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I have a rat snake that i caught from the wild and i kept it. I have had it for a couple of months now and it eats fine, f/t or live. I was wondering when i should stop feeding it and let it enter hibernation and what the temps should be when i do. I am new to rat snakes and i was wondering if they needed anything different than corn snakes when the enter hibernation or if i need to do anything differently because it is wild.
Kyle
If your snake is a black rat, gray rat, yellow rat, or one of the other subspecies of Elaphe (= Pantherophis) obsoleta, then treat it like a corn snake. The two species have a pretty wide overlap in ranges, so the climate conditions during winter will be similar to identical. And, IMHO, the secret to successful brumation for captive snakes is to mimic the temperature and humidity conditions that a wild snake encounters. Good luck.
Paul Hollander
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