California Kingsnake Feeding help

My king has always been an extremely shy feeder, which is kind of odd for a king snake. I have to leave the f/t feeders on top of her hide and walk away, she'll only eat in privacy. It's been 9 years and she's always been this way (she also likes to hide under her water bowl which is way too small to actually hide under haha).

I've used the brown bag technique for non-feeding hatchling corn snakes and it is a great trick.
OP, I hope with the great advice you're getting that your lil one will be chowing down in no time.

ah ok, I hope I figure it out soon, months of research does not compare to experience! Experience is always the best way to learn lol

Im not sure how anyone is able to move any tank bigger than a 40, especially if you have the tank stuff inside, and ya glass is great

oooo ya think I should get the larger size or the small? And ya I browsed through their stuff and I saw ALot of good things there, untill now I had never heard of Beanfarm or reptile basics and they both seem like really good places to buy things



And thanks AbsoluteApril! Im 100% going to be trying the brown bag technique

Your snake would prefer the small one now, but she'll grow into the large one, & you could just get the large one & "stuff it" for now. I mean that nicely of course, lol. :D

Both companies are excellent sources to know about...it's why we share info on forums like this. It's nice to shop "local" but you can't always find such things locally.

Oh, btw...using the "paper bag" feeding trick...always leave the bag IN the SECURE tank...just in case. Don't trust paper or binder clips that far...baby kings are way too hard to find when loose in your house, lol. (I once had one that got loose, & I found her in my closet, in the toe of a boot. The search was not easy or fun...)

Ill probably get the big one and just "stuff it" lol

Ya its nice to get things local but you cant always get the best things when its local

Thanks for telling me! I would not have thought to put the bag also into her tank, ive already learned how good of escape artists they are lol, im not sure how you were able to find her in a boot, it would have prob taken forever to check all the shoes if you had alot of them in there and when I lost my snake I went into pure panic mode lol but luckily I found her behind my china hutch, tad hard to get to her but I was so relieved that she was ok since I have 5 cats and she was heading straight tword the hunter one

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Originally Posted by Cypris1

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Thanks for telling me! I would not have thought to put the bag also into her tank, ive already learned how good of escape artists they are lol, im not sure how you were able to find her in a boot, it would have prob taken forever to check all the shoes if you had alot of them in there and when I lost my snake I went into pure panic mode lol but luckily I found her behind my china hutch, tad hard to get to her but I was so relieved that she was ok since I have 5 cats and she was heading straight tword the hunter one

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Yikes, that sounds like it was a very close call! :hokitty: King snakes are escape artists, & given a few hours, would likely find their way out of the bottom flaps of the bag. They have nothing better to do, so they're very persistent. Also, a bag or any container with a little snake in would have just enough sound or movement that your cats might "help" with her escape...:O so they're always safer locked in the main tank. ;)
I've had many years of practice -learning the hard way. :rofl:I once had an adult bull snake escape from a "very secure side container" when I got too sleepy to finish cleaning her cage one night. She turned up SIX MONTHS later, after hibernating from mid-November to mid-May in an inaccessible space under a kitchen cupboard...happily she was fine & lived happily ever after...but she gave me a LOT of guilt & anxious but hopeless searching until then.

It is very likely they would find a way out of the bag, they are incredibly smart, mine will climb my thermostats cord and than push her body against it to try to have enough room to squeeze out, it looks really cool the way they climb also but going down she just falls, rip.


Ah man idk what I would do if that happened to me, snakes are so strong and they could break out of anywhere, its a great thing that snakes are able to go a long time without food and still be ok, glad that you found her!

That albino cal-king that escaped into my boot: it was the store-bought cage design that failed...I locked the sliding screen top with the provided peg, but there was "just barely enough" space (like maybe a quarter inch?) of wiggle room in the track when it was locked shut, & I never DREAMED that a tiny hatchling king snake would have the persistence to not only force her way into it, but to then follow it all the way around to the opening where the side of the top was pushed out. From that time on, I began making my own screen tops for all my glass tanks. And yes, I've kept plenty of climbers like yours too, lol...

The bull snake: I meant to say "brumation" but you know what I meant. It was the normal time of year for her to take "a long winter's nap" & under the kitchen cupboards it was chilly enough, but I couldn't see her to verify my suspicions...I just had to wait until one night in May I was walking thru my kitchen & there she was on the kitchen floor, having just emerged...looking for food & water and not a bit "worse for wear"! What a snake! :bow: Snakes like BPs would have gotten too cold & gotten sick, most likely...but bull snakes are tough serpents, it was nothing for her. :D Whew...and her initial escape took a lot of strength & determination...I sure under-estimated her.

ah yes... design fails, lol. I would have thought that if smth said "This will lock!" I would have believed it would be safe but obviously from both or our experience thats not the case lol. Im surprised she was able to squeeze through such a tiny gap! Snakes have so much determination its insane lol, I would not trust myself to try to make a screen top myself, plus I think the screen other than that hole is well made, theirs a lock on each of the corners but you can push it up with enough strength but the gap is Hopefully to small to fit though lol.


hehe a beautiful winters nap under your kitchen cupboards, im guessing you were very surprised when you went to your kitchen finding a snake on your floor, its a good thing she decided she was hungry lol, one nice snake! Im not sure if a BP would be ok since they need certain temps, prob feels nice being able to find your snake after such a long time of her missing:D

I tried to feed her again last night and she still goes up to the mouse and leaves it, I put her in a deli cup with the pinky to see if she takes it then. And of course Right after I do that the person I bought the snake from said to feed her a live pinky. Feeling kinda stupid for not waiting for a response befor stressing her out by putting her into the deli.


How long will it take for her to de-stress from being put in the deli? Cause I feeling really bad for putting her in it.... shes still in it atm not sure how much longer I will wait to take her out since I really want her to eat since she is starting to loose weight, I never weighed her but I can tell shes getting thinner.

omg im so happy rn



since she was in a deli I decided to put her tank upstairs since it wont move her around so I took the deli out and put it in a safe spot, put the tank upstairs, then once I had the tank setup again-I had not looked in the deli yet so when I took the towel off I was so happy that there was no pinky left :D I 100% thought she was going to die because of me but im so happy that she will be ok!!!!

Thank you SO MUCH I would not have gotten her to eat without you!

:D