Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi! I have a high white albino desert king snake that I got about three months ago. At first he was a great eater. I'd take him out and dangle a thawed fuzzy and he'd take it quickly. After a month or so, he stopped and wouldn't eat for three weeks. So, the third one he refused, I left in his tank on a flat surface so it wasn't on the substrate which is shavings. Next morning it was gone and he had a nice mouse sized lump in his belly. So last night, a week later, I did the same. Put it in the tank on the same safe flat large surface. I checked at 0420 when we got the school closing call and he had just taken it and was just starting to eat it. However, he had pulled it onto the substrate. Now, the mouse was not moist at this point, so I doubt he ingested any shavings from them sticking to him, but it concerns me. Should this worry me or do you think it's OK? If it is worrisome, any suggestions?

A little substrate will be fine 99.9999 percent of the time.

When I first started keeping snakes as a kid I was always worried about it and had tweezers on standby for every feeding to try and pluck out even the most tiny piece of aspen. After a while I became more educated and had a little more faith in these animals' ability to survive.

In the wild they are going to ingest dirt, grass, sticks, sand, etc on a regular basis. While large amounts are obviously bad, if the snake couldn't survive a little wood chip, there would be no more snakes.

It's great that you are concerned for the well being of your animal though, keep it up.

Also, don't sweat a king being a weird eater or even refusing food all together in the winter, just something a lot do. As long as his needs are met and you provide appropriate shelter, temp, and humidity options kings are worry free.

Thank you soooo much!! What you said makes total sense. I'm always one to err on the side of OVER-caution! Thank you for putting my mind at ease!

Lisa