Male Cali King Not Eating...

I have a King snake that wont eat! I got him back in July for my daughter from a local friend near me. When I went to get him I personally watched him eat 3 mice hoppers. My friend told me that he believes this snake is 4 years old. Now ever since I brought him home he has yet to eat for me and I offer every week. I don't have mice, I raise rats and have been only offering him them. Can King snakes be that picky just like Balls? I also have him in the same room as all my BP's and no UTH, just room heated. None of my BP's have refused any feed and are all eating weekly. Any ideas? I never raised King snakes.

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Originally Posted by ROACH

I have a King snake that wont eat! I got him back in July for my daughter from a local friend near me. When I went to get him I personally watched him eat 3 mice hoppers. My friend told me that he believes this snake is 4 years old. Now ever since I brought him home he has yet to eat for me and I offer every week. I don't have mice, I raise rats and have been only offering him them. Can King snakes be that picky just like Balls? I also have him in the same room as all my BP's and no UTH, just room heated. None of my BP's have refused any feed and are all eating weekly. Any ideas? I never raised King snakes.

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What are your temps at?

I would offer mice just to rule it out, you can get f/t. I've never had an issue with king snakes refusing food before and the ones I've dealt with readily accept anything offered.

Edit: Neal posted while I was typing.

Aside from not having a hotspot, what are your temps/setup like?

Mouse hoppers sounds small for adult IMO. How big is he? Have you noticed if he's lost any weight?

Cali kings are notorious garbage cans. A few others will probably agree. Oreo will eat anything I toss in for him whether it's mouse or rat with a stretch of time where he would refuse rats. I'd assume there are a few which would be picky eaters.

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Originally Posted by Pyrate81

Edit: Neal posted while I was typing.

Aside from not having a hotspot, what are your temps/setup like?

Mouse hoppers sounds small for adult IMO. How big is he? Have you noticed if he's lost any weight?

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I agree they are too small especially to be offered that many not enough time to digest could cause regurgitation or sickness. try something bigger small rats or breeder sized mice

I have only had one CalKing go off feed, a few weeks later she laid a 5 slugs. Never paired.

None of mine have ever been picky about rats or mice.

Did he brumate her? Might be used to the cycle?

Like other have asked. What are your temps?

The temps in the room run between 85-90. I don't have a UTH on him. The guy I got him from had this guy in his dads business, a local feed store, the snakes whole life without any UTH. I can go and get some mice from him anytime, just been offering rats though. I will try that tomorrow on feeding day. He hasn't lost any weight that I can notice. Hes really fast so I haven't weighed him. I know that's a poor excuse, but I haven't. He does however lay in his water ALOT!!!!! He seems to always be soaking in it. Could it be too hot in there for him?

http://lllreptile.com/info/library/a...ia-king-snake/
Give that a read through from what you had mentioned everything seems to be in range

85-90 should be fine. I'd try mice as you say you will do tomorrow and I'd get him on paper towels to check him for mites.


I remember mine soaking in the middle of summer when he was younger but that was when I didn't know anything and his hot spot was 95+.


It is possible he's on a weather cycle but July sounds early for a "hibernation" unless the previous owner had him on a pattern that started in July.

Could be to hot if he is in his dish all the time.

I don't have any heat on my Rats or Kings. Last year I had them in a room that would get pretty warm during the day. High 80s 88-90 range, they would all be soaking.

Without having any heat and in a store. I'm guessing normal temps in the mid 70s.?
I think he is used to lower temps.

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Originally Posted by 3skulls

Could be to hot if he is in his dish all the time.

I don't have any heat on my Rats or Kings. Last year I had them in a room that would get pretty warm during the day. High 80s 88-90 range, they would all be soaking.

Without having any heat and in a store. I'm guessing normal temps in the mid 70s.?
I think he is used to lower temps.

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I agree with this as a possibility.

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.

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Originally Posted by van_garret2000

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.

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Ok I moved him to the dinning room area today and put a heat pad under his hide. He seemed to move around alot, but did go back to soak. But this time it was really brief. I put a fuzzie rat in with him, hopefully he will eat it.

Good luck and keep us updated.

I agree with Wilomn, he just may be a mouser. I have one milksnake that only takes mice. They smell totally different and although most don't care this one may only be used to the scent of mice.

My male cali has stopped eating too. He is a year and half and it's been almost two months since he's eaten, but there's no sign of mites and it's not like he's lethargic as he likes to explore his cage quite a bit (not in a stressful manner by any means), climbing on the plants and his vine. I'm not too stressed about it, but who doesn't like it when their snake goes from eating like a garbage can to not eating at all. :rolleyes: Hasn't lost any weight as far as I can tell, he's looking healthy and everything.

Glad your guy ate! Do cali's slow down their eating naturally during the winter months at all?