I have a '01 sonoran gopher female that I did not cool down over the winter. I placed her in a cool, dark spot to rest on Feb 18, about 3 weeks ago. She had not eaten all winter and was staying in her cool hide all the time which is why I finally took her out to "hibernate" her for a short time to see if I can eventually get her to eat again. Someone said a few weeks might help. Well I'm wondering if there is a good way to know when I should bring her out again? I checked on her today and it was the first time I have seen her out of her dark hide box (she is in a bigger box with a smaller hide box inside and she has always stayed in the smaller hide box until I saw her today). I basically want to know how long exactly I should leave her alone before I warm her back up? Is her activity level a sign she is ready to wake up and warm back up? I realize I should have done this earlier.
P.S. I live in So. California so I can't really keep her too cool anyway- she's at about 60 degrees right now-but dark.
This is a pic of her sister who is eating fine...
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late hibernation question
Replies (3)
just that 3 weeks of cool darkness may have done it though a bit longer would be better. good luck!............
I agree with Dan, I too have hibernated some babies for 3-4 weeks to stimulate feeding. Sometimes it has worked and other times it hasn't. Hopefully your snake comes out ready to eat!
Have a good day,
Gregg F.
>>just that 3 weeks of cool darkness may have done it though a bit longer would be better. good luck!............
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Gregg F.
I have a Great Basin Gopher snake (wild caught). I did not hibernate this snake and she was active all winter. She did not eat from mid August to mid February. All food was refused until mid Feb. Then all of a sudden she started feeding voraciously. Now she has shed her skin, gained back the little weight she lost, and is in a normal spring/summer behavior pattern. My thought would be to not worry when they go off the food in the winter.
