Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I curently own a 13 foot WC large King Cobra (Malayan local) (O.hannah) and I have been experiancing feeding difficulties. I have had him for about two months and has refused to feed. I have tried feeding him Corn snakes and Black racers with no avail. He seems hungry as he follows the snake around but then losses interest. I have tried both live and frozen with no success. My next step would be to try and purchase some native Asian rat snakes such as Pytas korros to see what happens. Any positive information on how I might get my pride and joy to feed will be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Tony Baez.

you mentioned that this is a w/c individual. have you completed a full fecal check up by your vet? oftentimes, parasite overloads (due to stress from shipping) can cause kings to go off feed. this would be my first recommendation. even if the importer claims that the snake was "dewormed" that usually means that the snake was not properly deparasitized as follow up treatments are critical in eradication and control. most kings will greedily accept just about any appropriately sized snake once acclimated and healthy so i wouldn't necessarily worry too much about exact locality species of king cobra food items. hope this helps. Rob Carmichael, Curator, THe Wildlife Discovery Center, City of Lake Forest, IL

You should contact some importers and dealers and try to purchase Dead Burmese, Retic and Ball pythons. You want to make sure that you freeze them for enough time to kill all parasites that they may have. Our Malaysian Kings have been flourishing on these for about three years. Some Kings can be more finicky. I would also try to get some native Asian ratsnakes. Sometimes it may be a pain in the begining but it is important that you get him feeding. They have a very fast metabolism and you dont want him to loose too much body weight. In the meantime, If the snake is showing interest, I would keep trying what you are doing until you can find another other feeder snakes.

Sloane Russeck

WC kings are a pain to get feeding. I suggest a thorough deparasitization regimen and assist feeding to keep them in good body condition. You can also try a wide variety of snake species to see what he'll take. If he follows the live ones around, try offering a frozen/thawed animal of the same species he has shown interest in.

I recommend that all veterinary procedures with kings that require physical restraint and that last longer than a minute include light sedation. Diazepam at 0.1 to 0.3 mg/kg is appropriate for light sedation of king cobras. A pole syringe is a good delivery mechanism, or just nab the tail and give a quick shot into the muscle that lies along either side of the spine. This procedure is described in detail:

http://www.kingsnake.com/snakegetters/demo/vet/anesthesia.html
http://www.kingsnake.com/snakegetters/demo/vet/polesyringe.html

If you subject kings to prolonged conscious restraint, they tend to do two things - one, their heartbeat and respiration goes into ranges that look remarkably unhealthy, and two, you get what appears to be histological weird stuff going on in the lungs. A look at the lungs of an unsedated king restrained for examination in a vet clinic showed what resembled an advanced URI - increased mucous production to the point that the snake was rattling when it breathed and drooling out the mouth. We don't do prolonged conscious restraint on kings any more for the obvious reason that it does not appear to be a healthy thing for the patient.

Kings don't take handling stress very well, and they are definitely in the category of patients that should be humanely sedated to avoid doing more harm than good during veterinary procedures. We have experimented with a number of methods and drugs in cobra anesthesia and have settled on Diazepam as the gold standard for king exams, especially as it does not depress cardiovascular or respiratory function and it is easy to administer as an injectable.

We assist feed kings two ways. First a quick shot of Diazepam is given with an absolute minimum of restraint and stress, and the animal is left in its cage. It should be monitored closely (but not too closely as this will cause more stress) if the waterbowl is left in the cage. If the waterbowl can be removed, the snake can be left entirely alone. After 10 to 15 minutes the animal is caught and restrained with its head in a tube. It is likely to be a bit slow but far from unresponsive at the dose range listed, so normal handling precautions should be used.

At the lower end of the dose range you can often introduce a headless dead snake into the mouth with short forceps and the chewing reflex will take over. At the higher end of the dose range this reflex will be absent. Introduce nutrients through a tube placed down the throat. Do not put the tube in the glottis, and be sure to verify placement as kings have quite a large glottis. I suggest Mazuri carnivorous reptile gel or the Walkabout Farms enteral carnivore nutrition product as this is formulated specifically for the needs of such animals. More info on assist feeding here:

http://www.kingsnake.com/snakegetters/demo/assist-feed.html

Introduce medication before food as a rule. I've rarely seen anything in a king fecal that wasn't addressed by Panacur and Flagyl, 50 mg/kg of each, repeated twice at intervals of 5 to 7 days. WC kings do tend to have hepatozoon parasites that will show up on a blood smear. Don't panic, these are generally self limiting and do not necessarily require treatment.

If your vet wants to talk to a vet who is experienced with king cobras and their peculiarities as patients, drop me a note. atheris a^t usa d0t net.

It's funny how you people will pay all that $$ for a wild caught King, but will not give me $500.00 for an established pinky feeding captive bred hatchling...LOL..Venomous people are stupid.
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CB

"I post because I'm bored"

That post was not directed at you, but to venomous keepers in general.

Try a Reticulated python, they love em. Retics are too expensive to use a a food source, but get one and scent rodents or other snakes with it, it should work.

Good luck
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CB

"I post because I'm bored"