Male Cali King Not Eating...

Ok I will move him to another room. I just went to get some pics of him and of course he was in his bowl as usual. But I did get him out and take some pics. I will post as soon as they download to my computer.

May well be too hot. Some, not many are that picky, but some are. Put him closer to the floor or in a cooler room and try mice. If he hasn't lost any weight he's probably fine, males can and do go long periods of time without eating. I'll be putting mine down for their winter naps in about 6 weeks and will stop feeding around the 1st of Nov. They won't be out until Feb. next year. If he simply refuses to eat, let him cool, he should be alright. Fuzzies for that size snake are not adequate. Are you offering live or dead? You might try big rat pinks or pups that haven't opened their eyes.

In his Bowl http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...2/3/king_1.jpghttp://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...2/3/king_4.jpghttp://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...2/3/king_3.jpghttp://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...2/3/king_2.jpghttp://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...2/3/king_5.jpg

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He's 155 grams

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Originally Posted by wilomn

May well be too hot. Some, not many are that picky, but some are. Put him closer to the floor or in a cooler room and try mice. If he hasn't lost any weight he's probably fine, males can and do go long periods of time without eating. I'll be putting mine down for their winter naps in about 6 weeks and will stop feeding around the 1st of Nov. They won't be out until Feb. next year. If he simply refuses to eat, let him cool, he should be alright. Fuzzies for that size snake are not adequate. Are you offering live or dead? You might try big rat pinks or pups that haven't opened their eyes.

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This is what Ive been offering him. Only rats and large Live pinkies.

I must have the pickiest Cali King out there. High white, low food drive, LOL. He finally ate two mouse hoppers last night after fasting for a few weeks due to being in shed and he's never been big on eating rat pinkies or fuzzies, though occasionally he'll take one if I start with a mouse fuzzy first to get him into "food mode". He's not a soaker though. Have you checked for mites? Did he soak a lot with his prior owner?

Agree you should check his temps, mine is in a 40-breeder with a hot and cool site. Cool is mid-70's, UTH with t-stat gives a hot spot of 90*F.

He also looks small for a four year old King.

He is a tad on the thin side, but nothing I'd worry about as yet. He may just be a mouser. Some are. It's rare, but I have seen it. He may also fire right up on rats if you cool him for the winter.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

I must have the pickiest Cali King out there. High white, low food drive, LOL. He finally ate two mouse hoppers last night after fasting for a few weeks due to being in shed and he's never been big on eating rat pinkies or fuzzies, though occasionally he'll take one if I start with a mouse fuzzy first to get him into "food mode". He's not a soaker though. Have you checked for mites? Did he soak a lot with his prior owner?

Agree you should check his temps, mine is in a 40-breeder with a hot and cool site. Cool is mid-70's, UTH with t-stat gives a hot spot of 90*F.

He also looks small for a four year old King.

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I have checked for mites. He's all clear no problem there! He has shed and full piece, no problems there. Mine just likes to soak a lot. It could be the heat in the room I guess, he is up high in the room. I will look at moving him really quick. The previous owner didn't have a large enough water bowl for him to soak in. As for the age, the previous owner said he believes the snake is 4. He said it could be 3. I don't know hardly anything about their size so I couldn't even attempt to try.

He's bigger than my 5 year old king who wasn't fed very much during his early years. I think he'll probably start bulking up if you can get him to eat. He's a cute little guy. :)

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Originally Posted by Anya

He's bigger than my 5 year old king who wasn't fed very much during his early years. I think he'll probably start bulking up if you can get him to eat. He's a cute little guy. :)

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Thank You. The previous owner said he eats like a champ, and I saw that the day I got him.

If its 85-90 them room is defiantly too hot for him. That is most likely why its soaking. Keep checking for mites too but it's probably the heat.

A Cali king should have a basking spot of 85 but they like their temps cooler. Most people I hear that have them (and mine as well) tend to spend their time at the cooler end of the tank.

You should take him out of the reptile room. Him not eatting could be the stress from it being too hot. Could also just be because he is still settling in his new environment.

Most kings eat anything but some can be picky(I have one of them).

I would recommend getting it some proper temps and try mice. He could just be hooked on them. If he is 4 years old though(he looks like he might be younger then that) he can last a few months off food so don't get too worried yet. Just try to adjust things and see if tht helps.