Haven't been on here in a while. Finally done with grad school!



Xerxes, an arizona mountain king, is about 12 and a half, healthy, but lately hasn't been eating with any greater frequency than once a month. The last time I fed was Dec. 15th. I offered a mouse on the 5th of January, hoping he would shake the habit, but he rejected it. Just offered another one today, and he rejected it. So this will push past the month mark.



My apt's cold, but his tank has an undertank heater on one side and full spectrum heat lamp on the other side (only on during the day).



A kid at the petshop was shocked when I went in to get mice (they were out, so I had to get a baby rat; luckily he managed to eat it...this was the december feeding) that the snake was only eating once a month, and said something about 'you know when you haven't eaten in so long that you're not hungry?'



um...?



So, does anyone know have any input? Is this normal as snakes age? How much does feeding frequency normally change in the winter? (He didn't have a quirky breeding season interruption this year, so I guess sometimes things I think will be clockwork end up changing...) One clue. Right before I fed him, he was in his water bowl (which is in the middle of the tank, so the coolest part). Humidity in here is 44%. I've since let him out and he's filed himself in a file cabinet, right near the window, so it'll get pretty cold...like 50s. I didn't really understand what yankeeslover meant w.r.t. cooling their snake down so that it would eat, but am I on the right track? How does this work, and how can it be accomplished safely/effectively without leading to brumation?



Apologies for the rambling. Thanks in advance,



-xb

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