help with feeding my kingsnake (to any kingsnake owner)?

Question

he loves to burrow, and i bought a fuzzy and dropped him in the cage. should i make the snake come out of his burrow, or should i just let him come when he wants. i would rather not leave the mouse in the cage for too long, but i refuse to stress out my snake. this is the first time im feeding him. what did you guys do when you first fed yours?

Answer 1

you can feed him in a big rubbermaid container thingy. or some other kind of box. without the substrate because he can eat it. Also you can get some big feeding tongs they look like a humongous pair of tweezers, and you take the pinky and hold it in the tongs and you can move it around and stuff so the snake might think it's alive or might notice it.
But yeah if it's burrowing, you can just pick it up anyway. Unless you're seriously afraid of getting bitten or something but it probably won't bite you. Just pick the snake up, put it in a container, and feed it the pinky.

Answer 2

Most captive bred kingsnakes will readily take pinkies and fuzzies. I would not feed in the cage as substrate ingestion is a possibility. Second, I only feed frozen/thawed. All my snakes, including the king will take them without a problem. I usually will handle the skittish ones for a bit to calm them before feeding them. Then I place them in a small container with the food item. Sometimes if they are really skittish, I'll put the container in a dark box and leave them for an hour or so. If that doesn't work, you can remove the substrate, and put the food item near the hide he is in. I recommend waiting until dusk and then leaving him completely alone overnite with the item. If it's frozen/thawed it won't hurt to leave it. Live animals of course cannot be left in the cage. You will undoubtably stress your snake at some point. Just being held and interacted with is stressful. The trick is to help make it where the snake tolerates your presence and is able to function, eat and thrive in your care.

Answer 3

Did you ask what it was eating when you bought it? Some Kingsnakes only eat lizards, frogs, and other snakes. They have to be trained to eat pinkies and mice. It will come out in the evening and hunt when it is hungry, if the mouse is big enough to hurt the snake ( eyes open and moving around good) then take it out until you can watch it eat it. Otherwise you could end up with an injured snake from a mouse bite. If you see the snake out and moving around then it is probably hunting and hungry. and once you get a routine started then it will be easier to feed it (except when it is shedding, then it wont eat until its done, this could take up to a week) Keep trying.

Answer 4

In addition to what everyone else said (with the exception of one... pretty unsure of that response), you need to have feeding tongs. That way, the dangling of the mouse evokes the hunting instinct and it's willingness to eat, even when it's not all that interested (i.e. during the day when it's sleeping). My newest Cali King is starting to associate the tongs with food (probably because they smell like mice) and will come out to eat when she sees them. It's cute. :) And always feed outside the cage, don't handle for 24-48 hours (whenever the bumps disappear), feed frozen and not live... all that stuff everyone else said. Just wanted to add that.

Answer 5

Definitely feed outside the cage to avoid ingesting substrate and getting an intestinal impaction. Also, if you feed in the cage, he will associate your hand coming in the cage with food and he can get nippy. Give him a quiet place to eat, like an extra tank or critter keeper, and give him time. I also feed only frozen/thawed and with time and patience almost all snakes can be taught to eat them. This decreases injury to the snake and helps prevent parasite infection that many rodents carry.