Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have posted on here before about my 3ft. female gator. since the last of september, she has reduced feeding. she is only eating a few times a month now( a weanling rat,a piece or two of chicken etc.)after consulting MANY and i mean MANY breeders and dealers i get two different answers. first, i was told to raise and keep temps warm 78-81 for the water and 82-85 for air temps. this theoretically was to increase apettite. secondly, i was told by others that gators tend to go of feeding in the winter, due to barometric pressure etc.please could someone settle this debate for me and maybe give me some sound advice on what i should do. to cool the gator down or keep temps warm.

both answers are actually correct. Alligators by nature will/should stop feeding during the winter months. If the temps are low then the alligator will/should stop feeding same as it would in the winter months.

They dont/shouldnt stop feeding just because its the winter but because its the temps, there bodies sence the cold season/temps coming on and this trips the stop feeding response. The stop feeding response to the cool temps is to keep the alligators alive, as feeding in the cold temps wont allow the alligators to digest there food which would lead to death.
-----
Great Lakes Zoological

thanks, that makes sense to me, but what doesn't is my 3ft. female. her temps are 79-81 water and 82-85 air temps, she just nibbles in fact she only ate four times last month and that's not a whole lot for her. i have had her checked out and physically, she's fine.i just don't understand that every since the last of September she has drastically went off her normal food intake.any explanation?

its kind of like a in between ... they do know when the season changes, so knowing this will cause some to stop or slow down on feeding. Its like something inside tells them to stop eating but it doesnt get to cold for them and causes hesitation in there feeding response.

Do you hae a basking area thats hiting 100/110? This could make the differance.
-----
Great Lakes Zoological

yes i do. this morning she ate a chicken gizzard, like i said she acts the same and has pretty good weight on her. i first thought maybe she was stressed out but i think that can be ruled out.i was just worried that keeping consistent temps might cause her to lose weight,she likes to hide from time to time i designed her enclosure to give her a few hide spots. but usually she hangs out in her water and then she will hit a hide spot and spend the rest of the day there. it mainly depends on her, sometimes she may spend most of the day/night there and sometimes she will spend most of the day/night in her water. last winter she ate consistently,but i was told that was because she was younger then, now at a little over two years old and about three feet she is starting to act older if you know what i mean. anyway, i think you are right the seasonal thing makes alot of sense, in fact i had a guy at Glades Herps tell me the same thing. any other advice that you might think of please share,i am always open to others advice.