Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi... snake has gone off his feed. He is active but is paying zero attention to the rat pinkie in his tank. He is usually an incredible predator. He is about 2 years old.

Has it eaten rat pinks before? Id give it mice. How big is the snake? If the prey is too small, it may not take it. How long has it been since the snake ate?

>>>>If the prey is too small, it may not take it.

I've found that they will more readily take smaller prey when refusing to eat. I've restarted many of mine by offering much smaller prey then they would normally take.
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Ace

My Cal King was about the same age. I had fed him a varied diet, and he was an aggressive feeder. Suddenly, in the summer of 2002, he stopped feeding for weeks.

(Quite a coincidence that both of ours, same species, exhibited the same symptoms at the same age. Maybe normal for this subspecies??)

When my snake quit eating, I foolishly gave him away, but I've since learned that some snakes just do this from time to time. It is not necessarily an indication of a problem. He was a great snake; I should have kept him!

Wait 4-6 weeks. If it's good weather and he still does not eat, take him to a veterinarian for examination.

At any time, however, he may resume normal eating. Reptiles have their own behavior & priorities - and we are just beginning to understand them. We live and we learn...

i wouldnt worry. some of my cal kings especially after there 2nd/and older go off feeding at the end of the summer. in the wild they usually go off feed in sept/oct to prepare for brumation. you can try raising the temps and offering food every now and then and see if he eats. He may eat, however not as often. some of my cal kings and hognoses which were never refused meals throughout the summer, and now not accepting food evertime i offer them. i also have cal mtn kings, cb western longnoses which completely go off feeding at the end of july. My cb eastern hognoses are still taking frozen thawed mice up until the beginning of november, which i though would stop eating in sept. i wouldnt worry too much unless the snake drastically loses alot of weight. if you arent going to brumate him, try raising the temps and try a few more times and he may eat, let us know how it goes, thanks dave

If its a male its normal for them to take some time off feeding during the summer months. Once they become sexually mature they are more interested in female Kings than rodents ..go figure lol. Once we get more into Fall he will begin eating again Im sure. The other dead give away is that he is active and thats another sign of looking for a mate. Keep offering food but less often maybe every 2 weeks or so.

Keith

>>Hi... snake has gone off his feed. He is active but is paying zero attention to the rat pinkie in his tank. He is usually an incredible predator. He is about 2 years old.
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Yes, he has eaten all sort of rodents from pinkie mice to hamsters to pinkie rats before. I think you might be right. He is horny. I guess I won't worry for another couple of weeks because otherwise he seems very healthy and normal. He is just the best snake, I would hate to lose him.

I felt kinda bad... my husband grew up in rattlesnake territory and doesn't like the snake very much. But he came in the other day after haying and said *hey I found a nest of mice do you want to bring your snake out here?* I thought *cool* He just went right passed them, over and over. Oh well, it's the thought that counts.

Cal kings, once mature, often go off feed this time of year in preparation for brumation. He will likely not eat again until Spring, or, he might eat some in a month or two. I have Cal kings, and I just turn off the heat around October and cool them down for 14 weeks or so at 55-65 deg range until Spring.
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Mark