Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey guys new to the forum and was wondering is it a waste of time to post in sub forums. . .ie health & diet issues. I have a question posted over there but no one seems to have replied and was just wonderin if i should post it over here. any responses would be a tremendous help. . . thanks Lew

You might want to post over here. The "main" kingsnake forum tends to have more activity.

Posted by: ScarFace0909 at Sat Mar 1 11:06:05 2008 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]

I have read that force feeding is a last resort but this baby has to eat. She really is much too thin and i'm very concrened as she is an important part of my future breeding project. the other babies i received have eaten several times and she has refused every time. any suggestions would be a great help. time is ticking

thought i would copy the post and drag it over here to give it a shot and thank you jeff for your suggestion. i did manage to get a tail in her but have since failed in recent attempts

I won't pretend to be an expert on the matter. There are many people on this forum who are more knowledgeable than I am, but I will try to help you as best I can. I'm sure DMong and some of the others will chime in at some point.

Could you post a picture of the snake?

What is your setup like? (temps, substrate, etc.)

How old is the snake, and what condition was it in when you got it?

hey orocosos, i did manage to snap a couple photos of the little lady. as to her age, i was told she was hatched aug or sep, breeder was hectic and couldn't keep exact records. she was feeding before she was sent and her sibs , 1.1 , are feeding as i know brooksi to feed. they all are kept in shoe boxes in aspen temps range from 80 to 85 . i have tried to warm her up, put her in her deli cup with a scented pink in seclusion. i really have tried anything i can think of

I had a baby cornsnake that wouldn't eat for me, and several people on this forum gave these suggestions:

1) Offer a live pinky
2) Offer a pinky head
3) Offer a brained pinky - poke a couple of holes in the pinky's head and squeeze some of the brain fluid out

Hope this helps!

Orocosos

thanks Orocosos, i'm gonna try out the anole for the next offering as recomended by FunkeyRes. if the anole doesn't work at least i have some other ideas to go on. pics aren't the greatest i realize but you do get kind of an idea that she is really thin from what you can see. she is only 12 1/2" and has lost girth. I'll keep you posted as to how i make out with her

Thanks again for all yous suggestions

Lew

I hope she starts eating for you.

Have you tried lizards?
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I decided my old sig was too big.

hey FunkyRes, i haven't tried lizards as this baby girl was already well started on rodents and didnt think i would have to go that route. her sibs are chowin down on pinks without remorse and it is just odd to see a brooks not eat. the breeder thought that maybe the trip was too much for her but her female sib even shed during the ship.

I've seen both corn snakes and king snakes that refuse rodents pound on lizards.

Last year I had a well established cal king lay a bad clutch and refuse to eat - until I offered her an anole, which she pounded on - and then started feeding on mice again.

I think sometimes a king just wants a lizard, maybe due to a nutritional deficiency or something - kind of like how we crave bananas if we need potassium.

I've never gotten scenting to work, probably an issue with my method - but with my admittedly limited experience with corns and kings, after a few lizard meals you don't need to scent - they take rodents without scenting.

It's amazing though - snakes that seem to have no interest whatsoever in feeding will pound a lizard without a second thought.

Someone else with a brooksi last month couldn't get it to eat, tried an anole, and it pounded the anole and ate.

If your snake doesn't eat soon, try an anole - it may surprise you.
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I decided my old sig was too big.

thanks FunkyRes, it would appear that i may have to try it. i am pressed as i dont know how much of a time frame i have left with her. i guess i'm just hesitant because somewhere in the back of my mind i keep thinking that she goes for it and refuses rodents from here on. but as you said i really have nothing to lose by trying an anole and only a feeding snake to gain if she accepts the offering...
thanks

Lew