Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had my snake for about three weeks. I tried to feed her once, but she didn't eat, however, immediately after that her eyes began to cloud over and she went into the shedding process. She finally shed two days ago. I've tried to feed her twice and she doesn't want anything to do with the mouse. I am using a frozen fuzzie, this is what her previous owners fed her. I put it in a plastic baggie and defrost it in hot water. I put it in her cage on a little piece of plastic so the cage substrate doesn't stick to it. I put the snake by the mouse and she will smell it for a little while and then leave it. I tried turning off the light and covering the cage and left the mouse with her for hours but she wants nothing to do with it. Everything I read says she should be famished after shedding. Why won't she eat? I thought snakes were supposed to be easy to take care of. I'm becoming neurotic worrying about her. I will greatly appreciate your help.

What kind of kingsnake is it, and how big/old is it?
Not eating very much in the winter is pretty common for older snakes.
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"The serpent crams itself with animal life that is often warm and vibrant, to prolong an existence in which we detect no joy and no emotion. It reveals the depth to which evolution can sink when it takes the downward path and strips animals to the irreducible minimum able to perpetuate a predatory life in its naked horror."
Alexander Skutch

Besides the above...try using a live one (fuzzy) Put both into a small container and leave it for awhile. The snake may get aggravated enough to strike; which might get the feeding response in gear.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

She is a Sonoran king snake, I think that is the fancy way of saying a common kingsnake. The previous owners didn't know how old she is. She is 2 1/2 ft and at her largest she is probably a little smaller than the diameter of a nickel. I don't think she is too old. They said she was eating one fuzzie twice a week. How often should I try to feed her and when should I be worried enough to take her to a professional? any other advice?
By the way I want to say thank you, you are always very prompt and helpful with answering my questions.

What color is the snake? Sonorans (Lampropeltis pyromelana) have red bands, and commons (Lampropeltis getula) are yellow and black. I'm posting a link to sonoran care in case that's what it is, because I don't have any experience with mountian kingsnakes, just commons.
That's old enough to be fasting a bit, generally. I'd try the live fuzzy and also monitor the snake's weight. If the snake isn't getting skinnier, I wouldn't worry too much.
Sonoran kingsnakes

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"The serpent crams itself with animal life that is often warm and vibrant, to prolong an existence in which we detect no joy and no emotion. It reveals the depth to which evolution can sink when it takes the downward path and strips animals to the irreducible minimum able to perpetuate a predatory life in its naked horror."
Alexander Skutch

She is yellow and black. I will try the live fuzzy, Thanks.

You should look up kingsnake pictures on the internet and find out what the heck she actually is... [bleep]e from a wide range of habitats and knowing where yours is from can help you care for it.
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"The serpent crams itself with animal life that is often warm and vibrant, to prolong an existence in which we detect no joy and no emotion. It reveals the depth to which evolution can sink when it takes the downward path and strips animals to the irreducible minimum able to perpetuate a predatory life in its naked horror."
Alexander Skutch

There's a scent thing you can buy called mousemaker, it works really well. My snake wouldn't smell or look at mice before I started useing it, he just coiled into a ball or tried to slither away. If your snake is at least smelling the mouse, I wouldn't worry so much. I have to dangle a mouse in front of my ball for an hour before he starts to pay attention. If I hold the mouse still he loses intrest, but he misses most of his strikes, it's annoying. One thing you can try is hitting the mouse against the side of your snakes body, that worked once for mine and I've read it works for other people. Most of the time he ignores it when I do that though.

If what you have is a Sonoran King (splendida) that's 2 1/2 feet in length and the width of her widest part is a little less then a nickel, she sounds pretty thin. Mine is about 17 inchs long as is atleast as wide as a nickel. check out this link that has a list and photos of all the Kingsnakes and milks. The desert King is about 13 spaces down the list. That should give you an idea if that's what you have.

Steve
Link

First of all she is a desert kingsnake, or even simpler L.g. Splendida. I put a live fuzzie in with her and she took it right away no problem. Thank you all so much for your help!!!

i ran into the same problem as this with my cal king. it was a little smaller and went about 3-4 weeks without feeding after i got it. i tossed an anole in there just to see and it was all over it. i got it on live fuzzies for a while. then threw another anole in there as my roomates had it as an extra feeder. it ignored it and then i could't get any live fuzzies in. so after another fast i got some frozen fuzzies and using forceps got him to finally take frozen ones by "running" it around the tank and mimicking a struggle. It finally has a great feeding response but i still have to shake the fuzzie a bit to provoke a feed response, otherwise it strikes but lets go and stares at me like it has no idea what to do.