Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a clutch of apprx 3 week old cal kings, 4 are aberrant bananas and one was coastal normal. Of the bananas one eats pre-killed fine on its own, and 3 eat when their put in a small dark box with the pinky. But they all have eaten without much difficulty. The coastal on the other hand has eaten only once, after being teased with the mouse for a good hour. This was after many many unsuccessful tease feed attempts, putting her in a small box, braining and scenting. They all continuously fail. What are the odds that live will work? Live is my next step either way, but I would like to know if theres any other tricks I'm missing? What are some good methods for getting baby cal kings to eat?

a 6 week brumation period seems to work well too.
www.4lakessnakes

Patience is one trick. My yearling female cal king refused to eat for many weeks and I had to tease feed her. I finally gave up, didnt feed her for a couple of weeks, then she ate a f/t pink just fine. Try live, it may entice a feed response. Also, try snake scenting with a corn or other non-king snake or lizard. That may help.

I wouldn't tease a snake for an hour - the length of time the snake hasn't eaten isn't a big deal at this point in time yet. It also looks like that snake in the photo has some tissue coming out of its cloaca, which could be part of the reason why it isn't feeding well.

Tim

Third Eye

It also looks like that snake in the photo has some tissue coming out of its cloaca, which could be part of the reason why it isn't feeding well.

That looks more like a piece of the cord is till connected. That picture was probably taken just after it hatched.

The best advise I could give is to be sure that snake has enough heat and everything else you should be providing. Even if its being kept in the same identical conditions your other hatchlings, doesn't always mean its getting what it needs. Good luck.
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>> It also looks like that snake in the photo has some tissue coming out of its cloaca, which could be part of the reason why it isn't feeding well.
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>>That looks more like a piece of the cord is till connected. That picture was probably taken just after it hatched.
>>
>>The best advise I could give is to be sure that snake has enough heat and everything else you should be providing. Even if its being kept in the same identical conditions your other hatchlings, doesn't always mean its getting what it needs. Good luck.
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...
www.coastalbendcaptivebreeding.com

The snake in the picture eats fine and that is just the umbilicle cord as the picture was taken after it hatched. It was my normal coastal that isn't eating

Bitzi, hatched in July 20. I received her October 5, and fed her a live scented pink that day. But she didn't seem to want to eat that so I lanced the pink's head and dropped the bloody thing on top of her in her feeding jar. She ate that pronto! She weighed only 6.6 grams upon arrival to me, so I don't think she had been a very enthusiastic feeder, although her sister Yasmin at 9.4 grams will eat just plain scented live, don't need the blood. The man I got Bitzi from was most happy to hear that, as she had been a trial for him as well.

Your baby is only three weeks old, so I wouldn't worry. Like someone else said, you could always do a brumation if all else fails and the baby has not lost weight.
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Bob/Chris
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire