New Brooks King Snake - Page 5

TheFrogman · 02-23-14, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharthun

Looking good man! Does Domino eat during shed?

Yes, in fact stupid me....I didn't realize that she was actually shedding at first so I fed her two big mice, she ate them and continued to shed, then dummy me realized she was shedding. My Spotty Python eats while shedding too.

sharthun · 02-23-14, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFrogman

Yes, in fact stupid me....I didn't realize that she was actually shedding at first so I fed her two big mice, she ate them and continued to shed, then dummy me realized she was shedding. My Spotty Python eats while shedding too.

Lol, my mbk and prairie king won't eat during shed but my Corn and black milk will. Just curious. Still a gorgeous snake!

TheFrogman · 02-23-14, 08:02 AM

Thanks, many criticize me for feeding during shed, my thoughts are, if shell eat then why not.

Shes not all that friendly...LOL

She just popped out to say good morning.

sharthun · 02-23-14, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFrogman

Thanks, many criticize me for feeding during shed, my thoughts are, if shell eat then why not.

Shes not all that friendly...LOL

She just popped out to say good morning.

I agree! Look a that cute face

CosmicOwl · 02-23-14, 11:46 AM

I don't see the problem with feeding during shed. My gray rat snake won't eat while he is blue, but my little blood red corn snake will. She has a king snake feeding response though... When she sees a pinky she strikes and wraps her whole body around it until she is sure it is thoroughly dead.

**EL Ziggy** · 02-23-14, 12:35 PM

All of my snakes eat during shed too. My MBK used to be a bit finicky if she was in shed but not anymore.

CosmicOwl · 02-23-14, 06:27 PM

Speak of the devil. I mention feeding my snakes during shed and then check on my gray rat snake to find him all blue.

LiL Zap · 02-23-14, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFrogman

Thanks, many criticize me for feeding during shed, my thoughts are, if shell eat then why not.

Shes not all that friendly...LOL

She just popped out to say good morning.

I don't see why people criticize you for that. If the snake will eat then there's no problem...in my opinion at least.

TheFrogman · 02-24-14, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiL Zap

I don't see why people criticize you for that. If the snake will eat then there's no problem...in my opinion at least.

Thanks for the encouragement, Im criticized because some say it could promote regurge

Sharlynn93 · 02-24-14, 07:19 AM

all of mine have eaten while in shed...no problems so far...

DMong · 03-04-14, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFrogman

Here we go, I took Domino out tonight, I washed my hands and I even changed my shirt so she could not smell my other animals.............oh she's a biter !!!! Doesn't hurt, she didn't even break my skin, she released on her own but 5 or 6 bite, hell she even tried to bite herself twice. But she didn't bite me right away.

Anyway, It started good, she was happy and just seemed content as I held her, then she started constricting around me so tight, tighter and tighter that I literally couldn't get her off my wrist. When I would try to unwrap her from my hand she just constricted tighter and tighter, and tried to bite me. I placed my hand in her enclosure with her around my hand thinking she would go off all by herself into a hide, NO ! She bit me. Again, I felt her teeth, didn't hurt but I really wanted to get her off and get this.... she started squeaking like a mouse !!!!!

I finally got her off, an hour later but now she is very, very pissed off, she's going back and forth in her enclosure like a Tiger in a cage.

In fact she's in her enclosure now 15-20 minutes and she's still so angry that's she's biting herself.

Thoughts, digs, laughs, comments ???

She's not angry at anything or herself because she is repeatedly biting. She is a bit underweight and Florida kingsnakes (L.g.floridana) have a very fast metabolism and voracious appetite compared to many other types of snakes. I would feed it two mice at a time every 4 to 5 days for a while that are approximately 1/3rd larger than the widest diameter of the snake at mid-body. I think you will see her calm down immensely when fed more. I've owned and bred many Florida kings and other kingsnakes of the getula complex over the years, and this is a very commonly seen issue with them when they aren't fed enough, or frequently enough. What you are describing is DEFINITELY a feeding response and not a defensive response.

cheers, ~Doug

**EL Ziggy** · 03-04-14, 10:16 PM

Wow Doug! Welcome to the forum. Those are some beautiful kings. Do you feed your kings mice exclusively? How much/often would you feed yearlings? Thanks for sharing.

DMong · 03-05-14, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Wow Doug! Welcome to the forum. Those are some beautiful kings. Do you feed your kings mice exclusively? How much/often would you feed yearlings? Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, El-Ziggy!

Yes, exclusively mice unless they are very large adults, in which case they get small rats. As juveniles, I generally feed the young kingsnakes two mice per feeding that put a noticeably visible lump in their mid-section every 4-5 days. They will put all these calories toward growth. You can tweak the diet as needed later on depending what the sex is and what they will be used for such as a breeding female and egg gestation, or a lone male, etc...

Anyway, as youngsters, basically two of whatever they can fit down their small heads/necks at that stage. They have very strong neck muscles to consume decent sized prey and an incredibly fast metabolism. As long as they have a small portion of one far end that they can access in the mid-80s to properly digest, and the opposite side of the enclose ambient temps are in the mid-70s to conserve body mass, all is good.

~Doug

**EL Ziggy** · 03-05-14, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMong

Thanks, El-Ziggy!

Yes, exclusively mice unless they are very large adults, in which case they get small rats. As juveniles, I generally feed the young kingsnakes two mice per feeding that put a noticeably visible lump in their mid-section every 4-5 days. They will put all these calories toward growth. You can tweak the diet as needed later on depending what the sex is and what they will be used for such as a breeding female and egg gestation, or a lone male, etc...

Anyway, as youngsters, basically two of whatever they can fit down their small heads/necks at that stage. They have very strong neck muscles to consume decent sized prey and an incredibly fast metabolism. As long as they have a small portion of one far end that they can access in the mid-80s to properly digest, and the opposite side of the enclose ambient temps are in the mid-70s to conserve body mass, all is good.

~Doug

Thanks again Doug. That's just about how I feed my kings and my pit. They usually get 2 prey items every 6 days. My bull would definitely prefer to be fed every 4-5 days. I just like the simplicity of feeding all the snakes on the same schedule.