not sure whats up with my snake

[Phoenixphire55]

Ok, so I have a 5 month old kingsnake. He has been eating perfectly and his behavior has been very normal and predictable. However, a couple weeks ago I tried to get him to eat his first fuzzy and he completely ignored it. I waited about another week so he'd be really hungry, and fed him another fuzzy, this time feeding him the decapitated head first, and then the body, both of which he ate right away. Now, that was over a week ago and he has been hiding under the bedding in his tank ever since. I hadn't seen him in several days which is very unusual, so I assumed he escaped or died and started taking the items out of his cage and removing the bedding. Well I found him underneath the bedding and he looked fine and slithered away so I put everything back in the tank. Now, this is about 4 days later and I still haven't seen him emerge from his under-bedding tunnel system. I destroyed all his tunnels when I started removing the bedding a few days ago, but now the tunnel openings are back so I know he's been coming out at night at least a little. Any ideas whats going on or suggestions on what I should do?

It occurred to me that he's getting ready to shed, but he didn't act like this the other times he's shed.

 

[RosieReal]

well, he's eating ok. you said he looked fine. i'd just bet he's feeling anti social. lol

 

[danielle]

He's in shed and as they get older especially their grumpier about the shedding process.

 

[Phoenixphire55]

When should I become concerned? He hasn't come out from under his bedding in two weeks. He's not even 6 months old at this point, and his other sheds have taken less than a day or two.

 

[Hallie]

As long as he's still alive, eating, and pooping, I wouldn't worry about him at all. I have quite a few snakes that I never see. He's probably coming out when you aren't around.

 

[Asbit]

Our Cali King was like that after about the first month we had her. Guess she came out more at first to just explore, try to find an escape and settle in. After that she always hide.

 

[Spiritwolf]

I've found that there are times when snakes will choose to go for longer periods without eating. They simply aren't hungry.
I've also found that snakes seem to be in sync with EACH OTHER, even different species. When my snakes have been hungry, other people's snakes will also be hungry at about the same time. When my snakes are going through shed, other peoples snakes will also be going through shed. This synchronizing among snakes is also obvious at the local petshop. People with snakes consistently buy rodents to feed to their snakes at the same time. At other times, when I've mentioned my snakes being reclusive and preparing to shed, other snake people I talk to would confirm their snakes would also be preparing to shed. These snakes are of various species, native to various parts of the world, yet they sync with each other! To me it would be fascinating to learn more about this synchronization of snakes eating and shedding cycle.

I've had my snakes go for a month or more without eating especially when its wintertime. They are in the house with consistent temperature and lighting, they are of various species (garter, cornsnake, florida watersnake, ball python, california king, black ratsnake) yet they all are in sync with each other. Shy just shed yesterday, the cali king two days ago, tonight two of the garters are shedding, a few days ago three of the younger corns shed on the same day.
This is just one of the mysteries of snakes that I find fascinating.