About hibernation, its not necessary for us to force that on them. But it is necessary that the snakes work from a cool base.



This is a point that may be missed. Its not the cold all the time part of hibernation that supports reproduction. Its the ability to conserve energy needed to reproduce. Then cool areas with the choice of suitable heat, is what supports reproduction.



In nature, in much of the natural range of kings, they do not hibernate "solidly" like many keepers force them to do.



Recently there have been some observations of what goes on inside winter dens in the northern parts of the U.S. What was a surprise was, the snakes were active in the dens, that is, they constantly moved around.



What I see here in nature is, denning snakes rarely feed in the winter, But it does happen on occasion. Also, reproductive snakes rarely feed until after they finish with the reproductive process. But again, on ocassion they do.



Most individuals in nature do not return to the reproductive areas(dens) unless their condition supports reproduction. So you would not expect them to require food.



In captivity, low base temps in the upper fifties to the lower seventies is needed for reproductive individuals, with the ability to gain heat as needed, works wonders and if supported with additional food, multiclutching is normal.



This also occurs in nature. All the snakes we find work from a base of cool, and move to heat as needed. This is at any and all times of the year.



Of course there are places where it gets so hot that cool temps are not available. In that case, reproduction stops completely and foraging is the activity of the day. If it gets too hot, then snakes again shut down.



So no, even natural snakes do not actually hibernate(cease activity) not the breeders. And do everything in their power to avoid that. They move to the areas with the most available heat for as long as they can.



About pyros and sexual dimorphism. In most cases, the larger individuals are males, that is true. But not in all cases, two of the largest individual pyros I have found in the field have been females. But large females are rare to find. Consider, the females spend very little time on the surface.



Females of many species behave differently then males. They do seem to be the sex that determines where the colonies will be located. That is, females pick the sites as to where they live, reproduce and lay eggs. The males follow the females to these sites.



Which offers the hint that males have a much more generalized ability to exsist. That is, they do not need the exact requirements of females(in nature)THE FEMALES SET THE CONDITIONS.



When folks talk about longevity, I like to request those folks to check the sexes. How many females set longevity records????? In fact, how many females even live half as long as males in captivity?? Yet in nature, females seem to live as long as males.



This is going to sound bad and it is, but I developed my husbandry protocals for the females and the females only. Males, awwwwwww they can sit in a box in the corner, hahahahahahahahahahaha Its true, if you tuned your husbandry towards the females and offered conditions where they blossomed then you would not see the males dominating them.



Normally, under suitable conditions, both sexes grow at the same rate, then the females cycle, and turn their energy to reproduction, while the males continue to grow.



Again, what happens here is, WE the keeper sets a regime and then say, these do this and that. I believe it would be more accurate to allow them the ability to pick their own regime and then tell you what they are capable of doing.



In this case, if female pyros are not progessing so well, then I would adjust my husbandry to address that. Cheers

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