Hiya Walt,

It's not typical that a 18month old milk or king stops feeding as fall moves in, my nates are pretty oblivious BUT if you've got a couple that stopped feeding, keep them/it where they are and offer food less frequently maybe every 3 weeks or when he's out looking around. AFTER the snake has refused a few meals for 6-8 weeks, it's safe to assume he's switched off and preserving body fat is the priority.

I move mine into the basement (approx 65 now) in a small cage with a tip proof water bowl, a couple inches of bedding and a couple places to hide. Waterbowls at Target have a dandy hide built in and a sheet of cardboard on the bedding is a good 2nd hide.

The basic rules:

Assure the snake has not fed for 2-4 weeks before cooling.

Shedding before cooling neatly eliminates the possibility of dry stuck on sheds later.

Assure the snake can find the water bowl. As obvious as this sounds I'm puzzled by the number of snakes that I take out of the cooler in spring that guzzle water when I dip their snouts in a bowl.

Change the bedding, decor, etc... when you warm the snake up. The cold bedding pulls so much moisture out of the air that spores grow like mad and you may have a wheezing snake.

Keep the cold room cold. Don't freeze the snake solid but 50 degrees for your Alterna is no hardship and an occasional oops to 45 is fine. 2-4 months is the norm duration, remember to check the waterbowl every 7-14 days. They usually shed just fine in the cold room but any stuck shed can be peeled later after a 30 minute soak.

They're pretty tough critters and survive plenty of abuse in our care. Tipped waterbowls, dry waterbowls, escaped for 6 months, stored at 40 for 2 weeks, etc....Word of caution, don't cool your tropical milks (Hondos, etc..)the same way, it's too stressful and usually invites resp infections.

Hope that helps, good luck with the little rat....Jeff

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