Colubrid musking

This may seem like a silly question, but does anyone have any idea how to maybe slow down the musking of a colubrid?

I don't know if the Aussie cols do this but one of my Mexican Black kingsnakes (the female) always does this. As soon as I open her click clack she starts. I mean she flings nasty stuff all over the inside, all over you and it smells horrible. None of my other non pythons do this.

Do you think she will grow out of this or is she just living up to her nickname as stinky?

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Our Commen Tree snakes do this aswell as our diamond pythons. I would think that musking is a defensive mechanisim and once the snake is comfortable with its environment and interation with yourself the musking would stop. But you may have to endure it for some period of time. But then again it may never stop

As Spinner said they do it as a defence mechanism so the trick is to get the snake used to you so it doesnt see you as a threat, I know that is much easier said than done, my tree snakes show no signs of stopping lol

I figured that it may or may not stop. She's my only one that does this. Even my rat snake (they are notorious for musking) would rather bite than musk. Bleh!

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I have rescued a CTS and it was more content on trying to bite my face than musk, even when I got it it didn't, as it is with most snakes some settle and some don't. You must just have a jumpy scared little king snake.

spinner_collis said:

I have rescued a CTS and it was more content on trying to bite my face than musk, even when I got it it didn't, as it is with most snakes some settle and some don't. You must just have a jumpy scared little king snake.

Click to expand...

She is little...hopefully she grows out if it!


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It definitely depends on the individual. Some are more prone to it than others. Regular handling helps, and the manner in which you remove them from their enclosure plays a big part in it.

If it really smells horrible, then I'm imagining it must be similar to a our Keelback. Common Tree Snakes get an undeserved bad rap for musking over here. Personally I don't think it's that bad - a mild inconvenience at worst - whereas is if you get musked by a Keelback, it's a real show-stopper. Apologies for getting slightly off-topic here, but if a Keelback's a 10, then a CTS is about a 4.

Thanks for posting the photo.

Havent had the pleasure of a keelback musk yet, but I didnt think the CTS was bad at all, considering i work in the wastewater industry I have smelt alot worse. On topic though, she is an impressive snake, I love the black!