Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am new to the hobby and was wondering about any snakes that have a reputation good or bad as far as feeding. I know ball pythons and grey banded kings are notorious for being difficult feeders. I realize there are individual differences; ex. I have a baby CBB ball that is an excellent feeder. I just lost a baby publean milksnake that just would not eat despite all my efforts and I am having difficulty with one of my baby corns.

Snakes aren't bad feeders because they don't eat what we want them to eat. For example, mud snakes are great feeders in captivity. If they are properly caged, they will readily take appropriately sized Sirens and Amphiumas. But I wouldn't recommend one as a pet!

Gray-bands aren't bad feeders at all. They will readily accept small lizards as babies. A few individuals are picky about accepting mice, but most eat rodents readily.

Snakes that have been traumatized and possibly injured/parasitized during transport (= WC and farmed "CB" ball pythons) may not eat as they aren't healthy enough.

I haven't heard of a Pueblan being difficult to feed. They may be tough to start on pinkies once in a while, but the Pueblans I have had fed like pigs.

A baby cornsnake that isn't eating is probably looking for young anoles or small frogs. Try scenting pinkies and it should start eating.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Great post chris. I don't want to sound blunt but serriously its YOUR job to find out what the snake is eating, when its eating,when it started eating. You most likely got sold/given a snake that wasn't eating anyway... Some breeders insure that there snakes have eaten 2-3 times before they ship that snake, if you didn't get a garuantee then thats why you lost your snake. Snakes eat different things, just because one kind of feeder for a snake doesn't work doesn't mean that that species of snake is bad/doomed it means that novices and newbies shouldn't keep them. Just get your self a california king

I think Ball Pythons, for the most part are excellent feeders, as long as their true CBB. The Obsoleta Ratsnakes are excellent feeders, as well as most cornsnakes.
Most of the getula kings are outstanding feeders, though some eastern kings can start out only wanting skinks/snakes instead of rodents. Mexican Black kings (nigrita) are about as good as it gets when it comes to being aggressive feeders right from the start.
For milks I would consider Hondurans, Pueblans, Mexican Milks, Black Milks, and Nelson/sinaloans as strong feeders.
African house have a very strong feeding response. Some species of Garter snakes. My Red-Sided Garter snake (parietalis) is one of my best feeders. She'll eat just about anything, but she's fed only rodnets.
Can't forget Bullsnakes. They'll eat you out of house & home. I'm sure there's many more, but these are all good choices off the top of my head. I only listed colubrids, so someone with more knowlege of boids can give a better list then me.

Steve

am new to the hobby and was wondering about any snakes that have a reputation good or bad as far as feeding. I know ball pythons and grey banded kings are notorious for being difficult feeders. I realize there are individual differences; ex. I have a baby CBB ball that is an excellent feeder. I just lost a baby publean milksnake that just would not eat despite all my efforts and I am having difficulty with one of my baby corns.

Agree with everybody that posted. Chris is correct - graybands are fantastic feeders if you provide them what they want. Problem is, we want them to eat pinks, and some of them only want lizards to start. Anyway, you get the point.

One thing not mentioned - moisture. Baby snakes relish a moist, warm hide. A deli cup with moist sphagnum moss works well. Pueblans love that as babies; so do corns. It may help them feed better too. I can't prove it, but it seems to have a positive affect on some individuals.

I had an exceptional baby orange Pueblan that wouldn't eat. I did the moist hide thing. A week later, it took a thawed pink left in the moss container. After that, no problem. I bet though, if I had offered it a lizard it would have eaten right away. Good luck! Don't let those hatchlings dry out.