King Cobra not feeding- any suggestions

I purchased a 7 foot venomoid king cobra from Carolina Reptiles back in November and she still has not eaten for me. I provide educational shows to schools etc., so a venomoid is a must. Se is a healthy and active snake, she just refuses to eat. I had Bruce at Carolina Reptile e-mail me a picture of her eating before I bought her, she was supposedly eating mice. I've offered her a few different types of pre-killed snakes with no luck. I would hate to offer her a live feeder snake and the feeder gets lucky and hurts my girl. She is a Farley aggressive snake hooding and striking regularly so this makes tease feeding a little hard, she focuses on me and not the food. She is a bit thin so I've force feed her twice to try to maintain her weight.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do; I don't want to loose her

First, I'll dare not go into the venomid issues here (very tempting, poor snake). Second, why not try live snakes? Throw some easily obtained Texas rats in there and see what happens. Why did you force feed again? You said she was thin? I will tell you know that only 6 months of not feeding will not make a healthy adult (or even subadult) snake thin. I would suspect you've purchased a non-feeding snake.

Originally Posted by atroxman

I purchased a 7 foot venomoid king cobra from Carolina Reptiles back in November and she still has not eaten for me.

It's hard enough to get an imported king cobra to feed. When you add the stress of amateur butchery on top of that, done with no pain medication, you have a real problem.

You are not the first person to have recieved one of Bruce's misrepresented butcher jobs. Others have posted here about the dying or dead mistreated kings they have recieved from this unethical person. There are lots and lots of threads about this individual. Use the search function on the BOI to find them.

I provide educational shows to schools etc., so a venomoid is a must.

I also provide educational shows to schools, appropriate ones where I display native venomous snakes in securely locked cages. Consider sending the right message by doing the same thing. Children don't need to be taught that it is "cool" to touch and play with venomous snakes. And snakes certainly don't need to be tortured and mutilated under unsanitary, inhumane conditions by amateurs with no pain medication. If you really had your heart set on a venomoid, you could have at least had it done by a licensed veterinarian who would do a clean and humane job of it.

I had Bruce at Carolina Reptile e-mail me a picture of her eating before I bought her, she was supposedly eating mice.

Yeah, this is the same Bruce who mailed around a photo that I had posted of my high orange male king cobra and claimed it was a female venomoid that he owned that was the mother of offspring he had for sale. I wouldn't want to bet that the photo he sent you wasn't another one of mine or somebody else's that he ripped off. He is the reason I do not post pictures of my kings any more. It makes me sick to think that he is using my photos to sell his mutilated hackjobs. Post the picture here and see if anybody recognizes it. Chances are good that somebody will.

I've offered her a few different types of pre-killed snakes with no luck. I would hate to offer her a live feeder snake and the feeder gets lucky and hurts my girl.

You seem to love your snake a lot for someone who was willing to have it hacked on by an amateur. King cobras eat snakes in the wild, and they do pretty okay at it. Try a fairly small live feeder snake to see if you get any response. But choice of food alone is probably not the biggest factor here. Kings are stress puppies, and they can express all kinds of health problems in response to environmental stresses. Wild caught kings (and don't delude yourself that yours is anything else if it came from Bruce "Hackjob" Eisenmann) are also heavily parasitized and should get fecals and appropriate medication.

Have you taken your animal (or at least some blood and fecal samples) to a veterinarian? If not, why not?

She is a Farley aggressive snake hooding and striking regularly so this makes tease feeding a little hard, she focuses on me and not the food. She is a bit thin so I've force feed her twice to try to maintain her weight.

I'm glad to hear that this animal (which also might not be a female; nothing Bruce says can be trusted) is aggressive rather than resigned and lethargic. One thing you might try is a much larger cage with plenty of climbing space as well as a small, secure hiding space. Keep the humidity and temperature up. Offer food items on the ground while he/she is safely in a hide box or perched in thick branches above. The latter tactic works best with smaller kings which enjoy being arboreal.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do; I don't want to loose her

Force feeding a king is another stressor event that you need to be careful with. What we've done with wild caught kings is to give them from 0.2 to 0.3 mg/kg of Diazepam to remove some of the stress, then put them through a thorough veterinary exam. We like to do a fecal direct swab and a cloacal wash to check for parasites plus a physical exam for external parasites and injuries at a minimum. That part doesn't even need to be done at a clinic. While the snake is still under the influence of the drug, we identify the parasites present and treat for them. We may also introduce an easily digestible nutritional slurry such as Mazuri or Walkabout Farms carnivorous reptile gel. More expensive but useful is a CBC and blood chemistry panel, but lacking budget, in-house tests like a simple hematocrit for PCV and maybe some basic cytology on a blood smear can be performed if you have the equipment handy.

Let's assume for a moment that you have absolutely no access to a vet clinic or any veterinary equipment, which is not a very professional scenario for a supposedly professional educator who is maintaining exotic animals. At a minimum you can see about obtaining Diazepam and a fecal exam from a local vet who will not see your animals in his or her office but might prescribe drugs and run your fecals. Fecals should be repeated throughout the course of treatment with antiparasitical drugs so that you can adjust dosing and duration.

If you can't even get it together to this extent, you could always shotgun the snake with 50mg/kg each of Panacur and Flagyl plus a nutritional slurry, repeated at 4 to 7 day intervals X 3. Be quick about it as prolonged restraint is not healthy for kings, and don't put the tube down the glottis by mistake as this will kill the animal. I don't really recommend the shotgun approach, but it may be better than nothing if you really can't be bothered to do a proper job of giving veterinary care.

My personal opinion is that anyone who can't be bothered to give proper veterinary care to an animal ought not to have it at all, but in this day and age of instant gratification no one can be stopped from buying and mutilating a king cobra if they want one. Whether it will survive this kind of treatment is questionable, especially without good quality veterinary support care. A skinny, physically traumatized, parasite loaded, stressed, imported king cobra does not have a great prognosis for survival otherwise.

You can find some more detailed information on the veterinary treatment of venomous snakes at http://www.snakegetters.com

Thank you all for your responses and advice, I really appreciate the help.
My normal vet is a 3 hour drive away from me; she is an excellent vet who is very experienced with exotics. My local vet will not see venomous snakes in his office but will make house calls or prescribe appropriate medications if needed. I bought the King as a captive born Indo/Tia mix. I was told that kings grow quickly and go through a thin stage as they grow. I received a copy of a receipt that Bruce got from the vet that he used for the procedure. This was a simple receipt and could have been forged but, I would like to believe that it was not. All of my venomoids except for this one was done by Rich Richey. He does not do hack jobs and I trust his work and care taken to keep the animal as comfortable as possible.

As far as the venomoid issue, my local animal control guys, which I try to keep a good working relationship with do not harass me as much because they feel safer knowing that I am a knowledgeable professional and in the event of a dropped cage or God forbid an accidental escape, no children or otherwise would (relatively) be harmed by the snake. I do not make handling snakes look cool or neat is any way. It is simply hard to show the animal and all of its small but interesting adaptations and body parts if it is in a small cage. It is also much more personal and a child is much more likely to walk away absorbing more information if they are stimulated or interested. I always end my shows using a western diamondback that is very “nippy” and show exactly why it is not a good idea to handle venomous snakes. I handle all my snakes as if they are venomous while in the show.

I’ll try to catch a few small Texas rat snakes to offer her live and see if I can get a food response. I normally would not consider feeding wild caught food items to my captive animals due to the parasite and disease transfer rate. Do any of you have a better idea on getting her to start feeding.

The pictures that Bruce sent me are to large to add into this thread. I'm not sure how to compress the pictures to fit, so if anyone can help me again I'd Appreciate it.

Thanks again for the help.

Jeff

Originally Posted by atroxman

All of my venomoids except for this one was done by Rich Richey. He does not do hack jobs and I trust his work and care taken to keep the animal as comfortable as possible.

Last I heard, Rich Richey was NOT a vet, and he performed the surgeries HIMSELF. That would make him a hacker, and his snakes hack-jobs. That would also make his practices illegal. Same with his protege Kevin Smith.

Ok, I'll agree with you. He has been performing the surgery for "I think" around 20 yrs, under clinical conditions. You are correct he is not a vet, though he is very knowledgeable and good at what he does.

But, we are getting off subject. The real issue here is a poor snakes and friends life. The Cobra is in an appropriate sized cage with multiple hiding places and a small mounted tree to climb on.

Jeff

Originally Posted by atroxman

The real issue here is a poor snakes and friends life. The Cobra is in an appropriate sized cage with multiple hiding places and a small mounted tree to climb on.

*sigh* As much as I ethically object to your decision to have this snake tortured and mutilated by Bruce "Hackjob" Eisenmann, who is known to forge documents and has a criminal record, I will help this animal if I can. In my opinion, owners who torture and mutilate valuable animals deserve the financial loss when the mistreated animals die. But the snake never deserved any of this, so let's see what we can do about it. And hopefully you will now know better than to buy hacked up venomoids from butchers.

I have no confidence any so called veterinary certifications that he might have, given his past record of producing extremely creative fictional paperwork in regards to the snakes he is selling. Search on the BOI for his name and you will see examples of his past paperwork forgery as well as his criminal record. By the time you get done reading, you will be sorry you ever did business with this guy. Actually I'm sure you are already.

If you like, PM me your phone number and your vet's information, and I'll start the process of getting your vet in touch with the zoo vets I've worked with who have extensive experience with kings.

Originally Posted by atroxman

Ok, I'll agree with you. He has been performing the surgery for "I think" around 20 yrs, under clinical conditions. You are correct he is not a vet, though he is very knowledgeable and good at what he does.

But, we are getting off subject. The real issue here is a poor snakes and friends life. The Cobra is in an appropriate sized cage with multiple hiding places and a small mounted tree to climb on.

Jeff

You are admitting to knowingly commisioning an unqualified person (non-veterinarian) to perform illegal procedures on animals which constitutes animal abuse and cruelty. That in effect makes you an accessory to criminal behavior. I would be very careful about my future dealings with Mr. Richey if I were you.

Oh, and to clarify, "being careful about future dealings" translates to "don't do business with".

Well I just tried a Texas rat snake with no success, I'll Waite a few more days and try feeding her again. You all are correct in stating that venomoids are not a sure thing. A 2% chance of duct regrowth exists with all adenectomy procedures. Simply put the venomoid surgery is not an absolute in any case. With educational animals venomoids are used quite frequently. Even many of your favorite television herp entertainers use venomoid snakes that they place under a rock or tree and then pretend to find a great catch. Haven't you ever wondered why these shows are almost always able to find nice big specimens of rare and difficult snakes? The object is to educate with as little risk to the handler and audience as possible.