Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone, Michael here.

A few weeks ago I posted about my Cali King Snake not eating. Everyone gave me tips like splittign the head, putting ihm in new containers etc...and I tried them all! and they did'nt work. One guy, who I assumed was a pro, told me to leave him alone and not handle him for baout 2 weeks then try to feed him. Well here is today exactly 14 days later, without touching my snake, and I unthawed a pinkie and tried to feed him, and he still won't eat it. I do not know what to do, and I am worrying, I need help. And do nto ask about his temp, his temp is fine. I have no clue whats going on please help.!! Thanks

-Michael

If you're really worried, I suggest just throwing him another snake. I've heard of alot of people doing that with kings after they refuse food for a while. Most likely, your king will snatch up another snake very quickly.
Michael
Michael's Place

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www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
Michael_Fedzen@hotmail.com

somethin glike a little garter snake?

.
Michael's Place

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www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
Michael_Fedzen@hotmail.com

Someone I knew had a snake who didn't eat for months, then she boiled a frozen mouse in chicken broth and it ate it no problem. Couldn't hurt to try. She found the suggestion somewhere online.
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~Shana~

Try soaking your non-feeder in pedialyte for 3-4 hrs. Then try a regular feeding strategy the next day. This method has worked great for me.

herperhelmz would just just bug you for a picture of your snake eating another snake because he seems to get a kick out of that....your snake will NOT starve in 3 weeks, they can go for months. Are you leaving him with the mouse undisturbed for long enough? Like, for several hours in an undisturbed (meaning, without anyone watching, without bright lights or noises) place? Don't don't don't feed it another snake. There is no reason to, they eat ridents naturally and all you may end up doing is making it a heck of a lot harder to feed it next time. We go through this type of thing a lot on the hognose forum because they are notoriously difficult feeders. your snake will eat when he's ready
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Sue Barnett

0.1 Western hognose (Sola)
1.0 Crested gecko (Gator)
0.1 Egyptian spiny mouse (Mia)
4.2 mini rex rabbits (Basil, Pippin, Reggie, Hayden, Jackie and Peek-a-boo)
0.1 Plott hound (Molly)
1.0 half Arab (Zarr)
0.1 'found in someone's garage' kitten (Terra)

1.0 Betta (Flash) and 1.0 FL kingsnake (Vega) currently living with 1.0 boyfriend (Ethan)

Yeah you caught me, I was just gonna bug somebody for a pic of a snake eating another snake, just so I could get a good laugh. I didn't say the king was going to die, but if a king refuses food for a while there is nothing wrong with feeding it a snake, and that usually brings their appetite back. It's not hard to switch a king from eating snakes to snake-scented mice either. They may eat rodents naturally, but they also eat other snakes naturally.
Michael
Michael's Place

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www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
Michael_Fedzen@hotmail.com

I never did it, YET, but canniblizing is normal in some colubrids. I guess one hognose makes somebody an expert at feeding snakes.lol

I mean two snakes, lol!

You mention frozen....have you offered live? It may need the stimulation of live food. An old trick is to place a live pink in a hide box where the king can find it and attack with a degree of privacy.

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

That is not a long time for a snake to go without eatting. At this time of the year a lot of snakes want to hybernate and will refuse food or eat sparringly over the course of the fall and winter and pick back up again in the spring. Like Frank said,try offering a live prey like a pinky or a fuzzy. I would avoid what herperhelmz said about feeding it another snake. The guy gets a kick out of snakes eatting other snakes and that's his choice but I am against it. If you have a CB Cali King there is NO WAY you need to feed it a garter snake. First off any garter snake you find in the pet store is WC and most likely full of parasites which will transfer to your king snake then you'll be wishing you had not fed it that garter. If worst comes to worst and you REALLY think your snake won't eat any mice you could try to scent the mouse with a snake or lizard...if that fails then you can get a frozen garter snake and defrost it and see if that works..Just make sure it is froze for awhile 2 kill any parasites.
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Reptiles
0.1 - Early 2002 Anery Motley Corn 33 1/2"
1.0 - Late 2003 Yellow Rat Snake 15 2/3"
0.0.1 - 2003 Banded California King Snake 29 2/3"
1.0 Green Anole
0.0.0 House Gecko
0.1 Painted Turtle

Mammals
4 female ferrets,1 male cat and 1 male doberman...and a few kids!

RIP - Nala my Rottie 08/19/2004