Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a young Cal king snake that I adopted about 2 1/2 months ago from the animal shelter where I work. He is about 12-14 inches long, 1 1/2 times as thick as a pencil. Don't know any history on him because he came in as a stray from an eviction. I don't even know for sure that he is a "he". When animal control brought him in, he had a live mouse in his tank with him-- too big for him to eat.

Since then, he has eaten only once. I feed F/T and he refused the first time I tried to feed him, but ate it the second time. Since then he has refused every time.

The weird thing is, he acts like he is afraid of the mouse. When he notices the mouse, he does an almost immediate about face and "runs away". He does not strike at it.

I have tried small pinkies and fuzzies, including mice of the size I would feed him if he were eating normally. I have offered food every week or so.

I have tried wiggling the mouse on tongs, keeping it still, bumping him with it, leaving it in the tank and leaving the room, putting it in his path of travel so he should go right over it.

He is very active and cruises around as though he is looking for food, he has grown some since I got him, shed the first week I had him, and pooped a couple times.

I have a variety of snakes, including 2 other Cal kings, and have converted any previous live-eaters to F/T and have never had a snake act afraid like this one. He is not afraid of being picked up or handled, he is nice and calm. He is just afraid of dead mice. I REALLY don't want to feed him live (but I will if I have to), and since he ate F/T once, I know he can "do it".

Any thoughts??

Thanks!
sonja

Sonja, this is going to sound really gross, but this has worked for me and numerous others on several occasions. Take a frozen pink, put it in warm water to let thaw. I use a baggie to keep the mice dry. Once it is warm, poke a little tiny hole in its head, and squeeze some of the brain matter out. It is disgusting, but it works. If that doesn't work, put the snake in a deli cup with the pink overnight. Check it in the morning, if it still has not eaten, you might want to let a vet check it out. Snakes also hibernate themselves this time of year. Also, you could try washing the pinky with non scented soap, but make sure all soap is off. You only need very little soap. Good luck! keep us posted. Derek