Kingsnake feeding problems

[TxScarlet15]

Okay, so for the past two or three years now my kingsnake would go off feeding during the summer, mostly May and June. I just thought it was because of the mating season, but honestly I don't know if it's normal for a snake to not eat during that time. But now it's July and my snake still isn't eating. I have a hot end for her that I keep around 80-85, sometimes it goes to 90 and the humidity is around 50%. As far as I can tell she is healthy, but I'm starting to get a little worried. Is it normal for a snake to not eat for this long? She has always been kind of a picky eater but it's going on three months on and I'm not sure what to do. Oh, and she hasn't been out of her hide since Tuesday, the only reason she came out was because I moved it to check on her. Is that normal? I'm going to hold her today to try and warm her up with my body heat and to get her moving some, I'm hoping she'll eat after that but I'm at a loss as to what else to do. Any suggestions?

[sharthun]

Originally Posted by TxScarlet15

Okay, so for the past two or three years now my kingsnake would go off feeding during the summer, mostly May and June. I just thought it was because of the mating season, but honestly I don't know if it's normal for a snake to not eat during that time. But now it's July and my snake still isn't eating. I have a hot end for her that I keep around 80-85, sometimes it goes to 90 and the humidity is around 50%. As far as I can tell she is healthy, but I'm starting to get a little worried. Is it normal for a snake to not eat for this long? She has always been kind of a picky eater but it's going on three months on and I'm not sure what to do. Oh, and she hasn't been out of her hide since Tuesday, the only reason she came out was because I moved it to check on her. Is that normal? I'm going to hold her today to try and warm her up with my body heat and to get her moving some, I'm hoping she'll eat after that but I'm at a loss as to what else to do. Any suggestions?

What size prey and how often were you feeding? It's not uncommon for snakes to go through fasting. Are you sure of the sex? Males tend to go off feeding more than females. Pics of the enclosure may help as well.

[TxScarlet15]

I have always fed f/t mice, the ones she is currently getting are 2.5-3 in. long, she is 3 1/2 ft. When she eats regularly I feed her every other week, occasionally every week when she seems abnormally hungry. I don't know the sex of the snake, however I think she might have just reached sexual maturity about 2 years ago because she became abnormally active during the summer months. I'm actually inclined to think "she" is a "he" but I've said "she" all this time that I just stick with that, lol.

[TxScarlet15]

I don't currently have any pics of the enclosure. She has only one hide right now, but I'm in the process of getting her another one. It's a hollowed out rock type thing with a hole in the top, I'm going to bury it down into the bedding so that she has more of a burrow. I also want to get a branch with some vines to put in there but none of the local stores have what I'm looking for.

[sharthun]

Originally Posted by TxScarlet15

I have always fed f/t mice, the ones she is currently getting are 2.5-3 in. long, she is 3 1/2 ft. When she eats regularly I feed her every other week, occasionally every week when she seems abnormally hungry. I don't know the sex of the snake, however I think she might have just reached sexual maturity about 2 years ago because she became abnormally active during the summer months. I'm actually inclined to think "she" is a "he" but I've said "she" all this time that I just stick with that, lol.

Abnormaly active sure sounds like my males behavior during breeding season. They are all over the place. Lol

[sharthun]

Originally Posted by TxScarlet15

I don't currently have any pics of the enclosure. She has only one hide right now, but I'm in the process of getting her another one. It's a hollowed out rock type thing with a hole in the top, I'm going to bury it down into the bedding so that she has more of a burrow. I also want to get a branch with some vines to put in there but none of the local stores have what I'm looking for.

As long as they don't loose a lot of weight and are drinking water they will be fine. Do you have digital scales.? Nice to have for tracking progress. Plenty of cover does help. You can use small cardboard boxes or plastic bowls for hides. Works best to have hides on hot and cool sides of enclosure.

[TxScarlet15]

Right now the hide is on the hot end. The new one I ordered I was going to put on the cool end, but the order went wrong so I have to return it and get another one. I wanted to get a branch and some vines so that there would be more of a covered are but I can't find anything yet. Unfortunately I don't have a scale, but she is still nice and thick so I don't think she's lost any weight.

[sharthun]

Originally Posted by TxScarlet15

Right now the hide is on the hot end. The new one I ordered I was going to put on the cool end, but the order went wrong so I have to return it and get another one. I wanted to get a branch and some vines so that there would be more of a covered are but I can't find anything yet. Unfortunately I don't have a scale, but she is still nice and thick so I don't think she's lost any weight.

I would add a temporary hide of some kind to cool side as well.

[franks]

I agree with the sentiment that you should add more cover to the enclosure to see if it helps. You want your snake to feel secure when roaming the enclosure.

[TxScarlet15]

Originally Posted by franks

I agree with the sentiment that you should add more cover to the enclosure to see if it helps. You want your snake to feel secure when roaming the enclosure.

Yeah, I never really thought about it until I came onto this forum and realized how important hides are. Right now I'm suspicious that the mice might have gone bad cause she acts hungry but then turns away from the mouse. I think it's actually happened before, she refused to eat and then I got some new mice and she started eating again. So I'm going to try that and see if it helps. And as soon as I get this messed up hide order fixed I'm going to see what I can do to give her some more places to feel secure.

[EL Ziggy]

Hides are really easy to make. Empty boxes, flower pots, I even used my 4 year olds shoe, he's 5 now
My Cal King stopped eating for 3 weeks recently too. I was pretty concerned. I thought it was a breeding season fast at first but he had already stopped eating from Nov-Jan. I thought about it and realized I had recently switched all my snakes from mice to rats and tried a new rodent supplier. My other snakes are still eating well but Caesar just shut down even though he had already eaten those rats before. I decided to try two small mice hoppers I had from the old supplier in the freezer and he gobbled them down in a flash. I guess he just had a taste for mice and was being stubborn. I was saving those last 10 hoppers for a new hatchling I'm looking for too .

[franks]

You don't have to get fancy. A substrate he can get under will go far. Leaves, sticks, fake vines. These guys are wired that wide open space means death from above. In the wild, you see them basking by a convenient hide- be it a rock pile, or basking spot right by tall grass.

[TxScarlet15]

She finally ate today! Got a new batch of frozen mice yesterday and thawed one out today, she took it right away. I'm thinking the older bag might have gotten freezer burn or something, the mice were starting to look kinda off. Do snakes normally refuse prey with freezer burn? Anyway I did get her a new hide about 2 weeks ago, a home-made one from a cardboard box, she absolutely loves it! So now she's got one on the cool and hot end. I think she's a happier snake now

[EL Ziggy]

Congrats Scarlet. I'm glad he ate for you.

[sharthun]

Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Congrats Scarlet. I'm glad he ate for you.

I second that!