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Just had a quick question for a fairly newbie...I have a desert kingsnake..I have had him for around 7 months now...I would imagine he is between 8-12 months old..My question is. He/she was regulary eating one fuzzy every 5-7 days...about two months ago, I moved up to small mice..the size of his belly is about the size of a fuzzy...since I have been feeding him mice, its hit or miss with him eating, for example just tonight, he tried to swallow it, but around 25 minutes later he gave up...the mice are around hopper size...If a snake gives up, does it mean that its too big for him to handle? He has eating this size mouse before, but it seems like every other feeding he gives up..Should I go back to fuzzys, as he seems to handle those better, once again, the small mice are larger then his widest part.He is probably around 15 inches long or so. He really hasnt grown all that much in the 7 months that I had him..I also purchased a corn snake at the same time, and the corn is growing like a weed, and handles these small mice like nothing..Im just afraid that the fuzzy is not enough food for a 8 month old Kingsnake...Please, any info would be great...and his body is nice and round, so he is not looking underfed, so should I just go back to fuzzys? maybe feed him two fuzzys at a time for the next 2-3 months, until his belly is the same size of the small mouse? thanks

You're probably seeing your king sense the seasonal change and slow down its eating behavior. There may or may not be environmental changes you could observe: If not a lowering of temperature in the room/cage in which it's kept, perhaps it's in a room with windows and there's an observable shortening of daylight. Even in the absence of such changes, some snakes' internal clocks seem to tell them it's winter and their appetites slow.

In your instance though the snake's starting to eat and then "giving up". Independent of the seasonal change idea above, that suggests to me the food items might be too big. I think you had the right idea, switching to feeding two fuzzies instead. My bet would be that next spring it'll start eating voraciously and you'll be able to up the size of the food items without problem.

I agree with the above post. Sometimes snakes will start to eat and then change their mind when winter comes. But if your snake spends 25 minutes and then gives up the food item is too big. However the concerning part of your post is not about the prey being too big its about your snake being too small.

Can you give us some details about your husbandry? What are your temps?

Sure thing...20 gallon long tank....aspen bedding..warm end is kept aprox 85-88 degrees, day and night, and rest of tank is room temp..I use a uth... and hides on both ends...He borrows all day under the bedding, and seems to spend times on both sides of tank, even though, I never see him during day...I use the digital probe ontop of the bedding..I figure 85-88 was good, so I bump this up to 90? I hate to do that, seeing he borrows, and if the top of bedding is 90, then on top of glass will prob be much warmer then that..thanks for all replys...

All the above is great advice. Another thing I'd like to mention is that if the substrate is not a very thick layer, a snake will EASILY be able to push it aside as it works it's way into it to hide and remain in contact with the warmer glass bottom temps, so I personally wouldn't see a need at all to go above about 90 degrees. So if you do bump it up a bit, and see that the snake is no longer utilizing the same spot(s) on the warm side, you will then know it is a bit too warm then, and should go back to where it was previously.

Just like the other's mentioned, it is very typical for snakes to not put a whole lot of effort into trying to consume larger prey if it is starting to think about brumation. They will often show signs of being more hesitant too when it comes to their initial striking response as well, and I have found that they will more readily take smaller items instead. This could be a natural way for them to better regulate their digestion should the fall/winter temps get cooler, thus lessening the chances of them regurgitating.

On the other side of the coin, it could just easily be that the prey item is just too darn big too..LOL!

Without seeing this personally though, it's tough to really determine, but both of these situations are the only likely possibilities in this case. More than likely, it sounds like the prey was simply too big for the snake, and after a while, they will give up after a certain point.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

>>... so I bump this up to 90?...

First of all, as to his size, a yearling could definitely be much larger than what you describe. On the other hand, there's nothing written saying, "snake management mandates a race to biggest and soonest..." Feeding him a fuzzy every week roughly during much of the summer isn't gonna produce robust growth, but it shouldn't hurt him, either. Next spring, IF you wanted to, you could certainly up the ante with the size of food items, as you had begun to do, OR by increasing frequency. Or both. Kings are capable of dramatic growth if you provide them the means, but you don't have to.

As for the temps, I'd not raise them. What you had set up was working fine--he was eating when offered, until recently. I still think that change is an internal clock, seasonal thing. You can't overcome that just by pumping the temps up higher and higher, nor, in my opinion, should you try. Maybe he'll eat monthly during the winter: it's very likely you'll have more rejected food items than you encountered during the summer. I suspect everything's fine with your snake and your management.

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"