Hi!!

I have a very young kingsnake (not exactly sure of age) that is in excellent health. He does have strange eating habits that I am not sure are normal. If I put a pre-killed pinky in he ignored it for at least half an hour, before going over and eating it. At first I thought maybe he wasn't hungry, and I cut back on feeding. But now matter how long its been since his last meal he still waits. I read somewhere that live pinkies may stimulate a small snake to eat, so I tried that. As soon as I dropped the pinky in he flipped out, climbing up anything high and constantly moving. I took the pinky out and he settled down. I put it back in and he did it again. If he was on one end and I moved the pinky there he would go directly to the other end. As if he were afraid of it. When the pinky stopped moving he went over to it, but when it moved he climbed up on his branch again. So I boght some Lizard Maker, to scent the pinkies with. Still nothing. He just never seems interested in eating. My cornsnake on the other hand, has always been a very enthusiastic feeder, even since she was as small as him. Is this normal for kingsnakes, or is something wrong??

Thanks!
Diana

As long as he is eating them don't worry. If all he has been fed is prekilled the movement may be confusing him. How long have you had him and how big is he? It is also possible that someone before you tried to feed him something live and big enough to bite and it freaked him out.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I've had him a few weeks now. He's less than a foot long. Very tiny, looks like a little worm. I don't know too much about his history, except that he was started on pinkies already.

Thanks for the advice!
Diana

Hello,

I will echo what Merlin stated. If the snake waits an hour before he feeds, then he waits an hour. lol The time frame for him eating a prekilled or a frozen thawed mouse/rat is irrelevant (unless the feeder is going bad). Your snake is eating! That is all that matters.

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Quite a few of my snakes will not eat while I am in the room! I have some that strike feed as soon as you open their tubs and go in with the food and then others who I simply have to pop the food in and leave them overnight.

I wouldn't worry if he takes some time to eat - he may be a little shy where food in concerned. they are vulnerable while eating as they have their jaws fully opened and thier food half in half out so cannot defend themselves. Maybe try to just pop him mouse in for him and leave him be for an hour or 2

Best of luck with him and please post us up some pics - we love pics

Joe's weird...he pokes his face into all the mices fur one by one like he's nuzzling into it and then eventually bites one of them and lets go and wanders around a bit and sometimes constricts...sometimes doesnt...as long as he's eating, I'm happy

What he is doing is investigating which end is which.
Snakes determine the proper end to swallow by which way the fur lies.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Then Joe is incredibly stupid he takes it by the butt alot

LOL


Yeah, I wouldn't worry too much there Diana. As the others said, as long as he's eating it, that's the important part. Taking F/K is ALWAYS better than taking live anyway

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+5 bonus points to whoever finds me a job!

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

my corn snake snaps at the fuzzy before it hits the bottom of the feeding box
but my redtail grabs it squeezes it and lets it go and waits for 10 minuates then eats it

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