Arizona mt king or Nelson for first king/milk

I am interested in either an Arizona mt king or an albino Nelson. I like the look of both. I have a 5 year old male rosy boa and a 4 year old yellow ratsnake.
I wanted to know which of these two snakes is "easier" for overall husbandry better tempermeant for handling here and there ?I imagine both get to around 4 feet. The enclosure I intend to house which ever I get is 4 feet long enclosure.
Thanks.

I would probably say that you couldn't go wrong with either one. Personally I like the Az. Mt. kings. They are my favorite snake. They won't get quite as big as a Nelsons (none of mine are over 30" and some are 10 years old) I have never had one even attempt to bite. even the babies I have hatched were very mellow. The only nelsons I have had were very mellow also and they were breeders so they were not used to handling. The one drawback to the Mt kings can be feeding. Unless feeding live isn't a problem get one that is sure to eat frozen. In my experience they can be hard to switch if not done at a very early age. Once eating frozen don't ever feed them live. I had one customer who bought a year old male that was eating FT regularly. He thought it would be nice to "give him a treat" so he gave him a live and he hasn't eaten a frozen since (almost 6 months now) even if he lets him go for a month he won't do frozen. Also, even if you don't drop the temps they will sometimes go off feed in late fall through the winter. I have never had a problem with this even for the ones I was not cooling for breeding. Once late october hit and they refused to eat I just cut back offering only every 3 weeks or so. Like I said, either would be fine. the nelsons might be a little more trouble free but I think the Az. Mt kings are well worth their quricks.

Good luck

Steve

Thanks for the excellent information. I am going to go with them .I read they like it cooler than other kings do you find this to be the case and any difference between M/F color,size,tempermeant?
I take it your a breeder do you have a site? I dont know what the rules are here about giving sites you can certainly email it to me.
Thanks again

I have not noticed any difference between male and females in temperment. Females get a little large and in my experience are a bit better feeders. They may still go off a bit in the winter but they usually start earlier in the spring if they do. I guess they are not as single minded at that point as the males are. I breed a few snakes for resale at a local swap and to supply my store. I do not have a website and as of yet I am not prepared to ship any snakes. I will add that my experiences are limited when compared to others I am sure of that. My experience comes from a total of 6 adults and the 20 or so babies I have produced. Others may have different experiences but I do think that they are wonderfull snakes.

Good luck and if you have any other questions please let me know.

Steve

The enclosure I intend to house which ever I get is 4 feet long enclosure.

Fleck you mentioned you have a 4 ft long enclosure/terrerium.
Put a good divider in the middle and get both, the cage would have ample room. You can't go wrong with whatever king you choose and if you don't divide the 4 ft long enclosure now, I'm sure you will in the future. Good luck on your next addition.
Happy Herping,
Uncloudy

Originally Posted by Uncloudy

Fleck you mentioned you have a 4 ft long enclosure/terrerium.
Put a good divider in the middle and get both, the cage would have ample room. You can't go wrong with whatever king you choose and if you don't divide the 4 ft long enclosure now, I'm sure you will in the future. Good luck on your next addition.
Happy Herping,
Uncloudy

I want to give the snake 4 feet and add driftwood,etc a natural looking set up tho spen shavings. Opted for the Arizona mt king after reading the posts.
Thanks

[quote=sschind]I have not noticed any difference between male and females in temperment. Females get a little large and in my experience are a bit better feeders. They may still go off a bit in the winter but they usually start earlier in the spring if they do. I guess they are not as single minded at that point as the males are.

Thanks a ton for all the great help. I opted for a F Arizona mt king.