Kingsnakes are a popular choice for reptile enthusiasts, especially in areas like California, due to their manageable size, ease of care, and striking appearance. These snakes, known for their varied diets in the wild, primarily consume other snakes, even venomous ones, which is how they earned the name "kingsnake." This article delves into the dietary habits of kingsnakes, both in their natural habitat and in captivity, providing valuable insights for current and prospective kingsnake owners.
Natural Diet of Kingsnakes
In the wild, kingsnakes are opportunistic carnivores with a broad diet. Wild kingsnakes don’t have a preference for what they eat. Animals and other prey that are small enough to be devoured or swallowed in one piece are often preferred over larger ones. They are known to consume a variety of prey, with a preference for cold-blooded animals. Their fascination with snakes extends to both dangerous and non-poisonous varieties. As a result of their preference for cold-blooded prey such as frogs, kingsnakes can be found foraging for food in wetter regions. Their diet includes:
- Other Snakes: Kingsnakes actively search for other snakes as their prey, hence their name. When preying on a rattlesnake or any other venomous snakes, it uses a special technique that lets it bite the jaws of the prey to prevent it from fighting back. In this case, asphyxiating the snake victim is the strategy. The victim snake will eventually die of suffocation if it is unable to move as its head is trapped inside the kingsnake’s throat. These venomous snakes’ poison doesn’t affect them at all, so they are free to munch on them as they please.
- Rodents: Baby kingsnakes love to feast on tiny, pink mice. California kingsnakes will consume just about any animal or bird in the wilderness that is tiny enough to be overwhelmed and swallowed whole.
- Birds: Birds are a favorite meal for kingsnakes, and because these reptiles can climb trees, they can ambush birds in their natural habitat.
- Lizards: When they are freely living in the wild, they are mostly land dwellers, but they have the ability to climb trees to catch lizards and birds.
- Frogs: As a result of their preference for cold-blooded prey such as frogs, kingsnakes can be found foraging for food in wetter regions.
- Eggs: Despite the fact that they have teeth, kingsnakes do not crush eggs to eat them. Rather, they swallow them whole. Kingsnakes will eat any egg that they come across, as long as they are starving. It is not uncommon for pet owners to feed their kingsnakes some birds’ eggs while they are kept in captivity.
Kingsnakes have a distinctive hunting strategy. Once the snake has discovered its victim by scent, it snatches it by its mouth, slithering around it in a single second and strengthening its grip until its victim is unable to breathe anymore.
Feeding Kingsnakes in Captivity
When kept in captivity, kingsnakes typically eat rodents and mice. As kingsnakes generally eat these animals in the wild, there is not any problem feeding them the same in captivity. However, it's crucial to provide a varied diet to ensure optimal health. According to a 2019 study by Wiseman et al., wild kingsnakes are known to eat other snakes, small mammals, lizards, birds, reptile eggs, and amphibians. In other words, the key to providing a healthy, balanced diet for your pet snake is VARIETY. Provide as varied of a diet as you possibly can, and you will be rewarded with a healthier, less picky pet!
Here are some prey ideas for kingsnakes:
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- Mice
- Young rats
- African soft-furred rats
- Hamsters
- Gerbils
- Young quail
- Quail eggs
- Chicks
- Reptile eggs
- Green anoles
- House geckos
- Small snakes
- Reptilinks
These can generally be purchased from high-quality breeders such as Layne Labs, RodentPro, and Reptilinks.
It’s best to offer frozen-thawed prey rather than live to your pet snake. This is safer for the snake and generally considered to be more humane as well. Use soft-tipped feeding tweezers to reduce the risk of getting accidentally bitten when the snake strikes.
Feeding Frequency and Prey Size
How often they need to eat can be estimated by age:
- Hatchlings - every 5-7 days
- Juveniles - every 7-10 days
- Adults - every 10-14 days
The size of your snake’s prey should be no more than 1.5x the width of your kingsnake at its widest point, or roughly 10% of its body weight. If the snake seems to be getting fat, reduce the frequency of feedings or the size of the feeders.
But also keep in mind that these reptiles are not always willing to be fed more than once a week, especially if their previous meal is quite huge and heavy. Once the kingsnake reaches adulthood, it should be kept from becoming obese. When fed with a mouse or any huge mammal, the prey shall leave a lump inside the kingsnake’s body that might look a little bigger than its own diameter.
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Supplements
Snakes can survive without vitamin or mineral supplements, but using them occasionally is a good way to help prevent nutritional deficiencies. Every once in a while, lightly dust the prey item with a 50/50 mix of calcium and multivitamin before thawing. Arcadia Revitalise D3 and Repashy CalciumPlus are both good supplements to use.
Husbandry Considerations for a Healthy Diet
Creating the right environment is crucial for a kingsnake's overall health and feeding habits. Here are some essential factors to consider:
Enclosure Size
At a minimum, an adult colubrid’s enclosure should be large enough for the snake to stretch their full body out comfortably. This means that a 6-foot snake needs a terrarium with at least 6 feet of horizontal floor space. As the snake grows, pet parents should also increase the size of the snake’s habitat.
Lighting and Temperature
Kingsnakes are known to be active during both day and night, which means that providing bright illumination during the day is likely to be beneficial in stimulating activity and natural behaviors. You will need a nice bright 6500K LED or T5 HO fluorescent grow light, long enough to span most of the enclosure’s length.
Kingsnakes, however, are cold-blooded, which means that they have to move between areas of different temperatures in order to regulate their body temperature. Kingsnakes typically warm up by sleeping in warm patches of sunlight or warm burrows. In captivity, using a halogen flood heat bulb is the best way to replicate the type of warmth provided by sunlight.
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Basking surface: 85-90°F (29-32°C)
Cool side: 70-78°F (21-26°C)
NOTE: Specific optimal basking temperatures may vary by which subspecies you’re keeping. If your snake is basking for long periods of time daily, that’s a sign that it may need warmer temps. If it’s not basking at all and spending all of its time on the cool end, it likely needs cooler temps. Heat sources should be turned off at night.
You will need multiple heat bulbs to create a large enough basking area to evenly heat your kingsnake’s coiled body. Two bulbs should be enough for an average kingsnake. Create a warm hiding place for the snake to use by placing a black box hide under the heat lamps, with a flat basking stone on top.
To measure the basking surface temperature, use an infrared thermometer (a.k.a. temperature gun). To measure the temperature of the warm hide, use a digital probe thermometer.
Humidity
Kingsnakes generally need an average humidity of 40-60%, as measured by a digital probe hygrometer with the probe place in the middle of the enclosure. Humidity levels that are consistently higher or lower than this range can make your pet unwell, although it is normal for humidity to be higher on the cool end and lower on the warm end, as well as higher at night. Specific optimal humidity levels may vary by which subspecies you’re keeping.
To raise humidity in your snake’s enclosure, you can use a pressure sprayer to mist the habitat as needed. It’s also a good idea to place moistened sphagnum moss inside the cool hide to create a humid retreat. Check and change this moss regularly to prevent mold growth.
Substrate
Kingsnakes are healthiest and happiest when they are housed on a substrate (a.k.a. “bedding”) that imitates the conditions of their natural habitat and facilitates moderate humidity levels. Soil is generally best for meeting this need.
Here are some suitable substrate options for kingsnakes:
- Zoo Med Reptisoil
- Zoo Med Eco Earth
- Exo Terra Plantation Soil
- Lugarti Natural Reptile Bedding
- Bio Dude Terra Firma Bioactive Kit
Shredded aspen may also be suitable in a pinch, although it molds easily. Alternatively, you can use a DIY mix of 40% organic, additive-free topsoil + 40% Zoo Med Reptisoil + 20% play sand (this option tends to be the most affordable as well).
Provide a substrate layer that is around 4” deep. For a 4x2x2 enclosure, that will take at least 80 quarts of substrate. I also recommend laying down a generous layer of clean leaf litter on top to help retain humidity and give your snake something to explore.
Feces and urates should be removed daily, and contaminated substrate should be scooped out and replaced.
Enrichment
Decorations play an important role in your kingsnake’s enclosure as environmental enrichment. Enrichment items encourage exercise, stimulate your snake’s natural instincts, and help promote overall wellbeing. And, of course, they make the enclosure look nice!
Environmental enrichment ideas for kingsnakes:
- Cork rounds
- Cork flats
- Grape wood
- Ghost wood
- Magnetic ledges
- Artificial plants
- Sturdy live plants
The more hiding places your snake has access to, the more likely it will be comfortable hanging out in the open where you can see it.
Water
Your kingsnake should have always have access to a large bowl of fresh, clean water. It should be large enough for the snake to curl up inside if it’s in the mood for a soak.
General Care and Handling
Handling
You will need to wait a little while after bringing your new pet home to let it settle in. This usually takes about 2 weeks, but you shouldn’t start handling until it’s eating regularly.
Once your kingsnake is ready for handling, take it slow at first - just like any relationship. Start with brief handling sessions (no longer than 5 minutes), and don’t return the snake until it is calm. This teaches your pet how to behave during handling by using rudimentary positive reinforcement. Once this has been accomplished, you can work up to longer sessions. Handling should occur at least weekly, but no more than once daily.
While handling your snake, be gentle. Rather than grabbing it, let it crawl onto your hand. Lift it from below rather than above, and support as much of its body as possible. Use slow movements and don’t walk around too much.
Shedding
Colubrid snakes shed their skin regularly. Healthy snakes usually shed their skin in one complete piece. A snake’s eye caps, also called its spectacles, should come off with the rest of its shed skin. Snakes may become irritable and lose interest in eating while shedding.
Colubrid snakes can soak themselves in a shallow, open water dish to help them shed. Damp paper towels and moistened sphagnum moss should be placed in the snake’s enclosure to encourage healthy shedding.
Potential Problems
Due to their slow metabolisms, colubrid snakes can go weeks and even months without eating. However, they often become ill if they don’t eat for extended periods.
Health and Veterinary Care
Colubrid pet snakes should be seen by a veterinarian once annually. They can be transported using a ventilated, plastic lidded bin, with or without a snake bag.
All reptiles are potential carriers of infectious diseases, including Salmonella bacteria, which is zoonotic (transmittable to people).
Common Misconceptions
One common misconception is that kingsnakes can be housed together. Kingsnakes are not social animals, and there is no significant benefit to the animal that would justify keeping two or more in the same enclosure. Keeping more than one snake in the same habitat can result in stress, aggression, and competition.