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I wonder if my alterna is behaving normally or not. A quick history: She is about 32 inches, and has good body weight. I have had her since August and she has never refused a meal until 3 weeks ago. She was stayed put in her warm hide for several days, then shed. Still not interested in eating so I gave her time to finish digesting her last meal and turned off her UTH. I don't have a separate room for brumation, but her tank is near the floor and about 62 degrees. What seems strange to me is that she is out cruising her cage frequently. I certainly don't want to offer a meal since I have cooled her.

Does this seem strange or have others observed the same behavior? In the past when I have brumated corn snakes, they mostly stayed hidden the whole time.

Thanks.
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Kent

0.1 Hypomelanistic striped cornsnake
1.0 Lavender cornsnake
1.2 Gray-banded kingsnakes, blairs phase
0.0.15 brown anoles

>>I wonder if my alterna is behaving normally or not. A quick history: She is about 32 inches, and has good body weight. I have had her since August and she has never refused a meal until 3 weeks ago. She was stayed put in her warm hide for several days, then shed. Still not interested in eating so I gave her time to finish digesting her last meal and turned off her UTH. I don't have a separate room for brumation, but her tank is near the floor and about 62 degrees. What seems strange to me is that she is out cruising her cage frequently. I certainly don't want to offer a meal since I have cooled her.
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>>Does this seem strange or have others observed the same behavior? In the past when I have brumated corn snakes, they mostly stayed hidden the whole time.

Kent,
It is not unusual for Alterna to cruise the cage at low temps...I've had Mex Mex and Thayeri up looking around in the 40s and 50s....They are a montane-like species and do fine in cool temps.....As long as she has good body weight 62F is "cool" enough to shut down her metabolism and give her a "brumation"....I would cover her with something so that she has minimal light....This will also give her the light cycle needed for a correct brumation.....
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

Thanks John. I'll cover her up and not worry about her, except to change her water. Is it advised to refrain from handling during brumation?

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Kent

0.1 Hypomelanistic striped cornsnake
1.0 Lavender cornsnake
1.2 Gray-banded kingsnakes, blairs phase
0.0.15 brown anoles

>>Thanks John. I'll cover her up and not worry about her, except to change her water. Is it advised to refrain from handling during brumation?

Kent....Nice looking Grayband BTW....
I would refrain from handling as it will warm her up and her metabolism will kick in. Then she will either need food or start loosing weight....

Also...If she is refusing to eat and you are just cooling her since she "shut down" for the winter you will not need to cool her all the way until March.....If you wanted to possibly breed her next year I would recommend cooling in total darkness until then....So....Warm her back up in February and see if she'll start feeding again. She'll be fine....She looks as though she isn't a problem feeder....She had to eat well to get to the size she is....
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

I bought her a reptile show and guy said she is an '08, and gave me the feeding records. She started feeding on pinks last fall and fed steadily through the winter spring and summer, to get to the size she is now. I also got a pair of '08s that had been brumated their first winter, so they are much smaller, and eating large pinkies. I am not going to cool them as long they continue eating.
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Kent

0.1 Hypomelanistic striped cornsnake
1.0 Lavender cornsnake
1.2 Gray-banded kingsnakes, blairs phase
0.0.15 brown anoles

By the way, the small pair that I have are growing nicely. Is it possible the male would produce sperm next spring if he is not brumated? I would consider pairing him with the larger female that I have.
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Kent

0.1 Hypomelanistic striped cornsnake
1.0 Lavender cornsnake
1.2 Gray-banded kingsnakes, blairs phase
0.0.15 brown anoles