Reptile & Amphibian Forums

She ran away 3 mos ago, but only made it about 10 feet out the patio door. Went behind some storage blankets and has been hibernating since!!She was on cement, and its been chilly here for a while at night. Anyway, I had to put her in a tiny plastic tank, ( about 5gal) Bc she can get out of the old setup, but since she has been cold for 3 mos, do I feed her a mouse now?? She did have a shed where she was hanging out. Also, just how do I hibernate her?? Do I feed her during winter?? Do I just make her a comfy house and let her sleep the winter away??....Thanks

First off, ball pythons don't hibernate. Winter time is their breeding season. Depending on whether or not yours is an adult or a young one it may stop eating during this time. Adults typically do. Those under a year or two sometimes continue to eat throughout the winter.

If you aren't breeding her this season it's probably a good idea to keep the temps as you normally do and continue to feed her. I would suggest giving her a few days to get used to being home again before feeding though. Someone else here may have better info for you. Good luck.

Quig
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Don't interupt me when I'm talkin' to myself

Like the previous reply said, ball pythons don't hibernate during the winter, they go off feed for breeding season. What you want to do since yours has been outside in the elements and the cold, is keep her warm and after about a week start offering her regular sized meals again. Keep her warm (85 on the cool side) and keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't catch anything (mites or a cold or lord knows what). See if you can get her to eat whatever she was eating before she escaped, a mouse, rat, whatever. You'll probably also want to soak her to make sure she's not dehydrated from her stint outside, 3 months is a long time to be without a guaranteed source of clean water.

After a week or two you should hopefully be back to normal

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.0.1 california kingsnake (tetris)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

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