Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all,

My yearling rescued FL pine seems to be fasting before a "foreseen" brumation period. Normally a strong eater, he hasn't shown any interest in the usual f/t mouse for about 3 weeks now. I plan on trying some live mice or rat pups (he's taken both previously) tomorrow, but has anyone seen this in their pines before? He's really healthy so if he doesn't take these I might just go ahead and cool him for a while.

guess we'll see what he does with those lives tomorrow.

Van

Just a thought but maybe it's the mouse. Wwith my FL pines, not one of them has ever accepted a mouse after their first taste of rat. Picky species IMO.
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Martin Whalin
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The last rat pups I gave this one were back in September. Had a better mouse supply since so he was on those no problem.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

it's that time of the year for sure. all my snakes lost interest in food back in september [i'm in the northeast] and were brumated in early october. i only keep neonates up but sometimes even they insist on a rest too. i put them down for a much briefer period [60 days] though than the adults. try it, he'll like it!

Unless they've been overwintered before I doubt they are refusing food for that reason. I have two yearling lodingi that both ate small rats yesterday.

I would endorse the rat pup suggestion mentioned earlier and if that doesn't work, take them to a good herp vet. Depending on how often you feed them and their substrate heat, pines can develop intestinal parasites/infections that will put them off their food - and if you do plan to brumate them, you would be better off to ensure they aren't sick before you do.

99.99% of all snakes that stop feeding in mid/late november, stop for 1 reason and 1 reason only......they want to rest. of course, for $65 you can take it to a vet but he'd end up telling you the same thing.....if he's half decent, that is. to take a snake to the vet because it stopped eating in late autumn is pretty much the same thing as throwing money out the window of a speeding car......imho.

Dan, perhaps I am unique in having had good experiences with my vet.

I have never brumated yearlings and haven't had any problems with them feeding year round. Of course, I have had them fast for 2-3 weeks for no apparent reason.

Rescued yearling = from the wild.

And as it turned out, he nailed the live rat pup I put in today like it was just what he'd been waiting for. Yup, he's going to be a giant rat-wrecker for sure!

Van

Curious as to how long ago you collected it and what part of Florida you found it in, if you don't mind sharing the info.

My research advisor got a call from his neighbor back in the first week of March. Turned out it was a very small pine snake. We estimate it to be an '02 hatch.

Its from Brevard county, in the middle of Melbourne. Don't know what exactly the situation here is, as I've never found or heard of many pines in the usual areas (WMAs, parks, etc). But this is the second pine I've seen from the middle of town in about a year (the first was DOR).

Would have released this snake but what I would call the nearest suitable habitat had unhappily been bulldozed not a week before he was found. Perhaps thats why he was out in the first place. In any case, he's flourished in captivity, aside from this recent eating problem.

Van

Van.....that is really neat to hear how he is doing great in captivity!

Can you post a pic of him?

Take care!

Billy
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Genesis 1:1

Might be a few days though, I have 2 midterm exams this week. I'll try to get one up Thursday or Friday

Van