nuevo king snake

[Zigoni]

my daughter has a Nuevo king snake. he has not eaten in about a month. last feeding one of my sons crickets managed to get in the feeder tank with him and he ate the cricket. but still would not eat the pinky. he is very small so he is still on pinkies. he is very active and has not lost any weight. any suggestions?:wacky:

[Minkness]

Probably the weather. Some snakes slow down when it gets colder outside. Not mine though...she's a bottomless pit!

Welcome!

Would love to see some pics of your little one!

[BIGT FROM F.B.]

Yep, ^^^^^ the weather. My Thayeri didn't eat for 2 months before this last weekend.

[Zigoni]

i thought it could be the weather. im just worried because he is so small if he starts losing weight. i was thinking of trying a goldfish even. i would love to put some pics up of my snakes but i do not have photo bucket. i have all my pics on google. or my phone and ipad. so im not sure how to get them uploaded here.

[Minkness]

Once you make about 5 or more posts it will allow you to upload directly onto the post. You will go to the tab marked 'go advanced' then ti 'manage attachments', then you can choose the file to upload. Just make sure that when you're done you hit the 'close window' button near the bottom because if you jit the back button it will not save your post or upload your image.

[Zigoni]

oh thank you. i will try that

[Rattlehead]

Has he eaten a pinky before? If so, try piercing the head of the pinky and smear a little of grey matter over the head. The extra smell may stimulate it to eat. Good luck!

[Zigoni]

yeah he has eaten pinkies fine until about a month ago. and we tried the brain thing. he is active and healthy otherwise. just on a hunger strike.

[Zigoni]

30604
see if this works

[BIGT FROM F.B.]

That's a Variable Thayeri King. Got one just like it.

[Zigoni]

we were told its a Nuevo king

[Minkness]

Beautiful king! Looks good to me but I'm not a health expert (yet).

I'd say it's due to weather. Usually when they brumate like this their weight generally seems to maintain or if it goes down it's only a little and usually easily bulked back up pretty easily in spring.

You can keep offering him food once a week to see if he takes it. You can also try leaving it in the tank with him over night to see if the dark stimulates his feeding response.

My king is a piggy and still feeding like a champ, but almost ALL of my geckos have went off their feed now.

Just keep an eye on him and if he visibly looses mass/weight it becomes very lethargic let us know so someone with more experience can help you with more info on that.

[Zigoni]

thank you all for the help. I will let you know if there are any changes.

[Derek1]

we were told its a Nuevo king

I think the Variable Thayeri King and Nuevo are the same snake, just different name.

[Obsidian_Dragon]

Do you have any sort of scale, so you can monitor his weight?

I bought a small kitchen scale just for this purpose.

[Zigoni]

im getting one next week. with all the snakes I have and now the 2 geckos my son bought I figured I should finally invest in one.

[Minkness]

They are great. I got mine from walmart for like 10 bucks lol

[Cmwells90]

Zig, I wouldn't worry until you start to see weight loss. Snakes can go an amazing amount of time without food, I would just continue to offer weekly and monitor the weight. Should start eating again as it warms back up, but this is usually a season issue.

[Zigoni]

An update. Dameon has eaten twice now both have been gold fish. He has even gain and look like he is getting ready to shed. Thank you all for the help. I really appreciate it.

[toddnbecka]

Did you put the goldfish in his water bowl or just offer them like pinks?

[Zigoni]

Just offered. He seams to like them. Still won't go for a pink. But at least he is eating.

[Aaron_S]

Goldfish are not good feeder fish for snakes. You're better off with guppies.

[jjhill001]

Rub a pinky with the goldfish then offer the pinky.

[Obsidian_Dragon]

Goldfish are a poor choice of feeder fish for snakes, yes.

If you need to continue offering your guy fish, please read this page. It's about garters, but the information is still applicable in this case. There's a list of safe fish further down.

All About Thiaminase - Gartersnake.info (http://www.gartersnake.info/articles/2012/all-about-thiaminase.php)

[jjhill001]

I didn't even realize King snakes ate fish.

[toddnbecka]

Goldfish are not good feeder fish for snakes. You're better off with guppies.

Or rosy red/fathead minnows, goldfish are too fatty.

[Obsidian_Dragon]

Or rosy red/fathead minnows, goldfish are too fatty.

Nope, no rosy reds. They have thiaminase. B1 deficiency is butts.

[Zigoni]

so minnows or guppies would be better? i was always told guppies carried more diseases but maybe that is just using them for feeding other fish. they are easier to breed though haha

[toddnbecka]

"Feeder guppies" are some of the worst fish I've seen, but aside from possibly contaminating your other fish they're not going to pass anything to reptiles. Endler's are better, healthier stock and don't eat their young.

Is it just the rosy reds or do the normal fathead minnows also have thiaminase? Never heard of it before, had to google it.

[Zigoni]

Goldfish are a poor choice of feeder fish for snakes, yes.

If you need to continue offering your guy fish, please read this page. It's about garters, but the information is still applicable in this case. There's a list of safe fish further down.

All About Thiaminase - Gartersnake.info (http://www.gartersnake.info/articles/2012/all-about-thiaminase.php)

Thanks I'll check it out.