Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had this little guy for roughly two weeks now. The guy I purchased it from told me that it has fed before, but being so excited about getting the only GBK he had made me forget to ask with what he has been fed.

I've tried rubbing a very small, day old pinkie with some snake skin from my other snake. I've even tried rubbing some shed skin from my leopard geckos in an attempt to get this little guy to eat. He just doesn't seem interested in food at all. Would two weeks of not being interested in food seem normal to anyone?

I haven't tried braining the pinkies yet, since I'm hesitant to make a mess like that. And, I do not know where I can purchase small anoles, small enough for a snake that is nearly 12 inches long.

He doesn't appear hungry either, and I keep him in a place that is roughly 70-76 degrees nearly 24/7.

If anyone has some good suggestions on how to get the snake to eat, or where I can get smaller sized lizards, that would be really nice. Thanks in advance.

That's a beautiful blairs. Some tricks to the trade are temp. variation. 70-76 seems a little cool I have had success at 85/75 or even 80/75 with feeding responses. You can achieve this by using (night)heating lights on one side of the cage. Let the snake thermo regulate. You mention in your excitement you forgot to ask feeding schedule. Is your snake on live or frozen thawed. You might want to try either or. If breeder has trained it onto F/t pinkies you could be confusing. Also tank size can cause undo stress. A common mistake is to but a baby snake and put it in a 30gallon tank. Most breeders keep in mind use shoebox rubbermaids. Experiment and keep notes time of feedings temp etc. There is always a learning curve of any snake it just takes time to figure it out. As long as the snakes skin is not hanging off him don't stress. Some of my snakes stop eating for a month at a time. Just pay close attention to signs. Sorry got a little wordy good luck

Ah, thank you. Just the response I was needing. Very helpful.

I'll see what variations I can try to get him started on the feeding regime.

As a side note, he is in a 10 gallon tank.

thats a good tank size for him/her for a while. Food for thought.Don't get crazy but you may want to experiment with substrate (wood shavings). Small snakes have a tendency to like to burrow/hide.You want to give the snake the feeling of being secure. A secure snake is a happy one in my opinion. Also, hide boxes on cold and warm sides - Let the snake make the choice. Also play with food size 1-2day old pinks. believe me i know what your going through. ALterna's are beautiful species they like us are sometimes difficult. You'll see this is the best time once you figure him/her out you will laugh years later in accomplishment. I get a kick out of some of my problematic babies that are now 3-4 footer's. Enjoy em! they grow fast.

Thanks. I currently have walnut shell in the cage, deep enough that if he wanted to bury himself, he could. And I have a nice sized bowl for water, and a gargoyle statue. After your suggestion, I have also a red night bulb on the hot side of the tank and a UV tube light on the cool side. His cave is in the middle.

In the wild graybands are found in rock crevices. If you stack and secure a small pile of flat rocks and make areas where your grayband can hide he might like that more than a cave. They are secretive snakes in the wild and they can be a pain to start off when you get them small.

Just remember one thing. Keep that lid secure. That is my regret. Mine is still loose somewhere. I hope he will turn up in the meantime. He was one beautiful snake!
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14 Leopard Geckos 5.9.0
2 Tokay Geckos 2.0.0
1 Graybanded Kingsnake 1.0.0 (on vacation in my house)
1 Baird's Rat Snake (Thanks Vadoni!) 1.0.0
1.0 Ambystoma sp. "Axolotl"

Heh. He already got out once... and I thought I had the lid secured. The little guy got out either through a small crevices where the screen had pried from the frame, or through one of the screen frame cracks. I had cage clips to hold the lid down and a light on top of the cage. Those guys are experts alright.

I just put a flat, plasticy looking rock thing in the cage instead of the cave. He checks it out, but I think I'll have to go dig up some good rocks for a nice hidy hole.

Thanks everyone.

First of all, that is an awesome grayband!!!!! Very good find you have there!!!!!

I think everyone has said some very good things that may work. Here is my 2 cents.

I like the fact that his temps are not high, since I am always an advocate of lower than most other's temps. I keep all my snakes at 78 to 82 at the most. Most of mine are pits and alterna, so the cooler temps seem to do great.

If the snake is at 70 - 75, try a few more degrees warmer say to 77 or 78. See if that works.

Also......how are you feeding him when you do? Are you trying to feed him with you in plain sight or in his hide box? Since they are very secretive animals, if you haven't tried this, place the pinkie in his hide box and then hold him to the opening so he could crawl in. Leave him alone overnight and see if that works. If he is in a hiding place he feels secure in, chances are he will be in a better mood to eat. Also....since you have that substrate mentioned, clear out all of it under the hide box to where you have the bottom of the cage showing and then put the hidebox back and then the pinkie in there. I say that to prevent any of that substrate from sticking to the pinkie and being ingested. If he eats, be sure to leave him alone for at least 3 days, so the chances of regurgitation are nullified.

If you are using that light bulb, make sure he doesn't get too hot as well. Try to use a thermometer of some sort to regulate temps. Also....having hide boxes in both the hot and cold areas, like someone else mentioned, is a great idea.

Take care!!!!!!

Billy
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Genesis 1:1

The heat bulb on the one side of the cage makes that part of the cage 80 degrees, constantly. And on the other side, roughly 75 now. One thing I started to do with my snakes when feeding was take them and stick them in another container with newspaper on the bottom so the pinkies don't get any hitch-hikers.

I've tried f/t pinkies, but might have to find some live ones to see if maybe he just doesn't know what the frozen ones are. But then, I may try and get a lizard to do some rubbings on. And I'll give your recommendations a shot. Anything is game at this point.

Braining doesn't have to be messy, and I've found it very effective getting babies to eat. What I do, instead of splitting the pinky's head, is take a thumbtack and push it into the pinky's forehead. if you squeeze a little, some of the brain will come out. I rub that on the pinky's nose, and then give that to the snake.
Also, I tend to not feed babies in their cages, unless they're already eating fine. I put them in a small deli cup (with air holes of course) and give them their food there.

I hope this helps.

And that is one sweet lookin' grayband!

Okay, thanks for the tip. I'll give that a whirl too.

Braining has been the most successfull way of getting my stubborn feeders to eat. I will brain a day old pink with a razor or sharp knife and place it under a dark non transparent upsidedown bowl. Place the Alterna under the bowl also and leave alone (check every 15 minutes or so).
This should do the trick.
BTW, I usually use live day old pinks for this. It may seem cruel to some, but has had the best results.
If this does not work email as for I have numerous tactics to get stubborn feeders to begin to eat. This has worked with many of my Mexicana Mexicana, Alterna and Thayeri even a few stubborn calikings.
Good Luck
John Lassiter
jlassiterjr54@grandecom.net

Here are some that I have had to "persuade"

Well, 70-76 degrees is too low. The high should be more like 82-ish, while the cool area can be in the 70s. Try feeding in a deli cup. A possibility is that it is a non-feeder or a lizard feeder. It is an awefully pretty GB, and I wonder why it hasn't been sold earlier.