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My snake threw up a lizard i fed him ...WHY? I fed him on a Friday he threw up on Sunday the lizard hadnt even been digested yet....at all. Som1 tell me whats wrong

Why tell you anythng. You are not going to listen. Your last post you got mutiple "do not feed WC food items" responses and the reasons why. You obviously did not listen and now you have a snake with a problem more than likely.

Jason

It seems to me that king snakes are not "lizard" eaters...tell me...would you eat a WC lizard...now I don't eat mice but anything I feed my snakes has to be as fresh as something I would eat...and if I can't provide that...I don't need to have snakes, or any other animal for that matter...just my 2 cents worth...

THE LIZARD WAS FROM PETLAND I DIDNT CATCH IT

Buying a lizard from a pet store does not insure that it was not WC. Petland and other chain pet stores commonly sell small lizards such as anoles which are caught in mass quantities and sold at below avg. prices. The health of these lizards are more often then not are questionable at best. If you wish to continue feeding, your snake lizards do your snake a favor and find yourself a reliable prey animal vender that insures that all their lizards are CB and pest free.

DONT BE SO ANAL

I'm curious to know why, specifically, one should not feed w.c. to a snake. Isn't this what they eat in the wild? Also, another poster said something about Kingsnakes not eating lizards, which is odd because that's all I feed my getulus and zonata.

As a matter of interest, I read that lizards require UV light to synthesize B vitamin complex compounds, whereas snakes are evolutionarily equipped to get what they need from eating animals that store these vitamins in their livers=lizards.

If you know something of which I am unaware I'd appreciate you setting me straight.

Thanks in advance.

Yes snakes eat WC food in the wild but they also have a full choice of habitat and tempeture ranges. In captivity you deny that choice. Wild snakes seem to have a ability to keep the same parasites that kill captives at bay. How??? By knowing that for now they need to be hot or cold or wet or dry or whatever the case may be. In captivity they don't have the options. Nobody offers a hot spot of 110 degrees or more while maintaining a cool spot 50 but in the mountain regions a Zonota can get those conditions easily. In florida a king can get its temps up to 140 -150 degrees if it needed. While that would likely kill one we don't know that they don't use the full range of temps available when needed. You can't stick a snake in a cage at those temps and say look it died because you did not give it the option to escape. It also did not need those temps at the time. I am not saying that to take care of parasites cook your snake. I am saying that they seem to have a way to take care of the problem in the wild and it seems likely to me they use temps to their benefit. I do know that WC kings in the spring have way heavier loads of parasites than in the summer. Frozen mice carry few if any parasites and with the supplements available you can give them all the nutrients you care to buy. Now if it is cheaper and easier for you to go catch some lizards and you don't care about the health of your snake fine. But do not do what the original poster did and come ask queastion and then within a week go against what everybody tells you and then come back and ask why you are haveing problems.
Thanks Jason

Not to split a hair too finely, but you imply that feeding my reptiles wc neccessarily means that I don't care about their health. I could be offended but I'm not. The reason I feed wc only is because I only keep native species, only for a short time, and I do not wish to imprint a food item on them that they won't find when released. For what it's worth, I believe that you should put back what you flip and if you're gong to collect an animal take a baby because they're, statistically speaking, food for something else anyway. By the same reasoning I won't take a female of any size because this is effectively taking all the offspring she'll ever produce. (Let's face it guys: we're expendable.)

I think you'd agree that my situation is different from someone who houses exotics and feeds them wc, in which case I wholeheartedly agree with you.

Factoid: California newts exude a substance called tetratoxin. This is the same poison found in a marine blowfish called "Fugu" by Japanese businessmen who are known to die when they eat too much of it. Tetratoxin is being studied for its painkilling effects because a person who dies from it goes numb all over but stays fully conscious to the end.

If you are takeing WC animals into captivity for a short time than feeding WC would be OK but only for a short time. If you keep a WC longterm and feed it WC long term you are going to have a short term captive. I as I said earlier you do not and can not give all the options to a snake that it would need to take care of itself. It relies on you and by doing so it should have the best. I would be amazed if a WC zonata would imprint on white mice and then starve to death apon release. I would beleive that apon release it would go right back to its native foods. By the way the release of a snake back into the wild is illegal and conterproductive to conservation. The chance that you may introduce disease is far greater than you think. If you keep any exotics than releaseing is down right wrong. By exotics I mean any animals not native to your exact area. Includeing any Zonatas from different regions. Keep that in mind next time you do.

And no offense is intended by this I just have strong opions. You seem to have the best intentions but have perhaps not looked at all angles. I had simular ideas not to long ago but someone pointed out the other side of what I was doing. The chance for something happening like what is happening to the Gopher Tortises right now is to great. It is believe that the respitory problems that the gopher tortise population is haveing was started by a release animal.
Thanks Jason

I ahhh

~ZF

I used to collect and keep w.c. zonata (santa cruz co.) 30 yrs ago, they would NOT eat domestic rodents, they would eat w.c. sceloporus (blue bellies) and my w.c. rubber boas had the same preference. Nowdays c.b rodents for c.b. snakes are the way to go, imo.
Just out of curiousity what sub. is your zonata.
thanks in advance

handling your snake for a few days after you feed him. He needs to curl up in his enclosure and digest his meal. His meal should consist of.........

A. An appropriate size MOUSE or
B. An appropriate size RAT or RAT PUP

I have had wild caught snakes, milks for example, that won't take mice they only take lizards. IME you can always get them swithched over to mice by scenting the mouse with the lizard. There is quite a few different ways that people do it, but I have always had good luck with fileting a little piece of lizard skin and putting it over the mouse's head and neck. It sounds a little demented, but hey, it works.. That is, if you want your snake to eat mice. It doesn't sound like lizards are agreeing with it, so you might try. Also, the handling of a snake after it eats is a no-no. You should wait a few days or whenever the lump is gone from the body. I think someone else pointed this out also. Hope your snake gets better! Tom

I usually wait until after my snakes defecate to handle them.

Also he had ate a lizard before an seem to enjoy it that is why i tried it again Nothing i give my snake is wild caught

If a new hatchling, sometimes they do regurgitate in large enclosures. Mine did for his first 2-3 weeks, with nothing wrong. (I wasted the $73 Vet visit fee, no parasites.)

Generally, wait at least 24 hours before handling; 48 hours after a large meal.

Sometimes they just do, like people. Don't worry about it unless it beomes a many-week pattern.

(Congratulations on feeding variety, and a reptile. You don't always wants burgers, either. Disregard the narrow-minded, uninformed posts advocating feeding ONLY rodents. As if THEY ate only one type of food...)

Ameron,
Are you actually telling a non-veteraned snake owner to feed their snake a variety? If so, you are way out in Right Field....

And if your snake regurged in it's large container for its first few weeks it was probably your husbandry techniques....

The best advice I could give anyone that is just starting out in the hobby is to feed rodent prey on paper in its own enclosure.
Only reluctant feeders should be fed in delicups or other separate enclosures. If a substrate is a must for visual appeal then lay a peice of paper on the substrate and place the prey atop the paper...
This is my Honest opinion and I believe it to be shared by the majority....
John Lassiter

The only time I would think of feeding anything other than rodents is when trying to get a stubborn first time feeder to eat pinkys. I have used lizard skin on a pinky to trick the snake into feeding, but never (yet) have I fed any other reptile. IF (and that is a HUGE if) I did feed a reptile it would first have to be frozen and thawed.

I agree, most experienced hobbiest/breeders would NOT feed their own healthy animals anything but a strict rodent diet.

Also the "in the wild" excuse is like comparing apples to oranges. Your dog would be eating carrion "in the wild" but is that what you feed him/her? Your cat would be drinking what ever foul water it could find "in the wild" but is that what you provide it?

These animals we enjoy so dearly ARE just "pets" no matter how much some people try to think otherwise. We could never provide for them as mother nature does no matter how we adjust our husbandry techniques. We use what "works" and what "has worked" for many years of CAPTIVE breeding.
So those who want to feed a snake live lizards or other snakes occasionally.....More power to you!
I beg to differ with those who do....Thousands of breeders cannot be wrong.
I know thousands of years in the wild cannot be wrong, but....
We cannot emmulate the wild...
With that in mind....How often will a snake eat lizards in the wild...Weekly, Monthly, Bi monthly or what? No one knows.....
We DO know that they will thrive on RODENTS....so we will continue to feed rodents
This too is my honest opinion...
John Lassiter

Thanks for giving an honest opinion others at this forum have been less than polite. Also he is about to shed could that be a reason? Im worried because he threw up again i dont no when cause i found it when i got home from work

If temperatures are correct and the snake is regurging appropriate sized rodents I would say there MAY be parasitic activity....
Put a heating pad under one side of its cage. Place a hide box on the warm side (80 to 85F) and the room temperature side (70 to 75F). Make sure it has plenty of water to not only drink but to soak in...
Feed the snake on paper in its warm hidebox. Leave the snake alone after it eats until the "lump" of the meal is gone....
John Lassiter

and they were pinkies

Also....If your snake just regurged do not attempt feeding for another 7 to 10 days or it will continue to regurge and lose vital nutrients not to mention acidic burns. This will lead to the death of a snake rather quickly.
Oh yeah....Thanks for refraining from the ALL CAPS...All caps is generally used for yelling or emphasizing a certain word or point...
John Lassiter

he's providing good sound advice.

Also, in my post to you below ie "clarification to feeding question" I mentioned 2 books on kingsnakes. Either of those books will cover a huge number of your questions and they can easily be used to refer back to. This suggestion is not ment to put you off. They are excellent for reference and cover general kingsnake husbandry, feeding, breeding, sexing, and everything else in between. The small amount of money spent on either of those books will pay off in the long run. It money better spent than buying food for your snake.

4kingzeus,
I agree listen to John. His advice will help you overcome your problem.
And maybe to mirror the facts John posted;
It sounds like your kingsnake is in shed and just reguritated another meal. Wait another 7-10 days or a couple days days after the shed and try another meal. Appropriately sized meals are important also, that the pinkie isn't too large. Then post and let us know if your kingsnake ate. Can you post a picture of kingsnake? It might help with getting ideas on it's sex and close to finding it's age if you put up a size reference.
Good Luck,
Uncloudy