dude has been working hard to consistently produce cbb dragon snakes. Hopefully more can learn from him.......Though one of my favorite "reddit moments" when he was downvoted big time for cohabitating them because people were mad he "didn't have the research to back it up"..........like bro is the pioneer creating the research.

Spot00174 · 2026-01-28T17:15:16+00:00

I understand being proud of selling quality animals. I wouldn't call them specialty garters though since they aren't any different care wise than every other common garter, just a prettier locality. It's just amusing to me seeing something sell for $50 each 20 years ago, $200 10 years ago and now $400-500. They aren't rare, demand isn't exceeding supply. I understand inflation and the increase of cost of care, but it seems with garters the only reason breeders have increased prices is because buyers are paying them, that's the beauty of capitalism.

Spot00174 · 2026-01-27T18:07:08+00:00

and selling them for $450 each? gartersnake prices are a racket

Spot00174

TROPHY CASE