Mexican black kingsnake not eating

[Duzer Reptiles]

Right so I'm not sure if I should worry or not but here's the story. So about two months ago I had bought myself a Mexican black kingsnake (MBK) from a girl I know. Anyways this girl told me that he is an established snake, as in he eats mice very well. So that same day I bought him we had an accident in the car and he escaped into the car. Days of searching but no success, I had given up. A month goes by and I end up finding him in the trunk of the car, alive and very active, he was even going into shed. I had his tank set up a long time ago, prior to buying him even. I go ahead and give him a lukewarm soak to help with the shed. We got it all off and he was put in his cage. I gave him about a week to get used to his environment before I tried feeding him. When I did try feeding him, he didn't seem interested in the mouse at all (frozen/thawed). I shrugged it off and I thought he wasn't ready yet. A month goes by again and he still turns food down. It is December now and I think he just isn't eating due to brumation, but he does have his UTH turned on. It could just be his internal clock saying he needs to brumate, you never know. Maybe he was fed live mice, I haven't tried that since I haven't had time to drop by the reptile shop and pick one up. Could that be it? Is he just not eating due cause of brumation? Or is there something a little more serious going on? When I first got him he seemed quite small for the age the girl said he was. But I thought that could be right, given the fact that she under fed him pretty badly. Anyways, does anyone know what might be going on, I have ran out of ideas on what the problem might be? If you need any pics let me know, I'll post some.

- Duzer

 

[JessJohnson87]

If he turned down a pre-killed mouse, there is a good possibility that he was fed live. Brumation could be a possibility to, but my moms snakes would still eat some during the cooler months. I would take him to a vet for an over-all health check and to make sure he's ok after living in your car for a month.

It is possible to turn a snake that has eaten nothing but live on to pre-killed. My mom and I rehabilitated a Boa, years ago, that had a severe case of mouth rot. Even once he was better and able to eat food, he still turned his nose up to pre-killed. After letting him go a while without food, he was hungry enough to eat a dead rat. I think I rubbed the scent of my pet rat onto the dead one via a towel and that helped to.

 

[Duzer Reptiles]

Thank you, I have gotten him to eat now I guess he was never fed by hand since that is what do with all of my other snakes. I just set the thawed mouse on a perch in his tank and when I check up on him it's gone.

- Duzer

 

[JessJohnson87]

Awesome! He could've been in a state of shock after being in the car for so long to.