Strange behavior for my female kingsnake

Fuzzbagz · 01-23-17, 11:44 PM

Hello all

Flow is my first snake and most of her issues I have been able to figure out up intill now. All i can say is that she is not eating or shedding. But it almost appears she's searching for something and it's not mice. She does circles in her cage all day and night when she normally just hangs out in the heat.

My 5 year old female Desert Kingsnake has developed some unusual behavior. However the only thing that really concerns me is her lack of appetite, she hasn't eaten since Christmas. The temperature does fluctuate considering its the cold season but no lower than 65.

She has odd behavior inside and outside her cage. She will lay in a straight line with her but in the air like she's going to poop but won't. She hasn't eaten anything I cant see how there would be anything to poop.

I've had her since she was a hatchling no thicker than a pencil. Now she's 7 1/2 ft long and bigger than most that I've seen so far. She's had absent feeding behavior when she was much smaller but nothing like this in the passed couple of years.

Any ideas?

Bandit · 01-24-17, 06:58 AM

First, not eating for a month really isn't anything to worry about for a snake. They can go much longer without any concern. As long as she isn't losing a significant amount of weight or acting lethargic than she's probably fine. It could have to do with the temps fluctuating though. Does she have a heat pad to keep the ground temperature consistent or is it a heat bulb that turns off at night?

Also, if you're king really is 7.5', please post a picture with a measurement of some sort. I'm not saying I don't believe you, but they average much smaller than that and the known record for desert kings is like 6.5' or 6.8'. Just something I'd be interested in seeing.

**Andy_G** · 01-24-17, 10:56 AM

If no changes have been made to husbandry, your snake is not eating simply because of time of year and there's noyhing to worry about as long as she's maintaining good body weight.

There's no way she's that long, sorry.

Fuzzbagz · 01-25-17, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy_G

If no changes have been made to husbandry, your snake is not eating simply because of time of year and there's noyhing to worry about as long as she's maintaining good body weight.

There's no way she's that long, sorry.

Your correct that's a typo. She's 6.5 ft. That would be cool though

Jim Smith · 01-24-17, 12:53 PM

That would be a monster King Snake. I'd love to see a photo of it with some frame of reference.

Jim Smith

SWDK · 01-24-17, 06:57 PM

I aggre with Andy. Some of my colubrids are funny about eating during this time of year. As long as it's all around healthy and normal I wouldn't get too worried.

**EL Ziggy** · 01-24-17, 10:48 PM

My kings would take a winter feeding break as well. I think it's a combination of breeding season and the cooler temps. As others have said if she's not losing significant weight I wouldn't worry.

Fuzzbagz · 01-25-17, 11:38 AM

Thanks everyone. I just don't know how long to expect her to not eat, with it being a month so far. How long intill it's considered unhealthy. Her bodyweight seems fine before she was eating roughly 3 mice a week.

MartinD · 01-25-17, 11:40 AM

I don't know about kingsnakes, but Ive heard of ball pythons who have gone 9 months without eating, I can't go 9 minutes lol

**Andy_G** · 01-25-17, 08:22 PM

That's much more feasible

. They can go 3 or 4 months easy with losing little to no weight, just monitor overall health and husbandry and offer food less often. She will take it eventually.