Meet Sherlock, the striped California Kingsnake.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_kingsnake
He was my first Cal king. I had wanted a high-contrast black and white banded Cal king, but found this adorable stripey thing instead. He was such a sweetheart, too. No musking or attitude like I had heard about with Cal king hatchlings, except this guy wasn't exactly a hatchling. He was hatched in August 2012, which made him close to a year old when I got him, and he was only 9.1 grams. He was a problem feeder and was cooled over winter, and his appetite did pick up slowly over spring. Ever since I have had him, he has eaten for me. He is slowly getting some weight on him, and is around 30 grams right now and is about to shed within the next week or so.
Like I mentioned before, I named my kingsnakes after movie/TV characters. My brother introduced me to BBC's Sherlock series a few years ago, and I really liked it and the actor who plays Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch. Unfortunately my husband hates that show, so I only watch it when he isn't here! And as for why he hates it, I thought it was just the particular acting style of Cumberbatch, but no, he hates Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Sherlock as well, so it's just the character of Sherlock that he despises.
As for Sherlock and his personality, he is a stinker. Literally. He likes to musk every other time, and he often rattles his tail as you are going to take him out. Once you have him, he is generally pretty nice. He hasn't bitten me yet, and I really did think I would get my first (pet) snake bite from him, but that honor went to another snake just recently. I love his mercurial attitude, though. Unless he is going to shed, he is often slithering around in his bin, watching me as I walk by. Generally, the closer he gets to feeding day, the more attitude he has! But so far, he has been all bluff. I gave him the opportunity to bite me the other day when I was putting a mouse in, and he just hissed and struck at everything but my hand. Silly snake!
You can see his pattern better at the top of this blog - that's a picture of Sherlock on a sidewalk.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_kingsnake
He was my first Cal king. I had wanted a high-contrast black and white banded Cal king, but found this adorable stripey thing instead. He was such a sweetheart, too. No musking or attitude like I had heard about with Cal king hatchlings, except this guy wasn't exactly a hatchling. He was hatched in August 2012, which made him close to a year old when I got him, and he was only 9.1 grams. He was a problem feeder and was cooled over winter, and his appetite did pick up slowly over spring. Ever since I have had him, he has eaten for me. He is slowly getting some weight on him, and is around 30 grams right now and is about to shed within the next week or so.
Like I mentioned before, I named my kingsnakes after movie/TV characters. My brother introduced me to BBC's Sherlock series a few years ago, and I really liked it and the actor who plays Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch. Unfortunately my husband hates that show, so I only watch it when he isn't here! And as for why he hates it, I thought it was just the particular acting style of Cumberbatch, but no, he hates Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Sherlock as well, so it's just the character of Sherlock that he despises.
As for Sherlock and his personality, he is a stinker. Literally. He likes to musk every other time, and he often rattles his tail as you are going to take him out. Once you have him, he is generally pretty nice. He hasn't bitten me yet, and I really did think I would get my first (pet) snake bite from him, but that honor went to another snake just recently. I love his mercurial attitude, though. Unless he is going to shed, he is often slithering around in his bin, watching me as I walk by. Generally, the closer he gets to feeding day, the more attitude he has! But so far, he has been all bluff. I gave him the opportunity to bite me the other day when I was putting a mouse in, and he just hissed and struck at everything but my hand. Silly snake!
You can see his pattern better at the top of this blog - that's a picture of Sherlock on a sidewalk.