Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am brumating my 09 bulls which basically went off feed in late October, after eating enthusiastically all summer. They were born in May. I put them into brumation in mid November so they would not lose weight. They are doing fine, not having lost weight, and are in good health.
My question is: how soon can I take them out of brumation and expect a good feeding response? Could I warm them up now or wait until February as originally planned? Since they are photosensitive, will the longer days in February make a big difference in the feeding response?

It sounds as if you have more problems than just coming out of brumation. For them to have stopped feeding, after doing well indicates that you had a temp fluctuation or something of the sort. Be sure and monitor and correct any husbandry concerns before you bring them up.

But to answer your question, in the past when we have have hard feeders 45 - 60 days has sufficed to get them started again.

Good Luck

John Cherry
Cherryville Farms

Cherryville Farms

Thanks for the reply!
The temperature did drop some in October versus September, but the big difference seemed to be the length of day. Indoors in their habitats there was not that great a change in temperature. The nights got cooler but the snakes had consistent warm spots in their hides. The male went off feed first. I would not have bothered with brumation but he also was restless and started to lose weight. I wanted to prevent any further weight loss. He is fine now.

When I warm them up I will make sure the habitats are suitably warm as well with no weird temperature fluctuations. Many of my pyros and gophers have stopped eating for the winter but he is the only one who concerned me with the restless behavior and weight loss. Everyone else is fine. When I warm the bulls up I will also duplicate the spring light cycle.

I have an 08 Bull that quit eating Sept. 15th, I finally cooled him Nov. 6th but he just climbed around his cage for a month, so I decided to warm him up Dec 13th, and 2 weeks later he was back to chowing on rats! The year before he went on a hunger strike for 7 weeks, but I never cooled him...

My male was a bit restless the first few weeks of brumation, moving about in his tub, but then he settled down and has been quiet. His sister has been quiet the whole time in brumation.

Cooling snakes in southwestern Arizona is a real challenge since all I have to work with are December and January. Even so, we have strings of days in the low 70s where my snakes do some cruising. Tough too when you have individuals going off feed in September and October. Need an insulated, climate controlled container just for that purpose here. Is there something commercially available that would serve as a snake "cooler" for those of us in warm places?

Wine chillers work really well for people that can't have a cold room. The ones that are like a beer fridge they just don't get as cold.

Jeremy
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Bigger, meaner, rarer, hot.