Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my 2 year old female grey rat snake.
I was advised to hibernate her last year because she stopped feeding. She's stopped feeding again this year, so it looks like I'll have to brumate her.
I've forgot how to go about it, so could someone give me a step-by-step guide please.

Thanx in advance.

Kat.

>>my 2 year old female grey rat snake.
>>I was advised to hibernate her last year because she stopped feeding. She's stopped feeding again this year, so it looks like I'll have to brumate her.
>>I've forgot how to go about it, so could someone give me a step-by-step guide please.
>>
>>Thanx in advance.
>>
>>Kat.

This is basically the same advise I gave on the corn snake forum.
Should work for a grey rat.
If you choose to brumate the temperatures are not overly critical.
Fluctuations anywhere from mid 40's to low 60's will work.
Just put it in a very basic container, substrate, hide and water dish. Place it in an area where you can regulate the temperatures or where you can be pretty sure the temps will range somewhere between the numbers listed above.
Check occaisionally to make sure it has fresh water, otherwise just leave it alone for around 3 months.
Even the time to brumate isn't absolute.
Some brumate for 45 to 60 days while others might brumate as long as 120 days or more.
But just because it goes off food for a little while doesn't necessarily mean you have to brumate. It could be as simple as changing its feeding schedule.
If it has been feeding once a week just offer it food every two or even three weeks.
After a while you will notice it's appetite come back. It will start getting restless and looking for food before feeding day.
When you notice this you can go back to its regular feeding schedule.
The choice is yours.

The information above is just a generalization, it is not concrete. Just my opinion on the subject.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

another thing jimmy's pointed out before is that a lot of the time in the winter they will still eat, they just want smaller prey. you may want to try that as well.
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

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Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

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