Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all. I have a three year old mountain sonoran kingsnake. She has been in a clod closet in my house since Dec 16. (Temp stayes around 55 degrees). In November she stopped eating and a breeder I know said that I would probably need to cool her down before she would begin eating again. I took her out last week and put her back in her warm cage (One end 65-70 degrees and other side 80-85 degrees) and she is not active. Just staying in her log on the warm side and not moving around. Thoughts on how long it might take for her to become active again? I am not sure I should offer food if she is not moving around.

Just make sure she has a cool side to retreat to if she is "not ready" to be up yet. If she has good weight she will be fine for a good while, just keep offering her food every four or five days. Many of my Mt kings take several weeks to start feeding when I pull them in Feb. Some eat within the first week or so, but many wait, and I am waiting until March 1st to pull them all this year to see if that changes things.

Joe

Thanks Joe. I may wait until March next year. It just stresses me out.

My pyros are now out of their brumation tubs but I have not turned on the bottom heat, just letting the ambient room temperature warm them up. The nights are still cold (I heat my cabin in the woods with a wood stove). So to some extent my indoor temps follow the same pattern as the outdoor temps, although warmer by 20 or so degrees at night. Once they begin moving about like they are hungry I will turn on the UTHs and commence feeding.

One thing they did last year in early February while still brumating is breed. I know because both females in my trio became gravid even though I loaned the male out to a friend when I brought them out of brumation.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Hi,

be careful when removing from a brumation, as a sudden change in temperature can really jolt the immune system and make for an unnecessary respiratory illness. It's best to gently increase the temps gradually over a period of time, such as opening that closet door you kept him/her in allowing for a slight increase of ambient temperature as well as light (photoperiods are equally as important). A quick change of water as well as substrate never hurts in case there has been any water spillage and/or build-up of any moisture. Leave that door open for a few days and then remove to floor level whereby he/she can be afforded a long light cycle as well as a slowly-increasing temperature. Do that now for a few days. By then (about 10 days or so) you may want to place him/her back into its respective place in the original rack system or cage but with low-heat (i.e. 75F) on the heat tape. For male montane snakes, when breeding, it's advised to NOT put them on any high heat in order to not compromise the viability of sperm. Room temperature works best until after several breedings have commenced, and even thereafter too much warmth isn't tolerated well by mountain kingsnakes.

As for offering first meals, offer smaller-than-usual meals initially as digestive system is just kicking back into gear and too large a meal can really be a shock to it's stomach. Start with an extra-large pinky or very small fuzzy. If it's not taken, leave overnight. If not consumed by the following day, remove and try again in a couple days. Once feeding has commenced, feed a small meal for the first 2 or 3 meals and then resume normal-sized prey items going forward.

Best wishes. =)
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Jerry Kruse

www.zonatas.com

What comes around goes around -- and it's on its way.