Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My adult Brooks has refused two feeding attempts a week apart. He comes out and smells the mouse and crawls around with some enthusiasm, but he won't take the mouse.

I live in NC and it's gotten cold outside. I keep the snake in a well-heated Boaphile Plastics cage and his temps and humidity are fine. There are no other snakes in his room.

Do Brooks sometimes go "off feed" based on season like some other snakes do? I have mice from a new source--I wonder if this could be it. I smelled the thawed mouse and it smelled a little "dead" if you know what I mean.

Thanks for your advice,

Scott

>>My adult Brooks has refused two feeding attempts a week apart. He comes out and smells the mouse and crawls around with some enthusiasm, but he won't take the mouse.
>>
>>I live in NC and it's gotten cold outside. I keep the snake in a well-heated Boaphile Plastics cage and his temps and humidity are fine. There are no other snakes in his room.
>>
>>Do Brooks sometimes go "off feed" based on season like some other snakes do? I have mice from a new source--I wonder if this could be it. I smelled the thawed mouse and it smelled a little "dead" if you know what I mean.
>>
>>Thanks for your advice,
>>
>>Scott

I hear rumor some kings do but I've never had a king "shutdown" for winter..... I think it has something to do with your geography and husbandry techniques....
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

This..
I think it has something to do with your geography and husbandry techniques....
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www.Bluerosy.com

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So...it may be that his feeding habits have been impacted by the change in temps outside? Even though his cage is set up with belly heat and a heat panel, both on a thermostat, I suppose that the cycling would change a bit with the ambient room temps lower than in the summer?

No. Floridas are not usualy effected by this. Especially a captive born one.

It is hard to determine w/o knowing or seeing the set up and husbandry you have.
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www.Bluerosy.com

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I assume he a fairly new addition?
If so, how long have you had him?
I asusme he is a male?
Did you change substrate recenty?
What is the hot spot temp?
Are you using a light?
How was his feeding before this?
How big is he?
Has he been cycled before or bred before?

If "he' is a male. Then i would not worry unless he is thin. Most likly he will start feeding in a month . Just trun off the heat and put him in a cold room (40-55F). You can also use a sweater box for cooling if the Boaphile cage is to large or cumbersome.

ultimatly it would be best to put him in a cold room (40-55F) and leave the heat strip on one end so he can thermoregulate. That is how i keep my Floridas. Since you live in a colder climate . Maybe you can do this.

But the simple solution would be, is to cool him so that he consrves calories.

As far as the mice. Well, you cam always try a live mouse. If he refuses that. Then you know it was the new mice you got.
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www.Bluerosy.com

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Thanks!

As long as he's not sick, he'll probbaly eat in a weak or so. He may be going into shed or something temperary. They usually eat like sharks, but sometimes they skip. Has he been weezing or sitting with his mouth slightly open at all?
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

All snakes, hmmmm reptiles stop feeding when usable temps drop below a certain level.

I think the problem your having is air temps, snakes are less effected by air temps then mass temps.

When it gets cooler out, the mass cools off where the snake is, even if the air is normal.

In the field we use rectal temps and are almost never the same as air temps. They are most closely related to mass or ground temps.

Most of the time when this occurs, your situation, if you checked the ground temps they would be cooler then you think. Cheers

"In the field we use rectal temps"

hee-hee..hmm-heee....he said rectal!

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

What temps are you keeping them at? I've had a few go off feeding durining cold winter, but I just kicked up the temps a little and that seemed to do the trick. Try feeding them at different times of the day and night and put the snake and mouse in a papper bag. This gives them a feeling of security and
this seems to work preety good. Remember all snakes have different peronalitis. So try differnt methods, temps, days, nights.

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How many nuns could a nunchuck chuck if a nunchuck could chuck a nun?

Good tho have you Bro!

Scott

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How many nuns could a nunchuck chuck if a nunchuck could chuck a nun?

I suspect there are at least three variables that lead to brumation (or, in this case, "going off feed". One is lower temperatures, which you acknowledge. Another may be "instinctive," some innate sense that ties the animal's behavior to the calendar. A third is light periodicity: shorter days in winter. Does your snake room have windows? If so, there may be a sufficient change in light in the room...and the hours of lighting from outside, sensed from within the room, to put an animal off feed. When brumating my animals I gradually reduced the period the automatic lights in my snake room were illuminated until they were either off all day or, because I wanted a brief period they could see to find water, down to maybe half an hour or an hour a day. I think that brief period was necessary for my peace of mind, but not for the snakes'. And in the spring, before days had fully lengthened, i'd increase the artificial lighting (my snake room had no windows) until there were 15 hours of light daily. At the same time, of course, I had raised the heat, and begun to feed.
Just some thoughts for you to ponder as you consider what's going on with your brooks.

I'd try another source for the feeder mice. The mice should not smell decayed. When I harvest mice for freezing I let the bodies cool in a cardboard soda flat box before bagging and freezing. If the fresh killed mice are still warm when bagged they can start to decay before they freeze hard enough. In the summer when it is warm I will put the cardboard tray in the refrigerator so the bodies can lose the body heat. Once cooled they can be bagged and frozen.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

I have found that light cycle can have an affect as well. Reduced hours of daylight may trigger the response.

Not to confuse the issue more, but I say lower the temps except for one heat pad basking spot. The snake will decide what it wants. And if that is no food, then no food. At least when you offer some cool temps the snake can avoid burning calories fast when not feeding.