I've just taken on a cali king, not sure of the sex or age, but it is about 4ft long

it's not been handled very much at all and whenever you try to handle it, it gets pretty stressed and vents on you

already i suspect i've bitten off more than i can chew, as i walked past the viv earlier and it struck at the glass front

is there any hope at all that this snake will ever get used to being handled - or at least to a point where it won't strike or vent?
and any advice for trying to get it used to it would be appreciated if you have any ideas.

it's not had the best life really as the owner before me took it in from someone else too, who basically found it in their house when they moved in - in it's vivarium and it hadn't been fed or cleaned out in months.
they'd had it for just about a year and son;t have time to sort it out any more, which is why it's come to me.

I would try and handle it everyday, enough to get it used to you but not too much that it becomes another source of stress. Do yourself a favour and buy marigold gloves, even though the bites don't hurt much it takes a lot of the shock factor out of things when it does strike. This does two things, learns it that the bites are innefective and that you taste 'orrible. Hopefully in time the biting will lessen or stop. Likewise stricking at the glass is probably more to do with the stress of a new environment, and with time and handling this should stop. Also feed it in a ventilated plastic box, not in it's viv, because that way it wont equate a hand coming in with food and this should lessen the urge to strike also.

At four foot long I reckon it's more or less fully grown. There's a chance it will always be hand shy, as it doesn't sound like it's not had the best upbringing. Even so I think he'll probably calm down a lot given time and attention.

Just thought of something else I heard - but you need to research this a bit because I don't know how true this is - but another way I heard to deal with fiesty snakes is to keep the viv temps at the lower end of what's acceptable for the species, as the warmer they are the more livelier, the cooler the more docile. research this though because I wouldn't like to reccomend anything that is ultimately cruel or uncomfortable for the animal. Perhaps as a temporary measure it might be ok until the snakes more used to you.

well, my friend came round, told me to man up & just get on with it, as she/he/it (though i feel bad about saying it!) did need cleaning out.

it's not too bad to handle really, not bitey, but does flinch a lot and try venting on you

i did want to feed it in a separate box to be fair, but it's not a fast eating snake apparently so the mice have to just be left at the left hand side of the viv for it to eat them in its own time

we're guessing the striking was just stress earlier, as she'd only been int he house a few hours. but she's cleaned out, everything is arranged and the heat lamp has been swapped for a heat mat
(she's had a heat lamp with no guards on it whatsoever in the viv. very lucky that she'd not been burned by that)

she's been given her mice though, let her chill out, settle in and digest them over the weekend.

but just regular handling, and with gloves if she turns mouthy, then?
cool. thanks for the post

I had a CKS a lifetime ago very beautiful.

Mine was pretty good, if it struck at all it usually meant it was hungry as I recall, good luck with it.

Sorry, had the wrong glasses on, thought he was biting too. If it's just the venting and flinching I reckon he/she'll be good as gold after a bit more handling. Oh and IMO heat mats are a much better option.

they are, i don't care much for the bulbs after seeing one of the corns at college with a huge scarification after burns caused by it curling up round an un-guarded heat lamp

i didn't know it wasn't a biter at the time of my original post, so it could have been, i was judging it by it's demeanour in it's enclosure, so no need to apologise

Love this thread. It shows the level of care, knowledge and diversity for different animals present in this forum.

I know virtually nothing about snakes so I am really curious to know what venting is (it sounds a bit unpleasant). Also please can we have a pic, would love to know what your cali king looks like.

Yes a pic would be great.

BTW, do Cali kings need to be kept on there own? I've heard they are cannibalistic towards other snakes.

Here's a pic of him/her
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._2007808_n.jpg

the cannibalism is true of most (if not all) king snakes as far as i'm aware
so yes they do need to be kept alone

and Ninja Kitty - Venting is basically pooing, so it's not very pleasant, no

What a beautiful snake and thanks for explaining the venting ewwwwwwwww!

Now that's a bonny looking lad/lass.