Posted by:
Jeff Hardwick
at Fri Feb 17 09:32:27 2006 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Jeff Hardwick ]
There's 2 reasons an otherwise healthy male milk will abruptly stop feeding: lust and "winter".
It's a bit late in the season for the snake to notice that it should be cooling/brumating but the tropical milks seem to not notice seasonal change as well as N.A. milks. I'm assuming it's not a North American milk.
Then the lust part: it's a male and if the snake is wearing down a track in the cage, he's actively searching for a female and will forego feeding for 'some time' (it varies from snake to snake, 1 month up to 6 months)and this will pass eventually but offer a small meal every couple weeks. (How else would you know he's back to feeding?) And no, a quick hook up with a friends female will not magically end his driven lust.
So what to do??
Is the snake very active and prowling the cage more than usual?
>this would suggest he's in breeding mode.
Is he simply sitting in the hide and was not cooled this winter?
>find a cool, dark, place to store him for a couple months. Just below 70 will do fine (assuming you're not breeding)provide water, a place to hide, and keep the temps above 45 or so.
Why bother cooling at all?
If he's refusing to feed for several months and remains at approx 80 degrees, he continues to use energy and will lose weight, sometimes to a crisis point (see the Campbelli in the post below). The cooling drops the snakes metabolism and preserves his stored energy/fat until 'spring'.
Odd that you haven't had this experience in the past couple years....Jeff
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RE: milk snake feeding problem - Jeff Hardwick, Fri Feb 17 09:32:27 2006