Diagnose my worry! Please!?

[mk2golfadam]

I have a an albino checkered garter snake she is about 2 ft long and a year and a half old she is kept in a tub that is 580 mm deep and 800mm wide, which is about 30 degrees on the warm end and about 25 at the cool, lots hides provided and a large water bowl. She has always been a ferocious feeder and eats small mice but for the last 3 weeks she is completely rejecting food, she is housed with a smaller male of the same age who eats fine but I wounded if she is gravid or ill? She doesn't look particulary fat so I am unsure. She also spends a lot of time at the cool end in the water bowl. Other than that she seems perfectly happy and is fine to be handled. Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated! :) thankyou.

[guidofatherof5]

It could just be a break from food. I suppose she has size enough to breed and she was housed with a male so that is a possibility.
I've had females give birth and never look gravid.
At this point I wouldn't worry too much unless she starts losing weight, starts looking thin.
How is her attitude/behavior otherwise?

[ProXimuS]

Some snakes think they are about to brumate when it gets to be winter and may stop eating. Some members also have snakes that will randomly quit eating throughout the year. Have you adjusted your lighting to match the sun coming up and going down? If so, this can apperantly sometimes trigger them to think it is winter(with the shorter days) and make them want to brumate. I don't have first hand experince with this, but I asked about it(adjusting the lights with the sun) and that was an answer I got, so I chose to keep the lights on the same schedule, because I don't plan on brumating.


Just an idea....

[mk2golfadam]

Okay well that is a thought, she has a good attitude still is okay to be handled, isn't at all skittish seems fairly happy but is seeking the cooler side of the tank most of the time. Thanks

[Selkielass]

My checkered acts like that when he is in the mood for a winter nap. He went off food for over a month last winter, but didn't drop much weight as he also stayed mostly inactive. He perked up and started chowing down worms again when spring temperatures started to rise- I swear he could smell spring on the wind.

Without brumation your females fertility may be low... or she may surprise you with a big litter. Its hard to predict, but young couples can surprise you.

[d_virginiana]

Its funny how they can notice the seasons change even when you keep everything in their enclosures the same. Probably something to do with the days shortening up like was already suggested :)

[SilasBannook]

I can report the same thing, four of my larger snakes have decided they just don't want to eat. I put out talapia and worms for them at least once a week and for the past three week's they have been ignoring the food. They are still happy as ever. Given all I have read, I plan to just keep putting food out for them and when they get hungry they will eat. I know my neighbors snake is behaving the same way. The babies I have don't know the difference in the seasons yet and pig out as always.

[chris-uk]

I've got a few that have definitely decreased appetite over the last few feeds. My blacknecks are the most obvious, both of them aren't eating (they're normally fussy, but not this fussy).

[ConcinusMan]

Going off of food for a while, once or even twice a year is normal. could last weeks or even a couple of months. Nothing to be alarmed about as long as there's no rapid weight loss and the snake seems to be behaving normally otherwise.

[Greg'sGarters]

Occasionally garter snakes will take breaks from food. This does confuse/scare a lot of people who have been keeping lets say boas for a while who get a garter snake. Usually boas keep a very consistent feeding schedule, and people expect that of garters and are surprised to find that garter snakes eat as they please.

[ConcinusMan]

Without brumation your females fertility may be low... or she may surprise you with a big litter. Its hard to predict, but young couples can surprise you.

Checkereds are a little different which is one of the reasons why they are so prolific in the pet trade. Throughout much of their range, they don't brumate at all but are instead active year 'round. I know they are in Riverside co. CA. You can find active snakes there almost any time of year. They do however, get a bit cooler temps and shorter days and that triggers breeding when the days get longer and things warm up. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this full out brumation we give most garters isn't necessary for checkereds to breed prolifically. They need little to no seasonal cue to breed.

It's possible that the introduction of another snake triggered this, or the snake is getting cues from daylight coming in a window. The days are getting rapidly shorter and she might be aware of it.