Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Do your young bullsnakes tend to go off feed during the winter even if kept warm?

skronkykong and both have this happen but it seems somewhat strange to me since none of my sd gophers ever did this.

I'm sort of worried so could a few more of you ease my concerns?

yes, that's fairly common but can be an individual thing. better to stop trying to feed it & lower it's temps for a month or so. it'll resume feeding w/ gusto if cycled this way.......

It's more of an individual thing for me also. If they detect a shorter light cycle (ex. window), then they may go into a fast and brumate themselves somewhat. Just go ahead and cycle them for a month or so. They'll be just as big as any others.

Scott Robinson

San Diego gopher snakes have a range that is pretty warm year-round don't they? Makes sense that they would be less likely to brumate or go off feed in a season that isn;t very seasonal at all in their native habitat. As for bull snakes, their range is much more temperate, with areas of real winters. I have a WC black rat from central Oklahoma and last winter he stoped feeding in October and resumed in April -- this year, his second winter in my care, he's churning along fine taking a mouse every week. You might find that once your bull(s) is/are acclimated to 12 months of fairly constant temps, they'll pick up winter feeding fine -- but as the previous poster said, it won't hurt them at all to fast for a few month either.

I should say mine never stop eating completely for months at a time. Some are just a little less exciting about food than usual and may skip every other week. While some others (like my snow) don't seem to care what time of year it is. She'd eat her cage probably if I scented it right!