Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all, I just got my first bull this year and know that some of them stop eating during the winter. Mine has not eaten for about a month. I know some people turn off their heatpads or lights and just let the cage go cold. Is that the correct thing to do. My house frequently gets down to around 55 degrees. Would it be harmful to turn off the heat to the cage? And should i keep offering food weekly or just wait until a certain point. Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks

how old is your bull? I feel they need to really put on great weight before turning off the heat and "winterizing" them. I'd keep the heat on and offer food every 4 or 5 days, making sure they get enough to eat. If you're not gonna breed it, why put it down? If it refuses food for 3 or 4 consecutive feedings, then I might consider giving it a "nap" of 4-6 weeks without the heat. Then turn on the heat and let it warm a few days and see if it eats. Pics please!

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Todd Hughes

Thanks for the advice. I cannot be positive about the age but ive had him for about 5 months and he is now around 26 inches. He was between 16 and 18 inches when i got him in may, so im guessin hes about 7 months old. This will be his first winter.

MHO...

My guess would be that he hatched in summer or fall of 2008 based on his size in May of 2009. This is likely the little guy's second winter.

It is not uncommon for a snake's endocrine system to que on day length (photo period) and experience some seasonal changes in feeding behavior. If and when this happens all the heat and adjusted light cycles seem to be of little use getting them to feed w/o cycling.

Where do you live? The farther north you live the shorter the days...... and if your snake has access to natural light such as a window within view of the enclosure the more likely this is to occur.

You can try to force him by keeping the temps warm and supplying a longer day light or let him cool. Cooling is not a bad idea, (and you may ultimately not have much choice). If he has some good body weight you can fiddle around with both options. Just don't wait too long to finally cool him because all the time that you are keeping him up he will be loosing wt. that he needs to overwinter, and the warmer he is the more kcals he will be burning.

Remember that if and when you cool him darkness is as important as temp. so throw a big blanket over his enclosure and stick him in a dark cool closet......

good luck

totally agree with Mr. G., if you cool it, it should be dark, and be sure it has access to clean drinking water.
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Todd Hughes

I live down in south Texas on the coast so my days are still warm and the nights are not too cool yet. I will probably start my adults cooling later this year than normal, they are still feeding.

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Todd Hughes

Great pics, Todd. Love those So. Tex Pits.

reako45

thanks!
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Todd Hughes

I agree with John also...if you keep the snake to warm and it continues to refuse to feed, then the battle becomes starvation vs brumation until it starts feeding again.

Dan

Most of my snakes have decided to stop feeding since early October. I weighed everyone that had stopped eating and then put them in the brumation room. High temperatures will make their metabolism rev too high, hence causing too much weight loss if they are not eating. I still have three young adults who are consistently eating, and those I am not brumating. Also have five August hatching gophers which are still feeding, so am not brumating them, either. Weighing them on the gram scale helps me keep track, and avoid anybody getting too thin. Just eye balling the snakes doesn't work for me.