Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I'm getting more and more worried as the time passes and I have not been able to coax my hatchling to eat. I've posted down this forum before, but to recap - purchased at a reptile show on Oct. 11th and has not eaten in my ownership ever. Breeder claimed she was eating thawed pinkies no problem before the show. When I wrote my first message, someone suggested it could be due to the weather - but I am worried as she is starting to look skinny. You can see her backbone more now and her skin looks loose in some areas. I have tried placing overnight in a deli cup several times - with brained pinkies too. She just looks terrified of them. I just bought Lizard Maker and am hoping it will work. If not any tips? Ive heard that you can cool them down to make them last till Spring without food - what temp do you cool them down to? My room temp is 75. Do I just unplug the UTH? What should I do?????? This is my first kingsnake and I am used to corns that have readily eaten after giving them a week or so to settle in.

First insure that you are keeping the snake in the low to mid 80s temp range.

I use this method to stimulate feeding. Keeping the animal on pine shavings about 1 - 1.5 inches deep I use a small plasic deli cup as a water bowl. Make a hollow in the bedding place a pinkie in it and cover with the water bowl. In my experience which is conciderable with thayeri your snake will "find" the offered food in this little chamber. The act of foraging must stimulate a feeding responce because they almost always eat this way. BTW, leave the animal ALONE overnight allowing it undistrubed time to feed.

If this fails you might want to concider cooling the snake for a short hibernation. many of my animals that are slow feeders come out of a short hib raering to go!

I thought pine bedding was bad for snakes because of the resin in them. I use a recycled paper bedding - if I put the pinkie in a little cove as you suggest, isn't there danger of her swallowing the bedding?
You suggest cooling - how do you cool them? What temps?

Since it is going on 30 days and the spine is becoming evident I would suggest against any cooling. Is the snake noticeably drinking and active, or is it lethargic and limp? If you are using Carefresh for a substrate and the snake is a hatchling, if you try to cove method suggested, your snake should be okay against ingesting it. As far as pine as a substrate, I know several breeders who use it without any issues for their animals. However, most if not all will place their snakes in a Glad tub or Deli cup for feeding. The oils from the pine should not be a problem unless the snake directly ingests the bedding or a rodent covered in the oils. I would however be certain to avoid Cedar and Pine with Chlorophyll. The Chlorphyll is toxic to reptiles, especially if ingested. If I were you, I would try to cove suggestion and let the snake hunt the mouse. I would also be certain the cage is not located in a high traffic area of the house, and feed early evening turning out all the lights in the room and not disturb the snake for a cpl of days. If the snake doesn't eat the mouse the first night it will not eat it at all. However, since the snake is being finacy and not eating at all I would not risk messing with it till it's had it in it's system for more then 24 hrs. Any disturbance or handling of the snake after eating can cause a regurgation and if the snake is as thin as you say, if it were to regurg, you could pretty much write it off.

I believe she is drinking - I have to refill the water frequently - but I've never seen her drink myself. She is active - especially at night. She constantly is moving around her cage - mostly keeping her body elevated looking for a way out at the top of the cage. But I have noticed it slowing down a little.
For feeding, I had been putting her in a deli cup overnight. Should I not disturb her and try to have her feed in the cage with the cove method? I am just not sure she would find it because her behavior is to ignore almost everything except looking for a way out at the top and edges of the cage. I definitely don't want her to regurgitate but if she doesn't eat the pinky, then don't I have to remove it after 24 hours before it starts to rot? I definitely won't check on her for 24 hours after putting the pinky in.
Thanks for your advice.

All good points. To the specific question of pine I've used it for years on MOST of my animals without issue. Two things to look out for though. One is very fine almost powdery shavings. Sometimes its like this out of the bag and others it gets a layer of fine dust underneith if left in the cage to long. As with most substrates proper house keeping is the biggest issue. BTW the only beddings I have had problems with are aspen and that small square stuff I think is called sanichip. In both cases I lost small neonates to ingestion of the bedding.