Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a question about snakes hibernating. If they do not come out of their hiding spot and are not eating, this is generally hibernation right? But if you are still holding them everyother day, does this disturb their cycle? Will it cause them to go into hibernation even longer? Would this be a problem to my snake not eating?

snakes don't hibernate, however they do go through a cooling down period during colder winter months. they basically coil up and don't move till it starts to warm up. i am not even sure it wo uld be called brumation, as some lizards go through.

however, i suggest do you do not handle your snakes while they are being cooled. all you should do is check on them once a week to make sure they are not dropping weight fast and make sure they have fresh water. once you are finished cooling t hem, then bring up the temperatures to their normal levels for each species, then after a week or two, offer food.

What do you mean by cooling period? I have the temp go up to 90 degrees at the highest during the day in the middle of the tank? Is that not a high enough temp for the tank? Or is that too high? Could that be a reason for my snake not eating?

90 decrees is high enough. from your earlier post it sounded like you were asking if snakes hibernate. there are many reasons why a snake won't eat. a ball python often don't eat for many reasons. a healthy ball python can fast for months with no ill effects.

as i am not sure what kind of python you have, how long you have had it, etc, harder to say why it's not eating. how long has it not been eating and has it ever eaten for you? what are you offering it food wise?

if it's a new snake to you, frequent handling could be stressing it out, if it hasn't had time to get used to it's new surroundings. snakes generaly do spend alot of time hiding, except when they are hungry then they tend to prowl around the cage looking for food. if they are not feeling secure they will hide more. also, if not hungry or looking for food, they often stay hidden. he could also be moving around alot, but just when you are not around.

more information about the snake, it's cage, how long you had it and it's previous feeding habits, will make it easier to determine why it isn't eating at this time. also, is it a wild caught snake or one bought from a breeder?

more information about the snake, it's cage, how long you had it and it's previous feeding habits, will make it easier to determine why it isn't eating at this time. also, is it a wild caught snake or one bought from a breeder?

I will post a picture when I get my film developed of the cage and the snake itself.

I have had it for about 3 and a half months now. It has not eaten with me yet. I bought it from a pet store right.. so they didnt have too much information to give me. They dont know how old it is... or if it is wild or not.

All I know is that it is such a friendly snake and when I got it. It was in a cage with no heat lamps...ticks and a respiratory infection.

Maybe from such a drastic change it could be stressed.. but would it take this long? Maybe it went into cooling because it was colder at the petstore.

The pet store told me that it was feeding once a week, mice. It is big enough to eat a rat though.

It is about 4 feet long and 1 and a half to 2 inches in diameter at the fattest part.

When do female snakes go through their mating period where they dont eat and how long does it last? I believe this is a female because it has fairly small spurrs but I have not gotten it probed yet.

more information about the snake, it's cage, how long you had it and it's previous feeding habits, will make it easier to determine why it isn't eating at this time. also, is it a wild caught snake or one bought from a breeder?

I will post a picture when I get my film developed of the cage and the snake itself.

I have had it for about 3 and a half months now. It has not eaten with me yet. I bought it from a pet store right.. so they didnt have too much information to give me. They dont know how old it is... or if it is wild or not.

All I know is that it is such a friendly snake and when I got it. It was in a cage with no heat lamps...ticks and a respiratory infection.

Maybe from such a drastic change it could be stressed.. but would it take this long? Maybe it went into cooling because it was colder at the petstore.

The pet store told me that it was feeding once a week, mice. It is big enough to eat a rat though.

It is about 4 feet long and 1 and a half to 2 inches in diameter at the fattest part.

When do female snakes go through their mating period where they dont eat and how long does it last? I believe this is a female because it has fairly small spurrs but I have not gotten it probed yet.

Also when I got her, there was a lot of marks on her belly that had turned her scales orange. They looked like scratch marks from a snake.. could this incident make her afraid to eat now? The pet store told me that when they would feed it.. they would put a mouse in the cage and then just leave it in over night.