The enclosure you select must have a tightly fitting, locking, top. Available commercially are a variety of glass enclosures with tops consisting of screen mesh and a hinged glass door which locks into place with a small swing latch. Available now are also locking screen tops which can be put on previously purchased tanks. Snakes are, for the lack of a better word, squishy, and can squeeze themselves through impossibly tight spaces. Hatchlings may be housed in a ten gallon enclosures. Medium sized adults may be housed in twenty gallon enclosures. The longer and larger snakes should be housed in a 60 gallon enclosure.

Heat: The Lampropeltis that live in climates that experience extremes in heat and cold alter their daily habits to accommodate such extremes. Hibernating through the cold winters, northern and mountain snakes spend the season dormant. Desert species will hide in cool crevices during the hottest part of the day, becoming crepuscular. In general, provide a temperature gradient ranging from 76-86 F, with nighttime drops into the low 70's. If you are providing an enclosure with high enough sides to establish basking and hiding areas at different levels within the enclosure, you will need to make sure that gradient is both horizontal as well as vertical You must use thermometers. Ideally, one should be placed in the cool end, the warm end, and at any other area where the snake spends much of its time. The hottest areas should not exceed the maximum stated range by more than a couple of degrees, especially for snakes from temperate areas. Heating pads (either people heating pads or ones developed for reptiles) can be placed under half the tank, or inside the tank, under half the substrate

Water: Provide a bowl of water for your snake. This is generally all the humidity they will need. As they often defecate in the water, you much check it daily, cleaning and disinfecting it before placing it back in the tank

Furnishings: Kings and milks are rather secretive snakes, preferring to curl up in a rocky crevice or under a log. Shelters of some sort should be provided in both the cool and in the warm ends of the enclosure. They can range from commercially available "rocky" caves, half-circles of tree bark, and upside-down flower pots. Less aesthetically pleasing is the "green" approach—recycle facial tissue and other suitably sized boxes into caves.

Substrate: Until you are certain that your new acquisition has no worms, protozoan infections or mites, start it off on paper towels or butcher paper. Easily changed when soiled, these materials will also enable you to monitor the condition of the feces and to detect the presence of mites.

Feeding: Hatchlings can be started on one-two day old pinkie mice. If frozen mice are used, make sure to defrost thoroughly (leave on counter, under a light, or soaking in warm water). Feed one to two mice every two to seven days, depending upon growth rate desired. Generally speaking, a snake will grow faster being fed several small prey a couple of times a week rather than one big prey once a week. The smaller prey are more digestible than the larger prey, so the snake is getting more nutrition from them. Subadults can be offered bigger mice one or more times a week. A good rule of thumb is to feed prey that is as big girth-wise as is the widest part of the snake's body. You will find that they are hungrier in the spring and summer, winding down during the fall; many stop feeding altogether during the winter months even though the may still be somewhat active. Adult size is generally reached within three years at which time the amount and rate of feeding can be reduced. Feed adult mice or just weaned pink rats.