Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello folks

So is it just my funny girl, or is it common for snakes to be more hungry in the autumn/winter than in the summer? Lilly has now had two summers with us and is just entering her second winter (as in UK weather!) - she refuses to eat anything even remotely the size of her girth (she likes to have a selection of VERY small mice - maybe she thinks she's some kind of princess - very vulgar to stuff one's mouth!) and over the summer she barely ate at all (one diddy little mouse every ten to 14 days with a five week gap with no food at all!), now all of a sudden, she's starving - cool weather has just set in over here and, as last year, it seems to have sent some sort of message - you must eat LOTS, NOW! (how she knows it's getting colder outside is, of course, a mystery) Anyway, just a thought!

All my snakes turn ravenous this time of year.Im in central Illinios.It has to be because of the light cycles.I keep the same temps year round in my room.They will slow down soon enough and eat smaller size prey at longer intervals.When woopi season comes in my males wont eat for 2-3 months.

Thanks for that! Not that i was worried or anything - just curious (her temp is also kept the same all year round). I kind of like the idea that even after decades and decades of breeding in captivity, they still do - more or less - what mother nature intended when they crawled out of the primordial soup! By the way - what a FAB snake!! (I haven't quite worked out this posting pictures thing yet). I have to say, i can't be doing with all those strange colours and freaky eyes - call me an amateur (cos it's true), but i reckon evolution knew EXACTLY what she was doing when she chose those rosy colours! Thanks again. I'll stop rambling now!

......alot of snakes eat well all summer

some will eat well all year

I had alot of snakes that would stop eating as autumn neared...even as soon as August 6 I had black rat (amel) quit for the year...

friends' bull snake quits too

eastern milks would eat alot as they emerged from brumation..then estevate all the hot summer months..then eat like little pigs again in the fall......and quit in winter.....(more like wild milks here would eat)

I have alot of corns...maybe 70 adults and more now...and I fed them fairly well all spring..then after they got a little weight back on (female) I fed them smaller meals like the males......I fed them small meals all summer....because..I want thinner snakes...and I want to take care of other people's snakes...I sell too many of my pinks to mice.....so....I will now feed them all winter like I did last year.....and just let them breed when they are ready....they were ready a month ahead of time last spring....they had good sized follicles in them by the time I actually began breeding them.......and I had babies a month early.....and they sold well...I was the only one that the one show with alot of baby corns........LOL (wholesale to one guy)...(Thanks Don Hamper)...most of them..not all.......

.......so......as long as they feed ..small meals are good......

thin snakes do better all around .......I overfed for over 10 years........

........good luck...have fun........

JY
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