California Kingsnake in cage 20 Jan 06

My California Kingsnake doesn't stretch across his aquarium that often, (or at least not when I'm watching). I took this opportunity to take a picture to show his size and the current state of his enclosure.

The aquarium is a 55 long which is about 48 x 13 x 16 (inches). I'm estimating from this picture and others that he's about 42 to 43 inches long. I think he's grown a little since I bought him in October. As of 22 Jan 06 and having freshly defecated, he weighs 340 grams.

I sacrifice some decor in the cage to give him things that he likes. I don't like the look of his blue bowl, but he loves hiding under that bowl. He probably spends over 80% of his time there. He also uses the half-log hides on the right (cool) side fairly often. When he's using them, he's often burrowing in the cypress mulch in that corner. I was told that fake plants can give some snakes a better sense of security. While they can't really function as a hide, they provide a little relief from overhead exposure. He's never used the tile hide on the left side of the aquarium, and I'll probably change this hide someday. The plastic cup has a lid that unscrews to make cleaning easy (and snake removal possible if necessary). I've filled it with moss and water to provide a very wet humid hide. He doesn't spend much time in the cup, but he uses it occasionally. I have a water bowl in each back corner. He has that climbing branch, but he rarely uses it. I like the self-filling water container. It may look funny, but it's an extra source of water. That's the warm side of the cage, and I suspect that it helps keep the humidity up.

The warm side (left side) temperatures are in the 88 to 92 range. When I get a thermostat, I'll likely bring them down to the 86 to 88 range. The middle of the cage stays around 77 to 83 degrees. The cool side ranges from 68 to 72 degrees. (All temperatures are in °F of course.)