Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all...

My cape gopher hasn't eaten for about a month now. So far as I can tell, everything in his environment is unchanged, but the temps at the cool end of his cage have dropped some, close to 68*. The warm end stays a constant 78*. I don't have any floor heat for his tank and I'm wondering if the temps of the flooring have dropped and maybe he thinks it's time to brumate? (I hadn't intended to cool him.)

I usually feed him outside the tank, but don't have any way of heating his feeding box and it gets pretty chilly in there...so I thought maybe it's just too cool to eat in there. This last time, I tried feeding him in his cage with a newspaper over the substrate. I put the mice (f/th) under his favorite hide so that he'd have no choice but to come "nose to nose" with them. A couple hours later, I found him stuffed up inside his hide, on top of the mice. (Silly snake!)

Given his size at the time of purchase (Aug of '03) we think he is probably an '02 baby. He's a bit over 2 feet long now. He seems perfectly normal. No signs of RI. He never comes out of his hide (that we see) unless we take him out. When we do, he's his usual active, amenable self.

So...what can I do to tempt him to eat again? Or should I actively cool him down and let him brumate if he's trying to do so? And if I do cool him down...what temps and for how long?

Thanks for all your help! It's a great comfort to know I can come here!

Judy

PS - BILLY...did you get the e-mail I sent you awhile ago???
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1.0 red cape gopher (Caesar)

nothing to worry about,some folks say that the snake just senses the seasonal change, others say they tell by daylight length. anyway the animal is most likely off feed for winter and should start eating mid-Feb or March

Thanks. So should I actually cool him down and stop handling him altogether? Or is it ok for him to go through his normal routine without eating for that long?

Judy
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1.0 red cape gopher (Caesar)

Before you do anything....

Are the temperatures you taking ambient temperatures of floor temperatures? Are they on the snake's level or are they up where the snake doesn't "hang out?"

MOST importantly, do you have a MAX-MIN thermometer in there? If so, what is the coolest it is getting or has gotten? If not, get some max-min thermometers and put them in there!

It is often the cold SPIKES (and not average temperatures) that triggers a snake to stop feeding. These often happen at night when you are asleep, so you can't see them without a max-min thermometer. Also, 68F is a little cold. With MANY snakes, it is the cold side that controls appetite more than the warm side. The warm side is necessary for digestion, but the cold side seems to tell the snake if the "weather" means feeding or brumating time.

Without a doubt, a max-min thermometer (or two!) is one of the MOSTR important factors to a cage set-up for reptiles, but it is also the most LEFT OUT item in most people's cages. It sucks since they would have saved a lot of snake's lives and owner's grief in my experiences.

KJ

I don't have a thermometer probe exactly on the floor of the tank, but I have my thermometers resting on the floor. One of them is leaning against his hide that he stays in on the warm side of his tank, and the other is resting against the side of the cool end of the tank. So, yes, they are on the snake's level, not measuring the air temp a few inches above him. But neither are they measuring the exact temp of the floor itself, which I do believe may have cooled off more than I expected it to.

No, I don't have a "min-max" thermometer because I have never heard of such a thing. It seems like such a critical piece of husbandry equipment would be talked about more. Thank you for mentioning it. If you tell me where I can get one, I'll do so immediately. If you don't tell me, I'll check places like Radio Shack and any other "gizmo" place I can think of. I'm assuming what you are talking about is a device that records the lowest and highest temperatures it has taken over a period of time?

Billy sent me an e-mail with some advice as well and suggested that I move the tank to a room in the house with a warmer ambient temperature. Unless I hear strongly conflicting advice, that's what I think I'll do. In my quest to not get him too warm, I may have inadvertently let him get a little too cool, but I am taking note and fixing the situation.

Thank you for your help so far. I'll keep checking to see if you or anyone else adds any other info or advice I should read.

Judy
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1.0 red cape gopher (Caesar)

>>I don't have a thermometer probe exactly on the floor of the tank, but I have my thermometers resting on the floor. One of them is leaning against his hide that he stays in on the warm side of his tank, and the other is resting against the side of the cool end of the tank. So, yes, they are on the snake's level, not measuring the air temp a few inches above him. But neither are they measuring the exact temp of the floor itself, which I do believe may have cooled off more than I expected it to.
>>
>>No, I don't have a "min-max" thermometer because I have never heard of such a thing. It seems like such a critical piece of husbandry equipment would be talked about more. Thank you for mentioning it. If you tell me where I can get one, I'll do so immediately. If you don't tell me, I'll check places like Radio Shack and any other "gizmo" place I can think of. I'm assuming what you are talking about is a device that records the lowest and highest temperatures it has taken over a period of time?
>>
>>Billy sent me an e-mail with some advice as well and suggested that I move the tank to a room in the house with a warmer ambient temperature. Unless I hear strongly conflicting advice, that's what I think I'll do. In my quest to not get him too warm, I may have inadvertently let him get a little too cool, but I am taking note and fixing the situation.
>>
>>Thank you for your help so far. I'll keep checking to see if you or anyone else adds any other info or advice I should read.
>>
>>Judy
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>>1.0 red cape gopher (Caesar)