Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got a pair of 2012 foxsnakes about 40 days ago. The male hatchling had some good weight and ate a f/t pinkie within a few days. The female looked very skinny, but she ate a live pinky a week later. Over the next 2 weeks, the male ate 2 more live pinkies and the female 1 more. Since then they have refused every form of live and f/t I've offered them. They are active in their small sterlite containers and appear healthy.

I kept them in a warm area, but as they stopped eating, I moved them to a slightly cooler, less active area of the house where I keep corns and a drymarchon. Still no interest in live pinkies.

Is it normal for hatchlings to slow down as winter approaches? Should I be worried, or keep offering pinkies at regular intervals? None of my FL kings and corns have slowed down eating. A 2012 duo of female KY black kings has slowed down, too. I got those over the summer and they ate great and gained weight until they slowed down just recently. Since both of these species are from northern latitudes, I'm thinking maybe it is natural for them to slow down eating this time of year.

Any advice is appreciated.

I don't know much about fox snakes, but I've had black rats and bullsnakes from northern territories that ate through their first Winter. I also have had black rat hatchlings go off feed come late fall, and I just went on ahead and hibernated them. The next Spring they resumed feeding. Hope this is helpful. Someone more familiar with fox snakes should weigh in soon.

I would recommend trying thawed pinkies if they aren't taking live. Mine have shown an unusual preference for thawed over live.

They can go off feed during the winter, but I've had them accept food throughout the year.
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www.brooksi.com

Being from the extreme north, I think even many juveniles are getting ready to brumate regardless of temps. The shorter photoperiod would play a big roll in this as well. Some might very well continue eating, while some might not, depending on the given circumstances.

cheers, ~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Follow up to my hatchling fox snakes. I put them in a cooler area to let them settle down for winter, but they remained active. I put some heat under one end of their containers and they promptly settled down over the heat. I let them settle in for a week and started offering f/t and live pinks. No response for the first week. Waited another week and offered f/t again. The male at two this week, 5 days apart. I had to leave them in the container overnight. The female has still refused, but I'm going to offer her live tomorrow.

They probably need to hibernate.

The female ate a live pinky last night. She still looks underweight, so I really want to get her eating regularly right now.

Mike, cruising the forums and posting late on this one. My hatchlings typically went off food regardless of warm temps once it was around October. As far as getting young ones to feed, although usually quick to feed there is always the odd one that can be stubborn. I used this technique of a brained thawed pink, brown paper bag and a car ride. This method was also used with kingsnakes and hognose. It worked for us.