Hi everyone,
I recently brought home a hatchling California Kingsnake on 23rd July, 2026, kept inside a small acrylic box with water bowl and hide, and am looking for feedback on my setup, cooling strategies, and feeding timeline. I live in South East Asia where ambient summer/monsoon room temperatures are currently reaching 32.9°C (91°F).
Timeline & Context:
Last Fed: Approximately 20 days ago on 24th July 2026
Offered food again on July 30, 2026 but refused
Again offered pinky on 2nd August 2026, it bit it and then left it with its saliva all around the pinky
August 08, 2026: Offered a live semi, conscious pinky but did not show interest
August 09,2026: Snake was transferred to my Seller’s box (a small black box in which he gave me the snake) as per the seller’s suggestion and tried to give it plain water soak.
Tuesday, August 11: Snake was transferred to its old acrylic enclosure, briefly handled to adjust the setup and install a new, dark plastic hide.
Wednesday, August 12 (Today): Tub temperature spiked to 32.9°C; active cooling measures implemented.
Friday, August 14: Planned first feeding attempt in the evening (buying fresh pinky, placing outside hide overnight).
Saturday & Sunday, August 15–16: Planned 48-hour post-feeding digestion lockdown (Note: Supplier is closed Sunday, Aug 16, and Aug 15 is a local holiday, which is why Friday was chosen).
Current Setup Details:
Enclosure: Clear acrylic tub with top and side ventilation holes, elevated on a thermocol sheet off a stone floor. Three sides covered with black paper for security.
Substrate & Decor: Flat paper towels, dark tight plastic hide on one end, small water bowl on the opposite end.
Heating/Cooling: No heat mat used due to high ambient room temperatures. Cooling via a room fan blowing across a damp cloth on the lid (evaporative cooling) and a towel-wrapped ice bottle pressed against one outer wall.
Questions for the Community:
Temperature Gradient in High Ambient Heat: Given my peak room temp hit 32.9°C on Aug 12, what are the safest non-electrical methods to reliably keep a cool zone at 25°C–26°C inside a tub setup without over-saturating humidity?
Feeding Timeline (Friday, Aug 14 Attempt): Since the snake was handled on Aug 11 and experienced heat stress on Aug 12, is offering a warm pinky on Friday night, Aug 14 (leaving it overnight outside the hide) enough time for stress levels to drop, or should I wait longer despite it being 20+ days off food?
Feeding Technique: For a timid, heat-stressed hatchling colubrid, is leaving stationary prey outside the hide overnight safer than wiggling with tongs? or should i offer live pinky or freshly-killed pinky?
Sleer is also very inexperienced as he is just an importer and kind of reseller. He does not have much experience
General Setup Feedback: Any additional tweaks to improve security or thermal stability in a tropical climate?
Thanks in advance for your insights!
Put her in a small, ventilated container with a f/t mouse the same girth as the snake. The container should be so small that the snake can’t ignore the mouse. Place in a dark, quiet place, and don’t peek for at least two hours. Do this just after sunset. Let me know if this doesn’t work.
You really need to find a cooler place for your setup. Excessive heat is damaging or lethal. Good luck!
@repprett11 Welcome from so far away! Now. You are way overthinking and worrying for nothing. @deanaii Dean can guide you through this. Kings are great eaters, sometimes even a bit aggressive eaters. Your little guy will be just fine as long as you make any and all adjustments per the advice given.
So glad you are here! I don’t have as much experience with king snakes as Dean and others here have. I do have 1 but it’s fairly young. You are getting solid advice! Relax!
@deanaii@caron thanks for your nice words and helping me. We don’t have snake expert vets in this part so it’s very hard for me. But I am fighting for my little friend.
@deanaii I tried your method last night in deli cup but it didn’t touch the brained pinky even after two hours.
However today morning I felt the snake skin loose. Please see the attached pic. It was very weak and hardly moving. I have it water soak for 15 minutes at 8 am today morning. Things done so far are given below:
Incident & Current Symptoms
Refused Food: The hatchling refused its scheduled deli cup feeding last night.
Physical Condition: Upon physical inspection, its skin feels noticeably loose and wrinkled to the touch, indicating significant fluid loss.
Current Behavior: The snake has become extremely quiet and inactive. It is currently remaining completely still inside its secondary hide.
Treatment & Current Enclosure Setup
Active Hydration (Soak): Given the visible dehydration, I initially performed a temporary room-temperature water soak to encourage fluid intake and vent absorption.
Microclimate & Substrate: It is currently resting inside a dark cardboard hide lined with wrung-out damp sphagnum moss to maintain high localized humidity without forcing the snake into open water. A plastic hide with moss is also available on the opposite side.
Temperature & Ventilation: I have positioned a wrapped ice bottle over the top of the tub lid directly above the active cardboard hide to lower the internal temperature to a cool target of 25°C–27°C (77°F–80°F). Roughly 75% of the lid vents are covered to trap ambient humidity (aiming for 60%+ overall).
Intervention Protocol: The enclosure is kept dark and completely quiet. Handling, misting, active bathing, and further feeding attempts have been completely halted to prevent physical shock and energy depletion.
Given the current setup and symptoms, I would appreciate any additional insights on monitoring its physical recovery over the next 48 to 72 hours.
These things are difficult to assess and attempt to remedy when the snake is here with me, so it’s much more difficult remotely. You did the right thing with the hydration bath.
The snake doesn’t look near death or even markedly underweight, so I’m not sure how to interpret your report of loose skin. Hatchlings that fail to thrive DO get loose, usually crinkly skin as if the snake needs to shed but can’t due to low energy.
If the snake were here, I’d be force-feeding large mouse tails coated in Critical Care Carnivore formula to try to stimulate appetite and provide an energy boost.
@deanaii should I give it daily hydration bath now for 3-4 days? Should I mix anything like electrolyte or any energy booster formula in its water? Or repeated soak might spike stress or corticosterone? I am no expert in force feeding…what can I do now? Am I going to loose him?
So Dean, since the snake does appear to be of a good weight for now do you think it might be better if @repprett11 continues to offer the food to the snake the same way as before at least for a couple times more instead of changing anything, so as not to stress the snake, as well as continuing the soaks? I believe the soaks/hydration might very well help with the snakes appetite…..
Thanks @caron yes this one is available in my country from Amazon. But it will take two weeks to reach me. However, my question is whether I should go for water soak again tomorrow and day after tomorrow? Will that be helpful for it or not?
I asked this same question to Google Gemini AI tool and it said that soak might increase its blood corticosterone level as per latest research and that would decrease its appetite level. So I am confused and I don’t trust Ai much. I need experienced human suggestions. There is no reptile vet in my area. That’s another problem. I feel helpless and I don’t know what else I could do.
Well I think a lukewarm soak a couple days per week for a couple of weeks or even 1 week will not hurt at all. You can limit the soaks to about 15 minutes. I do not trust AI but I am not saying you should not trust it either. Soaks can help with other things too like the shedding process and the elimination process.
I would not recommend soaking on a daily basis however. As far as the electrolyte product goes, I have read positive feedback in posts here in the past where keepers/breeders have used this product on non eating ball pythons and it seemed to stimulate their appetites. But I myself can’t attest to that.
That being said, I don’t think the product could hurt your king and may in fact help with his overall health. However I would not want you to spend your money and it not create any appetite in him. So I am leaving it up to you.
I’m am going to bank on the fact that he’s going to eat in the next couple of weeks. So offer his food in the same way you did. Do not offer any LESS than 5 days apart so as not to stress him.
Above all, do not stress yourself over this either. Snakes, even babies, can go quite a while without eating. My rosy baby didn’t eat for 2 months after I got him. Now he’s a powerhouse. You’re doing amazing for him. However nature can have other intentions sometimes and if this is the case? well, you are doing your best. But I don’t think this is the case here.
Your little one should have security on both warm and cool ends. Also you can fill in the empty space in between with fake greenery or empty toilet paper rolls or both so it can move from one end to the other end of the enclosure and still feel safe…..
No, not daily. Maybe the day before feeding attempts. I like the idea of an electrolyte booster. Something like this for the bath:
Don’t ask AI reptile questions. FYI.
in all honesty, I worry that there is something wrong with this snake. A kingsnake with no appetite is a rare thing. Have you tried assist-feeding? You can use a small rod object to open the mouth and then push a very small pink as far back into the mouth and throat as you can in hopes that he starts drawing it in and swallowing it himself.
Yeah, I think that would be ok if the snake is not in steep decline. I don’t like the loose skin talk even if the photo looks ok.
Sometimes you can do everything and fail. I have a non-feeder that is over a year old now. She ate voluntarily on a couple of very far apart occasions, but decided eating wasn’t her thing.
There’s never been a better time to be a beginner. There are lots of videos. I’m the worst force feeder I know at my experience level. But I still have to do it sometimes.
