Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have watched this snake begin to eat a Lizard scented pinky and then just abort, only to try angain and give up repeatedly. It's like she takes the bait from the scent but realizes something ain't right, lol. I may try the lizard tail in the pinky mouth trick with a day old pink. Any way I have been lite handed with feeding her mate, cause I don't want him to get way bigger than she is. Even so he is growing fast.

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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Guess you gotta feed 'em what they want! LOL!

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Bob/Chris
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire

Ha haa! Great picture Bob! I'm determined to get her to eat pinks somehow. She needs to get very big, and I don't like hunting anoles all that much anymore. Plus I'm not as fast as I used to be, lol.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Very nice Jorge!,....as we both know, her eating ANYTHING willingly is a winning deal regardless..LOL!. In short time you will surely be able to turn her around and accept unscented rodents.

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

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

The prognosis is good from here! Thanks bro!
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Fortunate for you that you live someplace you can easily catch anoles. If I had to feed lizards to any of mine I'd be screwed. About the only ones we find here are the seldom seen blue tail skinks.

To make catching them easier try a fish line noose laced through the eyelets of a fishing pole. Run the lead that you pull on down through the eyelets and rig the noose on the tip. The pole doesn't seem to bother the lizards. I guess it looks too much like a twig. Slip the noose over the head and pull. We used this trick all the time to catch blue bellies out in Cali.
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BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.
1.2 P. m. melanoleucus B/W N. J. Northern Pines
1.2 P. d. deppei Mexican Pines
2.2 P. l. lineaticollis Linis or Lined Pines
1.2 P. m. lodingi Black Pines
0.3 P. c. sayi Kingsville X Stillwater red bulls
1.1 Drymarchon melenurus Blacktail Cribo
1.2 D. corais Yellowtail Cribos
1.2 M. s. cheynei Jungle Carpet
2.6 L. p. pyromelana Arizona Mt. Kings
1.1 L. g. californiae B/W Cali kings
0.0.3 M. f. flagellum Eastern Coachwhips
1.2 G. m. bottegoi Western Plated lizards

Yeah I've used that trick with racerunners and it's about the only way to catch those suckers besides some kind of trap, lol.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

I must have really smart fence lizards in my neck of the woods! I could never catch diddly squat with the fishing pole method. What I do to catch adults is scope out were they are during the day, then go back at first light when it is still cool and just collect them from under their hides. The females tend to bury themselves in the soil so a bit of gentle digging by hand will unearth them.
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Bob/Chris
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire

BTW is she a Georgia wide band? Real pretty girl there.
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BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.
1.2 P. m. melanoleucus B/W N. J. Northern Pines
1.2 P. d. deppei Mexican Pines
2.2 P. l. lineaticollis Linis or Lined Pines
1.2 P. m. lodingi Black Pines
0.3 P. c. sayi Kingsville X Stillwater red bulls
1.1 Drymarchon melenurus Blacktail Cribo
1.2 D. corais Yellowtail Cribos
1.2 M. s. cheynei Jungle Carpet
2.6 L. p. pyromelana Arizona Mt. Kings
1.1 L. g. californiae B/W Cali kings
0.0.3 M. f. flagellum Eastern Coachwhips
1.2 G. m. bottegoi Western Plated lizards

Thanks T, Here is her future mate, if all goes well!

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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

...
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BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.
1.2 P. m. melanoleucus B/W N. J. Northern Pines
1.2 P. d. deppei Mexican Pines
2.2 P. l. lineaticollis Linis or Lined Pines
1.2 P. m. lodingi Black Pines
0.3 P. c. sayi Kingsville X Stillwater red bulls
1.1 Drymarchon melenurus Blacktail Cribo
1.2 D. corais Yellowtail Cribos
1.2 M. s. cheynei Jungle Carpet
2.6 L. p. pyromelana Arizona Mt. Kings
1.1 L. g. californiae B/W Cali kings
0.0.3 M. f. flagellum Eastern Coachwhips
1.2 G. m. bottegoi Western Plated lizards

I can't wait to hatch out some common kings again! It's been years since I dove seriouly into breeding. For the last three years I've been playing around with some local corns which are pretty cool looking. I have since added some captive bred Corns too, but this next season will be exciting I hope! Oh I did hatch out some Thayeri/vens and some Sina/nelsons last two years but I'm really excited about these next two years.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Jorge, do you feed her live anoles, or freeze them first to kill parasites?
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Kent

0.1 Hypomelanistic striped cornsnake
1.1 Hypo (het lavender, striped) cornsnake hatchlings
2.2 Normal (het hypo, lavender, striped) cornsnake hatchlings
1.2 Gray-banded kingsnakes, blairs phase
1.1 Oregon rubber boas

Light bulb goes off in my head, duh! No have haven't been freezing them. I know I'm getting forgetful now! I guess I wasn't worried much since I have ample Panicure and Flagyl on hand, but your right I should freeze them huh? I really had just hoped to scent some pinks with the darn things and decided to toss one in. I have had to keep her going on fuzzy tails and force feeding till now. She did not want anything voluntarily till now.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Why not just raise a colony pf anoles? Then you can have a parasite free population to feed live or stockpile frozen. I raise fence lizards as pets, but also for scenting. Very easy to keep.
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Bob/Chris
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire

Bob it's been my experience that blue bellies are a lot easier to keep and breed than anoles. I used to raise them (blue bellies) for some coachwhips I brought back from a Texas trip when I lived in Petaluma.
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BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.
1.2 P. m. melanoleucus B/W N. J. Northern Pines
1.2 P. d. deppei Mexican Pines
2.2 P. l. lineaticollis Linis or Lined Pines
1.2 P. m. lodingi Black Pines
0.3 P. c. sayi Kingsville X Stillwater red bulls
1.1 Drymarchon melenurus Blacktail Cribo
1.2 D. corais Yellowtail Cribos
1.2 M. s. cheynei Jungle Carpet
2.6 L. p. pyromelana Arizona Mt. Kings
1.1 L. g. californiae B/W Cali kings
0.0.3 M. f. flagellum Eastern Coachwhips
1.2 G. m. bottegoi Western Plated lizards

T is right anoles aren't so easy to raise up. I have tried to breed anoles for red color and it didn't go well. I got them to procreate but the babies didn't fair well. Shame too cause a couple were very red indeed! I wish I had taken pics of them. I remember your colony of swifts. You did a great job with those guys!
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

What is the latin name of the anoles you tried to raise? I thought I might give them a go, just to see if I can do it. Are theythe same things Petco sells for just a few dollars (little green guys, arboreal and like humidity)?
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Bob/Chris
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire

Ah, phooey, ever mind...if I can brumate my snakes in the ambient temperature of my cabin there is no way I can keep a critter alive that needs 80 F all the time.
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Bob/Chris
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire

I want to do so many things, I just complicate my life sometimes. But it's a passion that I tried to delete many times but it is hard wired in my mother board! By the way we have both the Carolina anoles (green), I think that's the classification, and the Bahama or Cuban browns too.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

The battle is half over now. Since she is feeding voluntarily, she is probably switched "ON". Should only be a matter of time until she eats whatever is offered to keep that belly full!!

Nice looking king Jorge. Hope you have a Happy New Year!!

Kevin

That is what I am hoping too! By the way that speckled King my daughter brought me from New Orleans finally started eating last month. He went on a fast for a couple months! I wasn't worried cause he had good weight and was pooping. So he must have been eating well before they caught it. I'm not going to brumate him since the females are still on the small side and I want to get him on a good routine. Hopefully spring of 2012 I'll try to breed them.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

My bud here in Baton Rouge has big wild caught male that is sporadic as well right now, but not loosing weight. I think its just their nature at this time of year!! The WCs are just more in tune with the changes in light cycles/temp, etc. then the CBs IMO, and APPEAR to be finicky eaters. With the winter solstice over and days getting longer again, I am sure he will stay on until next winter.

>>Jorge, do you feed her live anoles, or freeze them first to kill parasites?
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>>Kent
>>
>>0.1 Hypomelanistic striped cornsnake
>>1.1 Hypo (het lavender, striped) cornsnake hatchlings
>>2.2 Normal (het hypo, lavender, striped) cornsnake hatchlings
>>1.2 Gray-banded kingsnakes, blairs phase
>>1.1 Oregon rubber boas

We had a conversation somewhere (I want to say Kelly Haller was involved) about killing parasites and freezing involving a home freezer really not working. Not cold enough. And much of that works if frozen for months.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

You bring up a very good point! I don't have an aged batch of frozen lizards so the point is pretty mute, isn't it? I'm glad I have the meds just in case!
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

>>Jorge, do you feed her live anoles, or freeze them first to kill parasites?
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I wonder what kills those pesky parasites in the wild?

I never freeze feeder lizards unless I use them for scenting.
Been feeding live, w/c lizards to kingsnakes for years with no ill effect.......
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...
www.coastalbendcaptivebreeding.com

I would rather side on the side of caution, but it's good to know you haven't had any problems John! I wonder if some lizards are more prone to parasites than others?
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

>>I would rather side on the side of caution, but it's good to know you haven't had any problems John! I wonder if some lizards are more prone to parasites than others?

The only point I was really trying to make was......How does a wild snake cope with parasites?
Do they just live with them? Can they pick and choose which lizard to eat?.....no
I wonder how much and what kind of parasite can live through the digestive enzymes/acids of a snake's stomach......
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...
www.coastalbendcaptivebreeding.com

From what I have read, and I'm sure you know this too. All snakes in the wild probably live with a healthy parasite load. But the problems can get amplified in captivity. Stress can cause the parasitic loads to excelerate and become overbearing on the host. Also the fact that our snakes will come in contact with their feces and even possibly ingest small amounts in the water. So the parasites can lay dormant or under control until another problem acts like a catalyst and them the snake is overtaken. I'm paranoid by nature anyway, lol!
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Was that lizard alive, or did it constrict a f/t one?

It was alive! I snatched up half a dozen or so just before the cold front came thru a couple weeks ago. I am keeping them alive on mealworms cause I have a few baby corns that still eat scented pinks also.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Congratulations on the beautiful kings. I once had a baby eastern king that loved little ground skinks, but just would not go for any of the tricks available to get it eating mice, except that I could sneak a pinky in as the lizard tail was going down. Wish you success.

--Dennis

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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Jorge,
Have you tried scenting pinkies with cornsnake?
I hear those Georgia Easterns relish snakes........
Maybe the snake scent will do something different, just a guess though.....

Great looking getula.....
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...
www.coastalbendcaptivebreeding.com

I did try a corn snake with out the pinky, lol. She was not interested. Tried a yellow rat too. At least she eats Anoles that's one step away from eating scented pinks. I think I need to try a one day old pink? She grabbed the last pink I offered and then let go several times.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra