Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a pair of San Diego Mountain kings born 8/24/07,the male ate a live pink a week after birth but the female will not eat. I have tried live under its hide, in a deli cup, brained, increasing the humidty in its enclosure, and scented with an anole. Nothing works. I have read maybe a should try brumating her for a couple months. I have never force feed a snake so I am a litte worried I could harm her.She appears healthy and active. Any advice? Thanks

Try killing a fence lizard(Sceloperus) and rubbing some lizard blood on the thawed pinkie's nose. That has worked for me this year on a few finicky eaters or just pull the tail off the lizard and use the bloody meaty part of the tail to rub the pinkie with. Get creative if that doesn't work.
Juarez Wonders

I live in Minnesota so I can't go out and catch any. Any ideas where I could get one or can you buy fence lizard scent?

Try catching any other lizards in your area and using some of their blood from their tail for scenting. You gotta get creative. I've tried "lizard scent" in a bottle and it didn't work for any picky eaters I had. The real thing works best.

I agree to what you're saying, the real thing works best, but if you live in an area where lizards are hard to come by you have no other choice than to try whatever substitute there is.

Where I live, in the central part of Sweden, there are just two species of lizards; Lacerta vivipara and Anguis fragilis. All reptiles are protected and even if I wanted to break the law and find one, I most likely would not succeed since they are not abundant.

There is a scent product called "Lizard-Maker", produced by T-Rex Inc. I have used it to start a few hatchling mountain kings with acceptable result. Just be sure to clean the pinky with non-perfume soap first, then apply a drop of LizardMaker on the pinky head and smear it out.

Thanks for the tips. There are very few lizards in Minnesota and its already getting cold here so its really not an option to go catch some. I have already bought an anole and scented a pink with it which didn't work. I may try some of the lizard-maker or try to order a fence lizard from somewhere. Any thoughts on putting her in brumation for two months and then trying to get her feeding? Thanks

Good evening. Well, once again, the real thing DOES work best. Try the local pet shop (i.e.: Petland) and try an anole, a house gecko, or, if you have the means, ask your local petshop jobber to see if he may be able to special order some fence lizards from a wholesale list. I also have a handful of tough little ones this year (Allan, we must chat my friend.... and all I can get the lil' buggers to chow down on are baby fence lizards. It's absolutely amazing the difference when you throw in a live one versus all other methods. The feeding respone is INSANE. I will attach some pics soon that I took. At least they have a few meals into them, and after a good three month brumation, they may very well be suited to take a less-challenging food item post-brumation. Forcing small mouse tails is another option as well if you do not have any immediate means of appropriate lizards, but it sometimes takes the patience of a saint and a little finesse.

Jerry Kruse

" alt="Image">

When you offer a live scented pinkie, use a tiny red newborn pinkie less than 24 hours old. This worked for me on two baby zonatas at the same time when frozen and live scented 3 or 4 day old pinkies were refused.