Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My CA King Snake, unknown age, unknown sex, aprox 3ft long stopped eating. Hasn't eaten in nearly 1 and a half months. No major changes in environment, finished shedding (including eye caps) several weeks ago, was not hibernated. Tried several different mice. Used to be a great eater (2 mice every 10 days). Anybody know whats wrong??? or more importantly how to fix it?? at what point should I assist feed?? Please help!!

Try feeding the snake a live fuzzy or pinkie in a brown paper bag. Also, a container that is round (like an oatmeal container) usually makes a snake go into feeding faster (im not sure why). Good luck-Zach
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Zach Lim
Carnivorous Plant Grower and Herper
http://www.geocities.com/sf_snakes/index.html

Hey i was told by someone that some kings will just
automatically go into burmation? i don't know if this is
true or not, I'm a complete novice.
but i thought if i brought it up some one might explain?
the person that told me this, seems very cool and also sounds
like they know what they are talking about - a lot of "credentials"
Dallas

I don't think they'll go into brumation at normal temperatures, that would just be suicide.

Hey i was told by someone that some kings will just
automatically go into burmation? i don't know if this is
true or not, I'm a complete novice.
but i thought if i brought it up some one might explain?
the person that told me this, seems very cool and also sounds
like they know what they are talking about - a lot of "credentials"
Dallas

I'm certainly no expert, at least nowhere near as much as some of the folks here. Anyway, it's much too early for a snake to go into brumation. I probably didn't explain it very well--brumation is like hibernation, except that the animal doesn't actually go into the deep sleep state. It's basically a slowing down/cooling off period. Snakes don't eat during this time (and shouldn't; not warm enough for digestion), but they do move around some and will drink water. Kings that are being bred need to be cooled for 2-3 months in the winter, but pet snakes don't necessarily have to be brumated. Some kings (like mine) will brumate whether you want them to or not, so if you're a first-time owner and your snake stops eating in the fall, they may just want to brumate. Mine has gone off food as early as the end of August. You don't want to brumate a sick or very thin snake, but a healthy snake won't be harmed by it. Some people believe that brumation may extend a snake's life because it's what they do in nature. I brumate my snakes because they all seem determined to do it whether I want them to or not!

Hope this clarifies things. If you need more info, do a search on the old forums and you'll find quite a bit there. BTW, I don't believe that tropical species brumate, generally speaking (not cool enough).

Jeannie

I had a prob. with my black mex not eating last winter...when I put the uv light on him for a week he ate. Now he eats every week, and I have the uv light on him for 6 hrs or so a day. I know people say that snakes don't need uv but in many cases they do.

I have a male Mex. rosy boa that is a chronically poor eater. Any experience using UV light on rosies? Can you give me more info? It may just be a male thing, but I'm willing to try anything to get a little more weight on him.

Thanks,

Jeannie

Are you sure you haven't changed anything in his environment? It might be something small that you haven't thought of.