Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had my chocolate banded california king for 3 or 4 yrs. I just heard a noise and thought she was shedding. I went over and she had her tail in her mouth--not the tip but an inch or so up. I took her out and forced her mouth open and put some peroxide on her tail where she had bitten herself. I put her back in and a few minutes later she was in the same position. I went over and startled her and she let go. I'm very much an amateur and have never seen anything like this. I'm afraid I'll wake up to find her swallowing herself!?

I would clean the tail end of your snake off with warm soapy water and then FEED YOUR SNAKE.

Good luck.
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ECC
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Home of TEAM ECC
It's an Inner Circle thing... you wouldn't understand...

I'll clean again. She keeps biting it even when I'm holding her. She's never done this before. I just fed her a week ago and she doesnt eat that often. There's nowhere in my area to get a mouse this time of night--can't get one till tomorrow.

Is it swallowing it from the tip upwards or is it just biting the side of the tail? If its just biting the side make sure there is nothing there like a tick or wound that could be causing pain.

Either way feed your snake more.

It was biting the side of the tail an inch or two from the tip. I don't live in an area where feeder mice are close by--I have been getting them while I'm at work more than an hour from my house. I feel sort of bad about what I did but I just rushed to Petsmart tonight (barely getting there before they closed)--I knew they didn't sell feeders but I got a small hamster and fed it to my snake.
I have this snake and a Sinoloan milk snake. I have not been able to get them on a regular schedule for feeding. I have bought mice before and they showed no interest and wouldn't feed. I have ended up just watching them and feeding them when they look hungry--come out and start moving around. I just fed them both about a week to 10 days ago--but it has warmed up a bit here in metro Atlanta. Does that trigger the hunger? This king snake did bite her tail once before about 2 years ago when I was feeding her in a kritter keeper--I thought maybe she had just missed the mouse and caught her tale. I got her tail out of her mouth and cleaned her off, put her back in and she ate the mouse. It hadn't happened again until tonight. She seems ok now, I put her back in her habitat and she's under her water bowl--her happy place.
Is it possible to get these guys on a regular feeding schedule?? They seem to have a mind of their own about feeding???
Thanks for everyone's help. I really appreciate it. I was freaking out to think that I would wake up and lose Cocoa.

You asked a few questions and hopefully I get them all.
First did you add any other snakes to your collection - could the snake have mites?

Monitor your temps, you asked if warming up triggers a feeding response and the answer is yes. Snakes are cold blooded and warmer temps increase their metabolism and activity level, meaning they need to fed more often.

Both snakes should be feeding regularly on a schedule and either one at 3 or 4 years old should be eating 2 to 3 mice a week. If providing live mice is difficult try frozen thawed. They are much cheaper and more convenient.
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"The band is just fantastic, that is really what I think. Oh by the way, which ones pink?"

I don't think they have mites--I'll take a closer look tomorrow (dumb question--but will they just look like bugs??)I'm very much an amateur. I got the choc banded cal king about 4 yrs ago when my son got interested in herpetology from animal planet. We got the second at the same atl herp show a year later--the sinoloan milk snake.
I tried at one point to get them on a reg feeding schedule but they would just sit there and look at the mouse. That's when I just started to wait and watch when they looked hungry. Is it easy to move to frozens when they have only had live mice??

Depends on thew snake. Some will take them without effort, some take some convincing, some never convert.

Most can be switched.
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I decided my old sig was too big.

I've kept Cal kings for years and have never had that problem. I have heard about that same thing on these forums a few times though.

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Muhammad Ali

I see the pic. She wasn't going for the tip like the pic--she was biting the side of the tail a few inches up from the tip?? She seems ok now that she's eaten the hamster. Now the milk snake is moving around--I'm going to get some feeders for them both tomorrow and see how that goes.

Look into getting frozen feeders. Its way cheap, and super convient. Your animals should be eating at least once every five days and should as mentioned above be getting 2-3 mice a week if not more. Kings have huge appetites and need to be feed more then many other kinds of snakes.

Also, you really need to make sure the temperatures are ok. You should have a cool area of 75-80 degrees and a hot area of 90-100 degrees. Once you get there temps correct, then make sure to feed them!

They will eat for you and eat more regularly if their temperatures are correct.

You can buy a temp gun for $25 that you just point at the area and it uses a laser to measure the temp. Without one you are just guessing at your temps.

Definatelly look into it and good luck.

Hi,

I agree with everything Peter said. Your king is very hungry plain and simple. If you cannot access feeders readily in your local area, you need to find an on-line source of frozen rodents and keep them on hand that way. The snake should not have to wait until you can find it food, you should have it on hand or at least have it a short car ride away from a reliable source. You can expect his feeding to pick up now that it is getting warmer.

Also, he will not cause any serious damage to his tail. The snake may end up with a few scars, but he won't bite his tail off or anything. I have a very large GA eastern male who did the same thing every time I didn't offer food when he was ready. So I made the minor effort to get off of my schedule and onto his. Once you do the same, this goofy behavior will correct itself.

One last thing, snakes do not try to bite off mites and ticks. They just don't do it. I have been keeping snakes for 30 years and have maintained many in my own collection as well as many retail establishments. Were talking thousands upon thousands of snakes and I have never seen a snake try to bite off a mite or a tick. That is not what yours is doing. It may have mites, but it is biting its tail because it is hungry. Good luck.

Will

Thanks for the good info!

...not true about the never biting themselves due to mites. They don't bite them off but they sure will bite themselves.

I have seen a cal king with mites freak out twisting all over and biting himself randomly. I thought he was having a seizure until I realized he was just crazy itchy.

Probably not whats going on with this guys snake, but it can and does happen.

I must have misunderstood what you were saying. I thought that you were implying that the snake was trying to bite off the parasites, which I believe does not happen. However, if the snake was truly loaded with mites, it could easily have had neurological issues from such a severe infestation and consequent blood loss, possibly even IBD (which was been reported to occur in kings) which would account for the flailing and reflexive biting behavior. Thanks for the clarification.

Will

I have never heard of IBD in colubrids. Where did you here about that...scary...

It was in a Vivarium article about 15 years ago. Inclusion bodies were found in an eastern kingsnake. I don't know of any reports since that one, but it scared me enough to keep the thought in the back of my mind. I'll take a look and see if I can find the article in my vivarium catalog, I know i have it somewhere. What a great magazine that was...damn, i miss it.

Will

You've never said if you're supplying additional heat, or just going with room temps. If your snakes temperature falls much below 75 or so, their eating is going to become irregular.
They should have a base temp of 70-75, and a warm spot of 80-85 that they can access if they want more heat to digest a meal.
As posted previously, most snakes will readily accept frozen thawed prey.

Yeah, both of the snakes have heat lamps at the far ends of their tanks where they can hang or go and cool off at the other end under their water dish. But the snakes are upstairs in my office and I havent turned the air on yet--we had a few warm afternoons in a row so overall temps went up. She's happy (under her water dish)since I fed her the other night.
I'm going to try the frozens pretty soon--don't know anything about that. I guess you heat them in the microwave?

No, don't heat them in the microwave, it's too easy to "cook" them, or for them to pop. Get a ziploc bag, fill a mug or bowl with hot water and put the frozen mouse in the ziploc, then float it in the water. Sort of a "mouse tea". Should only take a couple of minutes or so, depending on how hot the water is. I check mine constantly, by picking up the mouse (still in the ziploc) and holding it between my fingers for a minute or so, and if it still feels cold, it goes back in the water. If the mouse is still frozen in the center, it can be bad for your snake. You can also thaw them on the counter, but I've never used that method.

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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
0.0.2 Cornsnakes
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan) (Deceased )
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

I just throw them in a ceramic bowl with warm water - and put a pot lid on top. I use to try to keep the mice dry while thawing - but it seems the snakes don't care, they eat 'em either way.
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I decided my old sig was too big.