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I have a roughly 12-13 month old desert kingsnake...(as I purchased from petco, im not sure the exact age, but I have had her since April and she may be older, but she is tiny for her age). For somereason she has stopped eating, she has not eating now in well over a month. She has always been a picky eater, Meaning if the pray was even a tad to big, she wouldnt touch it, and throutout the summer she was eating 1-2 fuzzys per week..Like I said, even though she is over a year old, she refuses anything bigger then a fuzzy, sometimes she would even go more then two weeks without eating..She is quite small for her age, aprox 13 inches long, and skinnier then a normal size finger, but she is plump where she needs to be, and is round ontop still(I just think she is gonna be a small one) but back to original question, she is refusing everything, doesnt matter what I do now..I normally feed in seperate container, but have tried everything over the past month or so. I tried to put her in a container in her own tank overnight, tried to leave fuzzy on plate in tank, but she still wont touch it..She is still active during evening, crusing her tank, but she wont touch anything..I may add that I do live in upstate ny, and it has been cold since october.
oh, her housing, she is in a 20 gallon long tank, with a uth..the warm end is around 84-86 and the cool end is around room temp, I have a corm snake that I keep in a different tank, but same temps, do you think maybe the cool end is too cold for her? she seems to go back and forth between her hides on each end, in fact, most times she prefers to stay on the cold end. I use a digital probe to monitor temps on top of the aspen bedding, and humidity is roughly 40%. she is in low traffic area...Please, im at wits end here, I am inexpericenced keeper, but want to learn and want to make it work. My corn was purchased the same time and same age, and is fouroucious eater(hopper once per week) and even eats from my hand..I know different breeds of snake. but I got the corn and the king because I heard both are great eaters and great starter snakes..Please help and give advice.. Is it just that she shut her eating down for the winter? if so, is this normal for a desert king? and how do I start the feeding again? I do not want her to starve..once again, sorry so long, and thank you

I forgot to add, she has also stopped shedding, her last shed was back in November... like i said she has always been picky eater, and would sometimes go a couple weeks between feedings(by her choice, not mine, I would try, but she would just refuse, then I would wait a few days later, and try again and she would take..

Im sorry, I just realized that my humidity is actually quite low in the tank, since I do run a wood pellet stove to heat my house, it actually is pretty dry in here. the humidity in the tank was around 20-25 when I just checked. I sprayed the tank down with alittle water(misted it) and it rose it back up to 40. I imagine i might have to do alot of this during the winter. Do you think this can be the reason? if so, is misting the tanks once or twice aday ok to raise humidity with aspen bedding? or will this make fungus grow? sorry, but i am new at all this..thanks again

Yankeeslover, it could be any number of things, but I am mainly suspecting temps. You stated the warm end was around mid 80s, but did not post what the cooler room temp end of the tank is. You also mentioned you warm the room/house using a wood pellet stove. It could be the room temp is too cool for the cool end and the snake is shutting down for the winter. If an especially cold snap is in progress, they can sense these things and shut down. The room may be comfortable to you, but too cool for the snake due to inconsistent heating, drafts, etc. I would make sure the cool end is in the low to mid 70s for sure, and maybe bump the warm end to upper 80s. Finding the perfect temp is a bit of a quessing game for each snake. Also, your cage may be too big for a small snake. It may not feel secure in such a large environment. You may want to try housing in a 10 gallon tank, or even a five gallon sized critter keeper tank for awhile. The smaller cage size can also help you keep the temps up easier. Just put the UTH under one half to one third of the cage with hides on each side. Most baby snakes are housed in shoeboxed sized containers until 1.5 to 2 feet long in some instances. This provides them the security and temps they need.

I also strongly urge you to purchase a good book about snakes. There are several series available at most pet shops and its great to have a reference available to consult and digest the information at your own pace.

Good Luck
KevinM

sorry, cool side is around 71

I feel awful right now, but i just stuck the digital probe on the cold end of tank, and its reading around 66 degrees..warm end is 86....I cant believe i never noticed this before...im gonna take a piece of cardboard and wrap it with alumanum foil and set on top of the screen, and just keep alittle opening on top for air to get in...I cant believe how i missed this....hopefully the cardboard will keep in the humidity also....Im so upset, this has to be the reason...so should i just raise the temp and then monitor her?

Yeah, 66 is a bit low IMO for the cool end. Try to bump it up, but dont get the warm end too hot (really any hotter than it is if these are ambient air temps). You can try covering part of the tank top to help keep heat and humidity in. Shoot for 86 warm end and 75 cool end. Good Luck!!! As I also suggested, you can try using a smaller cage to help keep temps better regulated, especially during winter time.

KevinM

I have always used just a uth since april..but it seems that the uth is not enough heat for the cold ny winters..I have a overhead light that I purchased with snake that i never used..I can set it ontop the screen..I also have a 60 watt red night bulb. I was thinking of using the red bulb during the day on the cold end to bump up the temps, then shut it off at night...Is this ok to do? I dont know if a uth and a lamp is overkill? during summer my room temp is around 72-73 and that is why i never heated the cold end..but i didnt relize that the room temp in my room right now is only 66....that must make a huge difference to a snake that 7 degrees..once again, thank you

I would use the red bulb and leave on night and day. If the temps get too cold at night, the snake could regurge if recently eaten. You dont want a major change in temps at night IMO. Play around with the red bulb. Try placing it in the center of the top and see what it does with hot and cool side temps, then shift position accordingly. Maybe skew to the cool side which seems to be the problem most to get the ambient temps up 10 degrees.

see Bluerosy's post below!! YIKES, didnt think about that aspect!! If you add more heat and get the temps right and the snake still refuses to feed, it may be best to turn off all heat sources and let the snake brumate between 50-60 degrees for two months till light cycles and ambient temps start increasing naturally. More heat and not feeding equal drain on reserves faster!!!

Ok, now im really confused.LOL...I have one person telling me to raise the temps in the tank to proper temps, I then have another person telling me to shut down all the heat in the tank and let the whole tank drop into the 60's and dont touch the snake till March. both of you know a heck of a lot more then I do....Im really confused here, I dont want a dead snake on my hands. Im sorry, I dont mean to sound abrubt, its just that im really nervous about the snake

forget that last post about me being confused..I didnt see your second reply. So, I will totally shut down all heat in her tank, and not touch her again till march..once it starts to warm up alittle outside in march or beginning of April, I will plug in the uth again, and should I use the red heat bulb on the cool side during summer? or is 66-70 degrees warm enough on the cool end during the summer months? thanks

I thik that is the safest thing and it won't hurt your snake. Matter of fact, finicky eaters such as yours come out of brumation eating and growing like champs.

also if you check the last two months of posts here you will find that at the beginning of winter we have a lot of post on "why did my king stop feeding".

While you can try to get yours to feed I think it is best to just have patince and wait until spring. Once a snake goes off food during winter it is hard to get them back on. Something inside themselves just shuts them down irregardless of the heat factor.
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www.Bluerosy.com

"Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8".

"They that can give up essential liberty, to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty or safety." -Benjamin Franklin

okay here goes, this snake has not experienced a year yet. 45-60 days is most adequate to slow the snake down and slowly bring it back up to temp to begin feeding again. You are not brumating this snake for a breeding cycle, you just want to slow down its' metabolism for 6 weeks or so, then bring it up to temp over several days to stimulate that feeding response. This is a splendida we're talking about, right? Not a desert phase Cal king? Not that it matters that much, I just know more about splendida. When the temps go down the snake will go down, this may take a while, you may still see it cruising around, but it will settle down under a hide and take a breather. Your snake has fed several times this year and most likely can pull off a cooling with no problem. Just be sure to get the temps down into the under 60 range, my '09's still cruise occasionally, even at night when it is the coldest, but that is because I am waaaay south of you and cold for here isn't cold for where you are at all, but all my adult splendidas bred with no problems last season. I know you love this little snake and want it to be fine, but you are stressing yourself way too much, and that causes mistakes that could stress your snake. Your little snake is a LOT tougher than you give it credit for. Make sure it has clean water and a hide and it will be fine for 6-8 weeks, I wouldn't go a full 90 day brumation on it, personally. When it comes out, do not be afraid to feed it a slightly larger meal, or multiples of what you last fed it, it will attack it like a lion! or more correctly, a kingsnake!

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Todd Hughes

I also agree with the last couple of posts regarding you cooling it for a substantial duration below 60 degrees. Just make sure that when you DO attempt to feed it after all this, the snake has the warm end in the mid to upper 80's to properly digest, then everything will be just fine. Don't guess at the cage flooring temps though, chech them with an accurate thermometer or temp probe directly on the surface where the snake actually will be, and give it a couple hiding choices on each end too.

Things will be just fine!

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

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Try braining the pinky/fuzzy and putting them both in a small container or paper bag over night in her cage. Don't check on them till morning.

Scott

Indiana Jones. Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes?

I would highly reccomend that you just cool the snake. Even with high temps some kings just go off food during this time of year. By forcing the heat and nadding more heat you will just keep the snakes metabolism up and it will starve. Even if it does not starve it won't be healthy with eating next month or whenever.

listen to what the snake is telling you. keep a low temp on one end and place a hide on both ends (or 2" of shaving in entire container) then see which side the snake chooses.

By adding an overheade heat source you are asking for more trouble. Let the king do what it wants.

Here is a great tip for anyone with kingsnakes:
Most kings that shut down like this end up eating better come spring and actually surpass the ones that have been eating all winter in growthby mid summer.
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www.Bluerosy.com

"Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8".

"They that can give up essential liberty, to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty or safety." -Benjamin Franklin