King Snake
It eats other snakes, venomous ones included, and it resists their venom. Hardy, and it feeds without fuss, which makes it a straightforward keep.
Overview
The common kingsnake ranges across most of North America in forest, grassland, desert and urban edge, and ADW gives 91 to 153 cm with an average of 130 cm. It is a hardy, straightforward captive with one distinguishing habit.
It eats other snakes. Eastern and Florida kingsnakes feed mainly on snakes, venomous ones included: coral snakes, copperheads, massasaugas and rattlesnakes. The name is about rank in that sense rather than appearance.
Temperament
Active, food motivated and easy to handle once settled. Kingsnakes are inquisitive and will search an enclosure thoroughly, which makes them good animals to watch.
The food drive is the thing to respect. A kingsnake that associates an opening door with a meal will strike at movement, and the answer is a feeding routine that is distinct from a handling routine rather than a snake with a bad temperament.
Care and grooming
Frozen thawed rodents, sized to the snake, weekly for a growing animal and less often for an adult.
Housed alone, always. This is not a preference or a stress management measure: two kingsnakes together is one kingsnake shortly afterwards. It is the single most important husbandry fact about the species and it is not negotiable.
Living and exercise
Four feet of enclosure for an adult, 75 to 88 F across a gradient, 40 to 60 percent humidity, hides at both ends and a substrate they can push into.
The captive record for the species is 33.3 years, against an oldest wild animal of nine. That gap is a reasonable summary of what good husbandry buys on this shelf, and it is a long time to plan for.
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