Reptile & Amphibian Forums

There seems to be an increasing number of posts recently, on several of the forums, from folks who suddenly are having problems getting their snakes to eat (or at least are seeing a substantial dropoff in appetite). I've seen it myself in the past few weeks with a couple of my snakes, all of which usually are good eaters. Some of the posted replies have indicated that this is often the case in late summer, apparently due to the arrival of shorter days. But I don't recall this trend being so apparent in previous years, nor do my feeding records show a significant decrease in feeding rates at this time in earlier years.

Is this decrease in appetite in fact a "normal" late-season occurrence, driven perhaps by an internal clock (telling them the days are getting shorter, so start slowing down the metabolism)?
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MichaelB

Mine aren't slowing down...yet...but they will be soon. I think a combination of factors, including temperatures, makes a big difference. If it is still hot where you live and you don't keep your house cold (air conditioned) during the summer, feeding may still be strong. If you tend to keep a cool house all year, or if your inside temps are starting to cool down, then the combination of that and the shorter days could mean a slowdown in feeding. If your snakes are healthy and well-fed, I wouldn't worry if there are no other problems.
Duffy

My boa does this... Despite temps remaining the same throughout. This past winter from November until May I was lucky to get 2 meals into him. In May he started packing down the rats again though... I've heard alot of people say things like that about their snakes.. it probably is normal in some ways and situations.

Thanks for the replies. I think there's something to the shortening of the days, but I also wonder if a second breeding season has something to do with it. (Some species have a second late breeding season, probably right around now.) There's also been a recent break in the weather here - the summer heat is off, and we've had some much-needed heavy rainfall to break a long dry spell.

But, in my case, I'm happy to report that the two that stopped eating last week turned up blue today. So it may not be the weather or the season after all, at least in my case!
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MichaelB