Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have kept and bred many different snakes and lizards over the past 14 years or so. I am currently keeping 3 corns, 1 yellow rat, 1 banded water snake, 1 eastern hognose, and 1 northern blue tongue skink. I also have a 4' Eastern Kingsnake that I have had for about 8 years now. He has always been tame. I used him for demonstrations and now keep him in my middle school classroom. Over the past few years he has been exhibiting a behavior that I find odd and it is getting worse. Any time something moves in his cage he bites at it. He doesnt bite at it in a defensive way, but rather just opens his mouth and bites it. The same is true when he is fed. I place the mouse in the cage and he bites at randon and without much force. He may bite the mouse, the water bowl, the fake plants, or himself. In fact, he quite often will bite himself on the tail. This week he wrapped around the small cage hook I use to move the mouse around and would not let go. So, has anyone noticed any of the behaviors I have described? Please share your thoughts on this one. It is worth noting that all the others are feeding well and are very well tempered. Thanks.

DR

sounds hungry 4ft. for 8yrs.old is a bit small for an eastern, what has been his/her feeding schedule over the years?
,,,,,,,,,,,thomas davis
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Morphs... just like baseball cards BUT ALIVE, how cool is that???

my website www.barmollysplace.com

He has been fed 2-3 adult mice or small rat every 5-7 days. He is wild caught (8 years ago) and was the size he is now when I caught him, so I dont know how old he actually is. He had always eaten well and was easy to handle. It has only been in the past year that this behavior has become evident. He has good heat, large water dish, large cage. He appears to be healthy in weight even if his lenght is short for his age. My corn and rat are on a similar schedule and seem to be thriving. I appriciate all who shared their thoughts on this one. Of all the snakes I have kept over the years, this is a first for me.

DR

>>>He has been fed 2-3 adult mice or small rat every 5-7 days. He is wild caught (8 years ago) and was the size he is now when I caught him, so I dont know how old he actually is.

He had always eaten well and was easy to handle. It has only been in the past year that this behavior has become evident. He has good heat, large water dish, large cage. He appears to be healthy in weight even if his lenght is short for his age. My corn and rat are on a similar schedule and seem to be thriving. I appriciate all who shared their thoughts on this one. Of all the snakes I have kept over the years, this is a first for me.

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Morphs... just like baseball cards BUT ALIVE, how cool is that???

my website www.barmollysplace.com

???well that post didnt work out to well, try some differant food sizes a dozen fuzzies or hoppers try live and dead, also being he is w/c it could be a brumation thing. have you brumated him in the past? if not then i would have a fecal test done to be assured there are no creepies, best of luck,,,,,,,thomas
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Morphs... just like baseball cards BUT ALIVE, how cool is that???

my website www.barmollysplace.com

Thanks for the advice. I will give that a try.

DR

sounds neurological.....almost like a vision/olfactory problem???

My guess is its a kind of feeding insanity, caused by prolonged hunger. This occurs when snakes are fed on a set schedule and no attention is paid to changing conditions. Like in summer, the snakes warmer and needs more food. So it basically starves between feedings.

I guess you can call this kind of condition, an insanity of sorts. At one zoo I worked at, they have a snake that would commonly eat itself. You know, into a doughnut. But they refused to increase its food during the summer. So it kept doing that until it killed itself.

Straitening the neck and waving the open mouth back and forth, is a early sign of this insanity. Normally a snake should stalk and strike its prey in a efficent manner.

I am not sure if this is reverseable. Anyway, I hope its not this. Good luck

My easterns ALWAYS want to eat and frequently "taste test" things that move.
It does not matter how often there are fed - they always want more.
I've heard other keepers express the same statements as yours.

Tim

Third Eye