The Scarlet Kingsnake Dilemma

[danielparra1911]

Hello everyone, so heres the situation. My local pet store has a tiny scarlet king snake and he's been there for about 6 - 7 months. He is still just as tiny as when they received him. He hasn't been for sale due to his strange eating habits of geckos/lizards like all scarlets. I talked to the owner about him and she told me that he was a bad hunter even in a deli cup and that he wouldn't ever be ready to go home with somebody. she said they also have to freeze the baby house geckos for a minute to slow them down for the snake. A few days later i went back into the store and was talking about the snake they call "Worm" and she said if i was willing to do the work the owner would probably give me Worm. I have some ideas for feeding and I'm looking for any advice. My ideas include tube feeding (not force feeding), breeding house or mourning geckos, scenting a container with one my lizards then putting in a piece of a pinkie so the pinkie is scented. I also have an abundance of blue belly lizard babies in my backyard. I could also cut pieces of a pinkie to to see if he' ll take. Iv'e also heard of people giving scarlets small fish. Do you think its worth the time and effort to try to raise him? I feel if i keep him I would give him more attention that he needs.

[macandchz]

i think it would be worth the effort to try to raise him. i know he would get lots more attention from you as you are already concerned about his welfare. your ideas about feeding sound good. if you're patient, maybe one of them will click with him and he'll eat. the pinkie idea may work. i was at a reptile show and saw some very small snakes. the breeder said he cut the heads off pinkies to get them started. maybe pieces of fish. this might be his last chance for a good out-come. it's worth a try.

[toddnbecka]

Another option for feeding tiny baby snakes is to use pieces of mouse tail for assist feeding them until they grow large enough to take "red hots", newly born pink mice. If you do use mouse tails make sure the hairs are pointing in the right direction before starting the piece into the snake's mouth. Assist feeding isn't quite the same as force feeding, the idea is to get the item started in the snake's mough then it will finish swallowing on its own.
Guppies would be the best bet for small fish of you want to try those. Garter snakes love them IME.
Someone told me about a method for scenting pinkies I plan on trying when my baby Dominicans are born, likely soon. He puts a lizard in a blender with a bit of water and runs it until it's basically soup, freezes it in ice cube trays for storage, and then soaks the pinkies in the thawed liquid before feeding. He said it works very well, and never has to feed actual lizards to the babies.
As to whether it's worth the time and effort is entirely your choice. Scarlet kings are best kept in a tank with damp sphagnum moss because they mrrd high humidity, and are a secretive burrowing snake by nature. Not something you'll see very often or be able to handle much.