Reptile & Amphibian Forums

will baby kingsnakes eat earthworms? i know they eat lizards and pinky mice but none are abailable right now and i just found two baby kingsnakes that i thhought were being cared for but they werent. some help would be nice

First,....what kind of Kingsnake is it?..........Kingsnakes in nature as a general rule will many times eat almost anything that moves......rodents, birds, frogs, lizards, and other snakes, ect....which is how they got their name, they are "ophyophages"(snake-eaters). I suppose it's possible, but I've never personally heard of them ever eating worms. But like I said, they have one of the biggest dietary "menus" of the snake world. If you acquired them from someone that was not taking good care of them, I'm still assuming they were fed many times already, or they would be dead, and have acquired a taste for the typical meal of mice and/or lizards. Mice being the better in my opinion for several reasons.....if you can't find a reliable source of pinkies, or whatever size mice, you can have them very conveniently shipped frozen to your front door. Many owner/breeders opt to do this(including me). they come in all sizes and amounts for every need...Mice Direct, RodentPro, Mice on Ice, to name a few. Just thaw one out as needed, warm it up to "rodent temp"(not oven) and away you go!!......you can find these rodent companies on the top of this page directly under the Kingsnake.com logo where it says "Breeders/Dealers/Stores" in red lettering....hope this helps,.......................Doug
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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!

as to what kind, i dont know. i think eastern. they are black with whiteish bands. as for the feedings, well one of them died yesterday and as long as ive been there i have seen them fed maybe once or twice and only lizards. places the deliver pinkys are not an option. they want 50 bucks for each shipment. i will try worms i guess. i read somewere that they are supposed to eat eggs but if i crack an egg do you think they will eat it? my speciality is ball pythons so please bear with me on this.

Well, the answer to that is no, they will not eat an egg, unless it was naturally scented in a nest(maybe).....Please do the right thing if you can't feed it and quickly sell/give it to someone that will keep it alive. It doesn't sound like this one has very long to live at all either!!...If you warmed some egg yolk to room temperature, and have some thin hose/whatever, attached to a syringe, and put the tip down his throat(with help from someone) and get the amount that would approximate a pinkie, he would at least stay alive.........certainly you can at least give him away/ whatever before he dies too, that would be a shame, as they are so easy to maintain...........Doug
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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!

Is there a pet shop you can give it to!!!!!!! the snake shouldn't just be left to die!...don't you agree? If you were in Brevard County,Fl, I would take it!!..but I'm sure that's not the case.............................................Doug
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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!

I would buy a few pinks(newborn) from a pet shop and place them all in a paper bag with the snake, seal it with tape, put it in the cage and leave it 24 hrs. Check it and if nothing eaten, reseal and leave 48 hours. The snake should be bugged enough to strike at them or elicit a feeding response. At this juncture you have nothing to lose, the other has died, and I don't force feed. You could try it, I just don't. This may stress the snake more but you are running short on time. The other option is a short brumation, risky at this time but, again, running out of time. Last option, take it to a herp vet, he could help you feed it, show you how, and give it a boost. Drastic times sometimes call for drastic measures. I hate when you don't have the help you need, but at this point, a lizard and/or a pinkie is the way to go. Just my .02. Does your snake look like this?
Todd Hughes

yep that is the one. i cant get rid of it, its not mine. i was just trying to see if there was anything i could give it other then pinks. there is only one pet store around me that has pinks and they are always out. otherwise i would give it to someone. the people that have it act like they could care less about it. and then they want a ball python when mine has babies... i dont think so.

I have another great suggestion,....breed your own mice. The female will drop a nice pile of pinks about every month, this will not take much effort at all. I used to breed hundreds of them to feed all the snakes that I had.....and you can freeze the surplus when the babies are just the right size as well!!. I wouldn't sell those people "the time of day" either!!.
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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!