Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone,

I have a pair of E.conicus, which I've been keeping for about a year and a half now.

The male, a young adult, usually feeds once in every 1-2 months, and right now he's been fasting for about 4.5 months.

The female, who should be about 2 years old, used to feed once a week. After about 9 months she started taking adult mice, and got down to one meal per month. It seems her feeding frequency continues to decline: she hasn't eaten anything since mid October, and the last time she ate before that was in early July.

I know that different species of snakes have different feeding patterns; I just have no experience with Eryx, so I wanted to hear some advice.

Does the feeding pattern I described here sound normal? Any information on this issue is welcome.

I don't think this is unusual. Male conicus may only eat 10 times a year in some cases. They seem fine with this. If you are concerned, try offering the male a pile a live pinkies at night. Sometimes the stimulation of finding a "nest" will trigger a big eating event.

Females are usually more predicatable, but they could be slowing down for the winter.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Thanks Chris,
And what would you consider to be a typical feeding frequency for an adult female E.conicus (during the summer and during the winter)?

I don't have conicus anymore, but I used to feed mine 2-3 times per month during the active season and cut back to 1-2 times per month in the winter. For females who were going to be bred or were gravid, I would offer small meals more often (once a week or so).
My females generally ate every feeding and my males probably only ate once a month. I never worried about it.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas