Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Help, my son has a baby kingsnake for about 4 months now. We have never been able to get it to eat. We have tried frozen pinkies. He is being very inactive and slow lately. I squashed up a thawed pinkie and put him in a brown paper sack in the dark. Maybe that is wrong, but I don't know what else to do. My son will be heartbroken if he dies. Help!

Try live.
-----
Arrrggg!
It's like Shalom, but for pirates.
- iCarly

>>Try live.
>>-----
>>Arrrggg!
>>It's like Shalom, but for pirates.
>>- iCarly
-----
Thanks,

Frank Roberts

>>>>Try live.
>>>>-----
>>>>Arrrggg!
>>>>It's like Shalom, but for pirates.
>>>>- iCarly
>>-----
>>Thanks,
>>
>>Frank Roberts
-----
Thanks,

Frank Roberts

Your snake wants to eat a skink or a snake. Go to the pet store and buy a small cheap lizard and try that.Or try parts of it if its too big.


-----

"You look like a guy caught smugling reptiles in his pants" John McCain to David Letterman
Doug L

Doug, you barbarian you. Ha Ha. Awesome pics my friend. You know I am all about doing what it takes.

You're leaving out some pretty big pieces of information like:

Where did you get the snake?
What kind of kingsnake is it?
What are you keeping it in?
What temperature gradient do you have?
Does the snake have places to hide in its cage?
Are you leaving the snake alone (not handling it)?

Tim

Third Eye

All of us here have dealt with problem feeders so if you browse the posts you will get tons of information that can help with your problem, but as stated people need more information from you for a direct response. If the temps are correct, hides provided, humidity correct, ect.--- the first thing I would try is LIVE food. My baby eastern kings and speckled kings would only take live house gekos or small snakes as the first meal. Once you get a couple of meals into the snake you can start the process of switching to f/t pinks/fuzzies or whatever size rodent is appropriate

Four months is a long time for a hatchling snake to go without a meal.
All the suggestions given are good to try live pinkies, small lizards,small skinks. We are assuming the temperature is correct.
If these have failed something I have done as a last resort is too cut the tail off of an adult mouse at a diagonal angle.
Gently insert the cut end into the snakes mouth and push it down some. They will sometimes start swallowing the tail on their own.
If they spit it out you can try to push it as far down as you can,because of the shape and size of the tail it usually goes down fairly easily.

Agreed. Thought about that last night. The little guy might not have the physical well being to overpower and swallow prey at this point--we do not know without more details and maybe some photos. You might have to force feed if live prey does not work. Something you can try to go along with the good mouse tail info. given here is that if the snake keeps pushing the tail back up-- push it down gently again but this time when doing so place the lower two thirds of its body in a cup of water and hold it down. Learned that here and works miracles. Every time I did that they swallowed the tails.

"I'd piss on a spark plug if I think it would do any good" Movie War Games.

Also, if this works........offer another small-sized food item. Once the snake is in a feeding response, it will be more keen on actually wanting to eat.
-----
2.4.0 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 California Kingsnake
0.1.0 Copperhead
1.1.0 Eastern Box Tutles

Try a live pinkie,works alot of times and there prey drive kicks in with the movement of the pinky,after 4 months though id be freaking out,thats along time for a baby to go without a meal