Mature Female Speckled King Refusing Food

[scalrtn]

I have a Female Speckled Kingsnake roughly three years old (see the "Then there were two" thread in this forum.) She's a terrific eater, but began refusing food last Fall, and I put her in brumation for 3 months. When I took her out of brumation in February, she began feeding again regularly and aggressively. But she's refused food the last two times offered, last week and this week.


I suspect this has something to do with her breeding cycle. Kingsnakes reportedly mate mid-March (Florida) to June in the wild. I just can't find much information on females refusing to eat during the breeding period. I DO NOT plan to breed her. Has this been observed by other people who keep females, breeding or otherwise? - Thanks

p.s. My Ball Python, who was on a 7 month hunger strike, is now slamming rats with gusto, and "cleaned up" after my King this morning. Almost like hell freezing over...

[bcr229]

I don't keep that particular king snake but I do have others. Once they hit maturity all of them backed themselves off of feeding. I put them on a 10-14 day schedule instead of weekly feeding to compensate.

[scalrtn]

Well, she's finally eating again, after a month of refusals. I think the small remainder of the feeder batch I had offered earlier might have been slightly spoiled and repugnant, but who knows? I broke open a new package, and she took two right away.