Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I am brand new to the herp hobby and I freaking love it!!! I recently bought this Cal King at the Sacramento Reptile expo and aside from finding a few mites on her (which are hopefully now under control) she has been a fascinating creature to observe. I wanted to take advantage of the knowledge found here on the forum to ask how often to feed my snake. She is approx. 15 inches and feeding (voraciously) on pinkies. Would feeding every 5 days be excessive? Thanks for anyones time that replies
[img]http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/photo.php?id=418539&cpage=0&size=big/img]

First if she is 15"inches you need to bump up the size of the mice to fuzzy or hopper size. Give her the largest mouse she can eat.

Also feed her as much as she wants. She is growing. So you don't have to worry about ovefeeding. The more she eats, grows, the stronger and healthier a captive she will be.

The only problem I see with 15" Cal king that wre purchased from an unkown source (not breeder direct) is, HOW OLD is she?

What happens with cal kings and other colubrids being fed 1x per week on pinkies or even larger mice when the snake gets bigger- is the snake becomes unhealthy and finicky. This results in a snake that will not eat like a normal healthy snake because it has been malnutritioned for a long p[eriod time. Unfortunatly this is something we see quite commonly with colubrids 9aka kings, milks, ratsnakes). That is why it is important to know if your snake was born in 2011 or 2010?? If she is a 2010, that is bad because somebody followed some petshop textbook recipe on feeding a snake a certain size (usually to small) meal 1x per week. Nothing is worse in the hobby than this advice giving by so called self proclaimed experts.

Try to think of this this. **A snake does not need our help to survive in the wild. They have choces out there and do well to make those choices on their own.

So please offer food often. Maybe she will refuse. Maybe she will eat. Also offer temperature "CHOICES".. A heat pad on one end where the snake can thermoregualte it own temperature by moving to hot and cold.

**These are not domesticted pets like cats, dogs or even ferrets where the animal has had all natrual unstincts bred out. A snake is quite capable of making choice while other domesticated "pets" do not pocess this ability any lobger.

So offer as many choices as possible. Food avaliabilty, temperature, humidity ect.
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Thank you for the advise! I was told the snake was about a year old, so I assume its 2010, but I really have no clue. The breeder whom I bought the snake from did say she was feeding on fuzzies, so maybe I will step her up, it just seemed to me that they were too big :/ The good sign is she eats really well, so I have no worries in that department.

The good sign is she eats really well, so I have no worries in that department.

YOUR SNAKE IS WAY TO SMALL FOR BEING A YEARLING BORN IN SUMMER 2010!

of course she eats well. because she has not been fed enough and is has its growth stunted. You will only find out how she reacts to "normal" feeding when she gets on proper mouse size and is being fed more frequently. If she stays finiky and refuses, this is a unfortunate common result of staved snakes.

think of those starved children in Africa. they have been fed on starvation diets. Similar to your snake. it will take a while to get her where she needs to be. hopefully she will be able to grown into a healthy size within the next 6 months.
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Oh another observation. You mentioned you purchased the cal king at a reptile expo. Well the fact the snake was sold to you with mites does not speak well of the sleer. Sounds like the vendor was probably a broker of reptiles. Unfortunatly more and more reptile shows are being filled with brokers such as these and they don't know what the real history is of the animals.

Mites also eaken a asnake and it is obviuos why. they draw blood.

So to answer your question more direct. offer your snake mice every 3-4 days and make sure he/she eats to her fill. If pinkies is all you have right now... then feed as many as she will eat and not just 4 or 5 pinkies. But really feed her until she is full. Then get some larger mice and offer food whenever the lump subsides in her midsection. Try larger items. it will not hurt the snake if a mouse if to big....let me repeat this part.............. if a mouse is TO BIG it will simply stop trying to get it down. So you learned something. You learned what was to big a food ietm! Now if the snake does get it down, you learned something else (And that is suually what happens).. and that is they CAN eat a lot bigger food item than you think.
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YES, I was certainly disappointed when I found a mite crawling around on her, but I got on them REALLY quick and haven't seen any since (here's hoping there aren't any eggs hanging around). I will definitely try offering a fuzzy to her, I'm almost positive she will scarf it down. Thanks for your advise

I will definitely try offering a fuzzy to her, I'm almost positive she will scarf it down. Thanks for your advise

MY ADVICE IS TO GIVE HER ABOUT 6 FUZZIES. Let her eat her fill and remove what she does not eat. maybe start with 3 fuzzies and hath her. When she is done with the 3rd. IMMEDIATLY place in a couple more.

And no she won't regurge them- Unless you don't have a heat pad under her tank/encloser..
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Haha well I'll start with multiple pinkies, since I have a few left, then go through the fuzzies

Haha well I'll start with multiple pinkies, since I have a few left, then go through the fuzzies

yep! try that!

Here is an eastern kingsnake of mine that is 9 months old in this pic. While not a cal king (a cal king would not be this big) still shows how much they should grow in their first year, if fed right.

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HOLY SMOKES that is a healthy snake, mine is nowhere near that size. We I do think I have a malnourished Cal King on my hands

HOLY SMOKES that is a healthy snake, mine is nowhere near that size. We I do think I have a malnourished Cal King on my hands

Well that is my purpose in writing you here. So that your snake can be fed more and pop back to a healthy weight. By contuinually feeding sparingly (especially a small 1 1/2 year old snake like yours) will not help it.

What it needs.. is for you...the keeper... to feed it as much as possible to help it spring back to health. So I hope this motivated you!
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Well it certainly has become an eye opener. I just fed her 2 pinkies back to back and she looks ready for more!

I just fed her 2 pinkies back to back and she looks ready for more!

Why are you afraid to feed her/

two pinkies is like teasing her. Give her all she wants until she refuses.

Also don't worry what someone said about her getting fat. She won't. At least not until she is full grown. And that could take about 2-3 years. In the meantime there is no way a cal king can get fat. They eat whole snake in the wild. That is what they feed on. So feeding her a pile of pinkies or fuzzies is what her system is designed to do.
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If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.

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Your snake is beautiful! Congrats!!

Are you sure your snake is 15 inches? It looks bigger than that judging from the one photo.

If the snake is a 2010, you should be feeding it either big fuzzies, small hoppers, or whatever may be the best size for the snake, as each rodent supplier may differ in definitions on sizes.

If the snake is a 2010 and really is 15 inches, then it may have been fed only on a maintenance diet, or is a possible second clutch baby that was a small one, or heck, just a small first clutch baby to begin with.

Now, since the snake did have mites, just make sure that they are gone completely. If you have a good reptile vet nearby, maybe consider taking your snake in for a checkup to just be sure.

Every 5 days, IMO, is a good regimen, one or two appropriate sized meals for your snake at this age and point in its life. They do grow fast, if there are no conditions preventing the snake from doing so. Maintaining a healthy weight is also key. The idea of feeding a snake as much as it possibly can ingest may sound attractive at first, and if the snake is malnourished, it then may apply at that instance, but as an overall rule of thumb, it may possibly lead to obesity at some point if practiced all of the time, and that is something that is easy to obtain but hard to get rid of ( fat ). Usually, older snakes are the ones with the issues with obesity, but it can happen with younger ones. Reptile vets do tire of seeing obese snakes brought in often. Just keep an eye on the weight.

Good meals, good balance, and good weight, are all key to your little snake's health. Again, gorgeous snake, and congrats on the new purchase!!
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Genesis 1:1

Thank you for the advise! I estimate she is only about 15 inches, maybe an inch more, the pic was a macro shot so she looks bigger than she really is. I really do think this snake will benefit from more food, she just ate two pinkies with voracity, and I do believe she could handle a fuzzy. As for the mites, I attacked them with frequent baths and full enclosure cleanings for the last two weeks. I think once I get over the incubation time for the mites I'll be in the clear.

I highly agree she will benefit from more food as well. Sounds like you are on the right track.
Very good to hear that you attacked the mite issue with severity!

All mites must die.
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Genesis 1:1

It was like a mite "300" up in here, lol

They always look smaller than what they are. This is a wild caught about 8 months old.

If your snake is a little larger, I'd say she is average. Most of us allow our snakes to grow faster in captivity than they do in the wild.
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She's about that size exactly, so were probably talking less than a year huh?

Yeah, she's probably about the size of what an average Cal king would be in the wild under a year. Up her food intake and she should be fine. Just remember, sometimes they slow down on eating this time of year or start refusing to eat. If that happens, let us know and we will advise you what you can do.
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Since your little snake came with mites, she may also have endoparasites. She may even be a wc that was brought to the reptile show. A trip to the vet for an exam might be worthwhile.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Anyone know of a herp vet near Sacramento CA?

Google brings up several results.
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Genesis 1:1

If your snake had mites.....there will be more. One treatment rarely cures the problem. Odds are there are eggs.

Also in your picture it looks like your snake has kinks in the body......

Kerby...
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Life is like a bunch of fish in an aquarium....we all get along (bonding) until I want to eat you....and I do.

And have her checked out. I'm sorry to hear about your problems with mites Joel my ball python had ticks when I bought him back in the 90's. No one should be sold an animal like that. Do everything you can to get her healthy.