Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a juvenile CB female AZ mountain kingsnake (6 months old or so). I have had her about 2 months now. The first month she ate a frozen/thawed pinky at least once a week (even during shedding cycle) but for the last month has refused to eat. She seems very healthy and active but just won't eat. Any ideas?

Thank you

Sounds to me like you have no problem, just a normal, healthy Az Mtn. King. I'm surprised you got her to eat this late in the year. My 4 Az Mtn. Kings stop eating between mid-September and mid-October and don't start eating again till late Feb or mid- March. This is the period that they would normally brumate (the snake version of hibernation) in the wild. Mountain Kings live at high elevations that are cold and/or snow covered during the winter, so they hide underground till spring.

What you should do is slowly bring the temps in her enclosure down to the high 40's to high 50's (where I live it is hard to get them below the high 50's for any extended period of time. Basements or garages are good places to do this if they don't get too cold. She will remain active, so keep fresh water in with her. In early March or so, slowly raise the temps back up tp the mid 70's to low 80's, and begin feeding again.

Thanks!

So it's normal she stopped eating, even though the temp in her cage has remained at 75-80 degrees?....It's just the time of year, right?

Yes, even though your temps have been kept high, they wil still stop feeding. It's important to be sure that they haven't eaten for at least two weeks before you start lowering temps, or the remaining food in their gut may rot and cause health problems. Healthy snakes can go for months without eating as long as the temps are kept low.