Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I came here cuz Kings eat lizards and I thought I'd get a faster answer here than elsewhere. I've had my Glossy snake for almost 12 years now. He only eats lizards. His poop never smelled bad until just recently. And I mean BAD. No difference in the type of lizard either. Is it just because he's getting old or what? Any ideas?

That is not normal. I would imagine its caused from incomplete digestion, particularly this time of year(not warm enough). Or it could be caused by illness, that needs to be checked out by a Vet. (F. protozoa being most common)
As someone who has lived around glossy snakes for a very long time, yes they feed on lizards, but they also feed on snakes, reptile eggs, and rodents. With Kangaroo rats and pocket mice(Perognathus) being the most common.

I do congratulate you for the longevity of yours as no many people keep those lovely snakes.

I had a feeling about that. I've had around 30 snakes altogether but had to find homes for them all except this one. I kept him because I've seen how people would let them go to skin and bone because they didn't want to feed lizards. When I got Wally he was only a baby and would eat pinkies. As soon as I tried a fuzzy he spit it out and wouldn't go back. I tried everything short of offering him a beer with it and still no go so for the next 11 years it's been only lizards.

What I found odd is that this one doesn't like the heat. I have him in a 60 gallon terriarium and he will always avoid the warm side. I have an undertank heater and will only use the above light in the winter. He hates it. What I have also found odd is that usually he cuts back on feeding in the winter. He never stops completely like my kings would do, but this year he's been going at it as if it summer time. I do notice the poop looks different as well. The tails of the lizards are not digested, and the poop looks, as you put it, partically digested. By the way ... I took a beautiful very large black Mexican king to the vet once and she stood across the room from it, barely touching it with the tip of her fingers as if afraid of it. She said she knew about snakes but no way. So, I'm on my own. How would he pick up such a thing when all his lizards have been frozen first? Thanks for your advice.

One more thing to think about. As one who works with lots of different species and types of snakes/reptiles, they all tend to want the same thing, but do it differently.

While most folks have the mistaken idea that snakes live in our world, they are mostly wrong. Most snakes, particularly, kings and specifically Glossys. Live underground. In the case of A.elgans, they rarely ever work the surface. Only to move to another underground area. I have found that if you offer their needs, heat and food, in a way they understand, they do so much better and often surprise you as to what they are.

In most cases the cause of picky snakes is hydration. Glossys appear to avoid dry air as they are thin skinned. Just something to think about. Best wishes

I've had several kings ... two of which came in my front door, several gopher snakes, three of which came in the back door. One whip snake that came in the side door. One teeeeny tiny black headed snake that got in somehow, and many corns, pythons and boas that were bought. I tried to make their environment as close to their natural habitat as possible, except the black headed snake. I let it go as soon as I rescued it from a clue trap it got stuck on. And the whip snake that I let go after I finally was able to catch the dang thing.

As for Wally, I put a lot of substrate in his enclosure because I knew he was a burrower even though he loved to lay out in the open a lot. I didn't even use an above light once I saw that he avoided it. I mainly used it when my heater went out or the AC got the house too cold. He still didn't like it. He was never a problem eater as long as it was lizards. Just this recent episode got me concerned. I think that with his eating more than usual this winter, and it being colder sooner than usual, may have thrown his digestion off track. Anyway, I hope that's it. Have you ever kept a snake until it died of old age? If so, do they start acting different, like old dogs and such? Thank you for your advice.

Yes, I have, since I have been keeping and breeding snakes since 1964. They just get old, lose their color, get cataracts, cannot crawl right, but just keep going until they cannot go any more. With kings, that would be around 30 or more years of age My oldest lived to 35.

I have discovered if you cool/hibernate, old snakes, they pass peacefully while cool. it seems brumation is a bit stressful on them. I have no interest in having longevity records past where the snakes can crawl.

I had an old Lace monitor that I purchased that came in old and screwed up in about every way possible, except it would eat. Friends would ask me to put it down. It could not walk but would keep eating.

I am sure you take great care of your snakes. There are some difficult to understand things when you work with animals that cannot talk and do not grip. They attempt to make the best out of any and all situations. The heat thing is something that goes hand in hand with that.

All reptiles require X amount of heat to metabolize. Most snakes fall into nearly identical areas of heat use. What makes them unique is how they get their heat/food/other resources. End part 1

Snakes such as glossys live in sandy to somewhat hardpacked desert areas. They rarely if every come out in the day(lite) but are active in the ground and make their living in the ground.
(day and night) They occasionally move on the surface at night to move to new areas, hunting areas, mates, etc. But do not make a living on the surface. The key to understanding them is not deep substrate, but instead, what kind of deep substrate. They do not live in any kind, like all snakes, they have preferred types, and preferred conditions to live in. Glossys are very particular about type of underground conditions

What I have learned in the million years(reptile years) of keeping is, when not given the proper conditions, soil types, depth, humidity levels, and FEEL. they simply ignore it and do not attempt to fix the situation. Simply put, in nature, they come across all manner of conditions. They seek certain conditions then use them in a instinctual way. So, wrong soil type or condition, they ignore it, right soil type and condition, they play it like a violin, like they have been doing it for millions of years and they have. End part 2

All snakes have potential, that is, the maximum and minimum of what they do. Under the right conditions, they all seek to eat as much as they can, grow as fast as they can, and reproduce as much as they can, up to their genetic potential. They do not refuse to reach that potential, THEY ARE FOCRCED to not reach their potential in those areas. Both by nature and by us keepers.

So when you have a glossy that only eats lizards, that is the snake communicating to you that is not being allowed to be a full on glossy. As they normally have a much wider menu and consume a much wider range of prey.
You sound like a very caring person. So I hope you will think about this. Best wishes

I used to catch lizards for him until a little side blotch (fed when Wally was a baby) sat in my hand, latched onto one of my fingers and looked me in the eye. I couldn't kill another one, nor could I find enough around my house to feed as many as he needed. I found only one supplier to help me and if he quits, I'm in trouble. I've only seen anoles sold online and don't know if he'd eat them.

As far as the other food items mentioned .... where does one get snakes and repitle eggs and such?

As far as substrat ... I'd thought about using some of my desert sand for him but feared bringing in mites and the like so I use aspen. He glides around in it making tunnels and such, and spends a lot of time on the surface as well. But likes the cold end the most. I think this weird for a desert snake.

I like how you think, and treat your snakes. If you just keep them in little boxes like others I've seen ... I think that is cruel. I have mine set up like a desert landscape for Wally.

Again, thanks for all of your words of advice.

Best wishes, I hope your snake does well.

Glossies can be really sensitive to conditions that are not to their liking, just as FR said. I have had a few, and in my opinion they are not as adaptable in captivity as say a kingsnake.

First off, they stay underground most of the time where humidity is rather constant and where they do not dry out. I found that a hide spot that maintains some humidity works rather well. For example, a clay pot base that you can wet, or a box with some damp sphagnum or damp coco fiber. Place one of these over the heat and one in the cool area.

Not sure about substrate. I tried different substrates because they did not seem "happy" on aspen. I used sand (pain in the neck) with some success, and then tried coco fiber. Then I tried sand mixed with coco fiber, and that was what I used from then on - seemed the best of both worlds and holds humidity. Not really sure what is best for them though.

Good luck.

What I meant to say was that IMO glossies are not as adaptable as a kingsnake to the common captive conditions used most widely.

My glossies back in the day were cooled in Winter because they avoided heat during those months. They almost seemed uncomfortable with any heat on.

I am no expert on glossies. I just tried some stuff that seemed to make things better. Their thin skin is a clue that even though they are a desert snake, they cannot tolerate dry conditions for too long, conditions that for example a gopher snake would have no problems with.

One thing I am doing with all my snakes now - being that I have far fewer now - is that I use overhead heating in the form of ceramic heat emitters and radiant heat panels. For one reason or another, the snakes really seem to thrive with these heaters, and you can see them really fine-tune their basking habits. Especially effective for young boas/pythons. I provide a tiered layer of shelves, and they will choose the desired basking spot vertically to suit their needs. I guess with a heat pad they can adjust horizontally and percentage of body over heater, but there is a much more gradual gradient with a ceramic.

For a glossy, perhaps it can be tried. You would have to build up the substrate so it is about 8 inches below the top of the tank. Then you could use a ceramic heater. The snake could then sit under the substrate close to the surface to warm up, or deeper to cool down, or just move away altogether. A layer of newspaper covering the substrate will work nicely - that was my trick for rosy boas with the result being a voracious feed response. Might be worth a try. I have maintained kings this way with great results as well. Ceramic heaters are better than lamps - the heat penetrates substrates better and is more focused on the area below the heater.

Wally has never been picky except that he won't eat mice. And that's not really being picky. Some Glossy's, depending on where they come from, will eat mice more easily than others, or so I've been told. Mine doesn't like heat even in the summer and will avoid the side that has the under tank heater area. I don't even use a light unless, as mentioned, the AC gets too cold, etc. He seems to like tunneling through the aspen and never a complaint. LOL. Lays out on the top a lot too. I have a large bowl of water on one end for humidity or for him to soak. He has refused to eat the past couple of tries but this is not unusual in winter. I do not have a place to cool him down completely so only feed him when he asks. I did notice something odd today though. His nose was pointed upward as if staring at the top of the cage. I thought he was hungry but only snapped at the offering. I hope it's nothing to worry about.

The smelly poop and undigested food are red flags for some kind of parasitic infection. You need to identify it by microscope and treat it accordingly with the proper meds for that type of bug. That is where a vet comes in. If you can't, then you are on your own. You can try Flagl and Panacure. But you will just be guessing.