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Grey Banded King

zorro

zorro

Old Guy
A friend of mine got this little guy and was having trouble getting him to eat. He is a Christmas mountain, and my friend asked me to see if I could get him to eat.
John
GreyBandKSM1.jpg
 
The snake from hell. Good luck. Katie (ArpeggioAngel) or Lee Abbott might have some hints. I _think_ some of Katie's more stubborn babies started on pink heads. They are lizard eaters.
 
A well known kingsnake breeder has offered the following suggestions:

Allow your hatchlings to know it is Summer. Raise the heat up. I keep my hatchling enclosures at 90F on the hot side and 80F on the cool when trying to get them to feed.

STEP 1: Offer a f/t newborn pinky. If it refuses then…

STEP 2: Offer live newborn pinky. If it refuses then....

STEP 3: Offer brained, live pinkie. Yes brained & alive. The brained pinkie is cut from snout to base of skull. If it is taken, reduce the incision each time until it is no longer necessary to stimulate feeding. If it is refused then....

STEP 4: Offer the brained, live pinkie under a dark, non translucent bowl with the stubborn feeder. Cover the snake and the prey and check in about 30 minutes or so. This has been the most effective method w/o scenting involved. If the snake refuses then...

STEP 5: A lizard has to be obtained. I use Med. House Geckos. Freeze the lizard in a deep freeze right away for about 1 hour. Remove from freezer and get a live newborn pinky and put the frozen mouse and a pink in a container. Keep them together until the lizard thaws out completely. The warmth of the pinkie will absorb the scent. Place it under a dark bowl with the snake and check in about 30 minutes or so. Rubbing the pinkie on the lizard or just keeping them together for a day will scent the pinky as well, but this method mentioned above has worked well for me.....If the snake refuses then....

STEP 6: It starts to get gruesome here. Thaw out the lizard and cut its abdomen open. Dip the head of the pinkie into the guts of the lizard. Place some skin from the lizard on the pinky's head and place under the dark bowl with the snake. If this fails then....

STEP 7: Feed small live lizards or lizard parts. I have had luck feeding them about 4 to 5 lizard meals then scenting pinks with such lizards.

STEP 8: If three months have gone by and the hatchling has not eaten a meal a short hibernation will usually do the trick. Drop its temps to around 55 or 60 degrees for about 6 to 8 weeks. After removal from the temps repeat all the steps above.

Once a hatchling has taken a meal try the method in the step above the one that was successful.
Click to expand...
 
John,
When I had greyband hatchlings - I tried numerous feeding tricks. Most of them would take either lizard scented pinks (preferably live to start) or live lizards (I used local florida anoles). They seemed more attracted to the quick movements of the lizards more than the scent or movement of pinkies.

I have also heard with greybands that sometimes a short simualted brumation - even for hatchlings - can stimulate their feeding responses although I have never personally tried it.

He is a beautiful snake and I am hopeful that you can get him going.
 
Try live pinkies as I have a grey banded male that only gets excited enough to eat if they are moving, he simply refuses plain f/t pinkies. If that doesn't work, try getting some anole shed skin and moisten it and put it on the head of a f/t pinky, I've had some success with this as well but I use the skin of a side blotch lizard. If that doesn't work, try the shed skin trick with a live pinky. If all else fails, you might have to try resort to feeding it small enough lizards until you can hopefully switch it over to mice.

Good luck!
 
Grey Band hatchlings are PITA most of the time, but their beauty more than makes up for it.

If you're having trouble getting it to eat, try catching a couple of small local lizards, and put them in one of those tiny lexan/plastic critter cages. Give them crickets and water, but paper for substrate. 4 or 5 oughtta work. Let them poop and shed in the cage for a couple days. Then drop a live pinky in there with them. It will get kicked around and covered in poo and dead skin and all sorts of lizardy goodness. Take the pinky out using forceps or tweezers or hemostats or something to avoid putting your scent on it, and feed your snake.

This method worked for me with a male that took over a year from hatching to eat his first pinky willingly...
 
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