Kingsnake keepers-- a little help please???

[Lori P]

Rich, should I lower her temps? Actually brumate her, or just give her more room temps? She basks a lot under the heat lamp right now which is about 90 degrees.

[RZL36]

If she's not eating, I would say keep her warm. I'm guessing that you have no plans to brumate her and with the way she is eating, I would not.

Keep her warm, but not too warm. 90 is probably a little too much really. If you can get it to 85, you might have better luck. I would not lower it anymore than 75 if she's not eating.

Have you tried any more mouse tails? She took that easily right?

[Lori P]

No, we had to push the mouse tail until it was into her throat, then she swallowed it. But she did not voluntarily take it. And she has not offered to eat any more on her own.

Oops, will raise the heat lamp higher then. The cool side of her tank stays at 75, but the warm spot has been between 85 and 90, and she spends a lot of time there.

[RZL36]

Your temps are pretty okay. Just cool a little bit. Try pushing the pinkie into her throat. Some kings will literally never eat until coaxed. Must be why the clutches are so big.

Good Luck and keep us posted

[Charlet_2007]

Pick up the snake and firmly secure the rear of the head between your thumb and index finger.





Pick up the probe and gently slide the ball tip into one corner and slide through until the jaws are slightly separated. Don't damage the teeth the probe just needs to slid through. Use the hand holding the snake to also hold the probe. Now with your free hand slide the cut end of the tail into the snakes mouth. Once the jaws are around the tail extract the probe and slowly push the tail down the snakes throat.





If you stop at this point some snakes will work their jaws along and will swallow the meal. If they do great. Others like this one will regurge unless its shoved further along.



Keep pushing GENTLY until at this point even the most difficult cases will usually finish the job.





At least thats how I do it. I'll force feed twice a week and place the snake in a deli cup with a f/t pinkie overnight 3 nights a week until they eat.
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what is that beautiful snake in the pic? and where can i get me one of those?

[RZL36]

I'm not sure, but I am guessing it a breed of lampropeltis getula. The head is the indicator. Looks like a brooksi or floridana. Maybe a cross. I really don't know.

[Roy Munson]

I think that Joanna's suggestions are right on: you need to offer that Cali a tiny, live pink. I had a Mexican black king that would not accept f/t no matter how much I "danced" it around with forceps or how much privacy I gave her.

If you try one more f/t attempt, place the thawed pink and the snake in the smallest container that can accommodate both the pink and the snake. Do this around sunset. Leave the container in a no-traffic, dark area and don't even peek at it until morning.

Another f/t trick is to wash the pink in mild soap and rinse thoroughly before offering. A lot of snakes don't like the rodent-urine smell that mother mice impart on their babies.

Then there's anole-scenting. Euthanize an anole, freeze it, and thaw its head under hot water until you can pry the mouth open. Swish an f/t pink's head around in the anole's mouth. Then scrape some skin off the anole and paste it to the pink's head with water. Corn and king babies seem to really like anole saliva. You can use the same anole over and over and over.

But I think live may do the trick.
Good luck.

[Loren]

Hi Lori, I thought I'd share my cal king hatchling experience(only 1 experience). I hatched 11 cal kings one year, and let them eat when they were willing. Offered live, fresh killed, and frozen/thawed pinkies( at different times) about every week or two. Many ate soon, but a few went between 2 and 3 months to take the first meal. I only lost 1, but it was a major runt(like 4 " shorter than the others), and was actually one that started eating sooner than most of them. I believe it had internal problems of some sort as it ate great. The rest went on to be fine.
Even after the first meal, many of them did not start eating regularly for quite some time. This time of year, their instincts are telling them its time to be brumating, so you have that fighting you as well.
I would say that a hot spot around the high 80's is probably good. put a hide box halfway over the heat(or 2 small ones, 1 off, 1 on heat) and leave him alone in a low traffic area of the house. There will plenty of time to hold him after he gets eating.
Dont be afraid to leave a pinky in there for a couple days- even a dead pink can be left for a while,(close to a full night and day) just toss it before it gets nasty. Try offering at diffent times of the day- specifically early evening.
A side note on hide boxes- I have found that snakes feel more secure in a smaller hidebox that is just tall enough to squeeze under, and has just a big enough opening to enter/exit. They like to literally feel the hide around them. I also prefer to keep hatchlings in shoebox sized cages till they are well started.
Think about how we often find them in the wild. Not usually under nice big open objects, but crammed tight under a rock. Some of my snakes will only eat if they are under their hidebox at the time, and I put the mouse into the entrance and leave without any disturbance(like my Diablo range garter).
This(small,short hide boxes) has helped with the feeding respose of some of my snakes, including one of my cal kings.I just use cut up beer or soda boxes, cause I'm cheap). Hope I'm not just repeating what someone else said, I havent read this whole thread yet.
That snake in the force feeding pics reminds me of some kings I have seen from the south eastern u.s., but that side of the country is not my specialty.

[Roy Munson]

what is that beautiful snake in the pic? and where can i get me one of those?

The king in the force-feeding pics looks like what they used to call a "goini" king. Now you see them called Apalachicola kings. Sometimes they're called blotched kings. The patternless ones may be a distinct subspecies, but the patterned ones are usually thought to be intergrades between Eastern kings and the patternless subspecies.

[Loren]

The king in the force-feeding pics looks like what they used to call a "goini" king. Now you see them called Apalachicola kings. Sometimes they're called blotched kings. The patternless ones may be a distinct subspecies, but the patterned ones are usually thought to be intergrades between Eastern kings and the patternless subspecies.

Roy, that sounds exactly like what I was thinking of, I just couldnt remember the species names off the top of my head. Think I saw one on another forum recently.