How often are you supposed to feed your domestic snake?

Question

I have a California King-snake who is about a year old. I've had him since Easter day, so only for a few months though. This is my first snake, so it's definitely fair to say that I'm an inexperienced beginner. He's not very big yet, measuring up to about 16 inches and a thumb-sized around, and eats boiled pinkies. When I bought him, the lady at the pet store told me to feed him one a week. She said if he eats too much, someone may go wrong in his digestive system. Every time I feed him (once every 7 or 8 days), my mom always fights with me. She says, "He's starving!! Feed him more than one, please!!" Remembering what the lady said about the digestive issue, I couldn't stand to take a chance and risk his health.. In plus, I'm pretty sure my mom just likes to see the neat experience of a dead newborn mouse being gulped down my pet snake's throat. My mom finally called a different pet store, asked how often he should be fed, and apparently a grown man who has worked there for a long time told her that he should be fed every three or four days and we should feed him as much as possible - until he won't eat anymore and denies the dead mouse... What?!?! Have I been feeding him wrong for several months?? He's not a very happy snake, he almost always shakes his tail at me when I even try to get remotely close to him, and just all around isn't fun to be around. Could this feeding issue be causing him to behave this way? Or should I just accept the fact that he has an awkward personality and buy a new snake? Someone please help me. I'm young and probably don't quite have as much knowledge regarding this issue as some of you other snake owners out there. Thanks!

Answer 1

No, you are correct. Once a week is the general time to feed snakes. Feeding them "as much as they can eat" can potentially kill them since snakes have a very strong prey response and rarely encounter unlimited food in the wild. Feeding them this much would be powerfeeding, a bad practice sometimes done by breeders. This will shorten the life span of the snake and often creates disproportionate adults. The man at the pet store was mistaken. Some snakes will stop eating when full but many won't so it isn't healthy.



I do think, though, that the snake is a little small to be a year old. Most of the time they are around 2 feet or so by their first year. You could increase the number of pinkies you feed him or feed him fuzzy mice if he is thick enough. 2-3 pinkies every week should not have any negative effects on him. Make sure that he has proper heating to ensure proper digestion though.



Also... boiled pinkies? Mice should never be boiled. When you buy frozen mice you just let them thaw naturally or thaw them in warm water. But you don't actually cook them... if that's what you're doing. If you were told to do this by the pet store worker they were seriously wrong with the information.



Always feed the snake mice of the same girth as the snake or 25% larger than the girth of the snake. If you need to increase feeding it's better to feed two small mice than one big one as a rule.



For the aggression, the snake really needs to be worked with before it will calm down. Cage aggression (what it sounds like yours has) is very common in snakes. This is caused by feeding the snake in the cage w/o regular handling. The snake becomes used to being fed in the cage and views any intrusion as a threat or as a food source. Either way, it will bite you. Some snakes are more prone to it than others but almost all will calm down with regular handling. The bites of a small snake barely hurt at all and personally I would just handle it bare handed, but if it worries you then you can use gloves. Just don't overuse the gloves or the snake will become used to being handled with gloves.



Some people remove the snake from the cage to feed in order to discourage cage aggression. Since yours seems apt to have this behavior it's probably a good idea to try this. I don't feed my snakes out of their cages because I am used to dealing with them and can read their body language, but if you aren't comfortable with it you might want to try it.



Hopefully that helps.



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Answer 2

"Once a Week" is a phrase that petstore employees are trained to say in response to that question.....for boas, kingsnakes, pythons, cornsnakes, etc.......see? there lies the problem right there.



They throw a standardized "rule" around for all types of species. Now, do you really believe all those species require the exact same feeding schedule? Of course not!



Yes, a snake can live off of one mouse a week, but that is indeed (like your Mom said) starving your snake of critical nutrients for a growing snake.



I will start this from the beginning.....first, always feed thawed mice if the rodents were previously frozen. Notice, thawed does not mean cooked...or boiled. Simply let it thaw out at room temperature for a few hours or place it in warm water(not hot)...also, by placing it in a plastic Ziploc bag prior to placing it in the water, you prevent having to deal with a wet pinkie that wants to fall apart on you.



Now, size.......always offer your snake the biggest meal possible. Pinkie mice are not very nutritious. They are actually mostly water...and they lack roughage(fur) that is also nutritionally important for a growing snake. Always get the snakes off of pinkies and on to fuzzies as soon as they are big enough to eat them. At 16" your Cal King is more than adept at taking on a fuzzy or two. If the mouse is too big, then it simply won't be able to swallow it.....it might take awhile to become familiar with what is overkill and what can be eaten...but it will come in time. A good general rule for kingsnakes is that they can handle mice that are 1.25" - 1.5" X the largest part of their body(girth).



Feeding Intervals for growing kingsnakes with access to a suitable temperature gradient......I recommend feeding them every 3-5 days. I always offer my kingsnakes dood every other day...if they choose not to eat it then I simply offer the mouse to the next cage....but you may not have the luxury of that and may end up wasting mice that way. So every 4-5 days might be a little more efficient for you.



The tail shaking is a neonate kingsnake behavior.....it will grow out of this as it matures, grows, and is handled. They are more prone to display this behavior when they have just eaten or are going through a shed cycle..as this makes them feel more vulnerable.

Answer 3

depends the size of your snaky. usually about once a week. pinky mice, or mice. if it is a big guy then baby rabbits or rats probably once a month.