How long is too long?

[Qwerty3159]

My checkered male Javier has eaten nothing but one nightcrawler and a fuzzy since mid-November.
I bought him from BHB as an adult which means more than likely he's used to being put down for the winter to breed. He fed aggressively on rat pinks weekly pretty much without cessation since I got him late last June.

He's lost a bit of weight which has me concerned. I know to brumate they need to be in good shape. Interestingly when I offer food he takes interest in it and zips out, even striking at it, but he never holds on or swallows. I bumped his temps a bit and he spends a good deal of time on the hot side. Directly under the bulb in a 4 inch circle the temps are about 93, lowering as you get further away to about 85 as a general temperature, verified with an infrared gun. He has a hide on that side and spends most of the time there so it's not like he's too cold.

[Eddie]

Sometimes when that happens to me I put a bowl of Goldfish in the tank. If they eat the Goldfish I will sent pink mice on the next feeding. If they don't eat the fish I drop the temps and turn off the lights for a few weeks.
Good luck.

[Albert Clark]

The other possibilities are that he smells and or senses the presence of breedable females and that has affected his appetite. He may just not be hungry, remember that reptiles can go periods of time w/o eating. Also he may sense it's winter and is ready to be cooled down. Just make sure he is not ill or suffering from a injury.

[Jeff B]

My garters shut down from November to mid January, regardless of temps. Best thing is to just turn heat off for a couple weeks, leave undesturbed, then turn back on and try live fish as Eddie suggested or live nightcrawler to get him going, then switch to mice if desired.

[Qwerty3159]

Thanks guys.
He's definitely not injured or sick and I wasn't too concerned until he began losing weight. The only other garter in the house is the baby radix but he was like this before she arrived.
When I turn the lamp off for a while should I leave him at room temp (60-70 F) or put him in the basement which gets a bit cooler? Should he be moved from the other reptiles? He's on a shelf with my Knight Anole and some other reptiles so I'll still be out and about even if I don't interact with him.

[Albert Clark]

Thanks guys.
He's definitely not injured or sick and I wasn't too concerned until he began losing weight. The only other garter in the house is the baby radix but he was like this before she arrived.
When I turn the lamp off for a while should I leave him at room temp (60-70 F) or put him in the basement which gets a bit cooler? Should he be moved from the other reptiles? He's on a shelf with my Knight Anole and some other reptiles so I'll still be out and about even if I don't interact with him.
Typically, the lowering of temperatures should be gradual as to not shock the animal with a drastic, sudden cooling. Make certain his stomach is empty and has been empty at least two weeks before cooling. 60.0f is the better cooling temp goal. Do like Jeff said and turn off the heating for a while ( couple of weeks). Just monitor the temperature regularly. I would move him from the other reptiles simply bc now you are conditioning him for a specific reason.

[Tommytradix]

I would turn the lights off for a couple days then move him to the basement for a month or so. Put a large water bowl in with him so he can soak. My females soak half of their brumation and they are at 46-48 degrees Fahrenheit since hes a checkered I wouldn't worry about trying to get him below 55

[Jeff B]

Good point Tommy, many of my adults soak in water bowls during brumation too.

[Albert Clark]

Also, by soaking they don't lose too much weight either. Especially if you are going to brumate for the longer haul. Which really is the better option.

[Qwerty3159]

Okay- thanks :)

I'll leave him at room temp for a few days and then put him down.

[Qwerty3159]

So I believe he was put down on the 1st or the day prior. Temps have stayed at about 57, and the few times I peeked on him he was poking out of the hides- he sure has made a mess of his tank!

How long should he stay brumating? He looks fine but I've really only seen his head and "neck" these past three weeks.

[Albert Clark]

Glad to hear from you that he is alert and managing through the brumating period. The time frame for brumating depends on you and your plans for him. If you are just trying to reset his feeding clock a short period is fine (60 days). Longer if you are planning on breeding him (90 days).

[Qwerty3159]

Gave him some water today and he was fine as usual. I'll probably take him up around mid February.

[Qwerty3159]

Took him up last weekend because he was getting a bit too skinny for my liking.
http://i.imgur.com/3pfICFD.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/tajInrV.jpg
Silversides and rodents were turned down, so today I'm going to get some live fish or nightcrawlers. He doesn't seem interested in eating at all and was actually more aggressive towards the silversides than anything else.

[Albert Clark]

Well, it may take awhile for him to get acclimated again to the normal temps and lighting. He probably has breeding on his mind at this point after coming out of a "cooling" period. Don't sweat it. Are you planning on pairing him with a female? If so, be prepared for more refusals. If not, then just offer food on your normal feeding interval until he accepts food. I would minimize any handling also until he's taken a few meals for you.

[Qwerty3159]

Thanks!
I've been leaving him alone and he's pretty much just been basking and pacing around the tank the past week. He didn't eat any of the minnows last weekend so I waited until today to offer him a pinky. He struck at it and held on, even ripping it from the forceps. I held completely still so that I didn't freak him out or anything, but he just randomly spit it out and crawled away. I left it in there for a while but he wasn't interested.
Oh well- next week!

[Qwerty3159]

It wasn't much, but at least he ate something.


http://i.imgur.com/bUnHBcN.jpg