Is fasting normal?

[Cynspin]

Hi guys,

I'm still pretty new to ribbon snakes, and they're also my first colubrids.- I've had my two since August, so this is my first winter with them. My issue is that they've been fasting for awhile now. It's been almost a month since either of them ate. And before, they would each eat two or three fish in a sitting usually twice a week at least, but the last time either of them ate it was just one apiece. My husbandry hasn't changed, could it just be the cooler ambient tempts in the house? I live in San Diego, so it doesn't get terribly cold, and our house is climate controlled so it never drops below 66. I feed them live; currently platys are my best option. I've been keeping the feeding dish clean, and I even tried taking away all the fish for awhile, but it didn't seem to change their interest. I'm hoping it's just a winter fast since they were eating like pigs before! I did put their light on a timer since I left for a week over Christmas, and that's when everything changed. Maybe I'm leaving it on too late; I love to watch them, so it goes off at 9pm. It's a low-wattage heat bulb, so the tank stays in the low 70's generally with a basking spot in the low 80's. Please let me know what you think or if there's anything I left out! Thanks!

[GarterGuy17]

This is a question that many new snake owners come by and I have never heard anyone call it fasting before but yes , in a way of speaking garters can go off food for many reasons but most of the time its just they wont eat not because anything is wrong just they don't want to. Now this doesn't mean that your snakes are un-healthy and they will die but if it helps relieve so stress of them not eating garters can last a very long time without eating, just keep trying until they finally eat again. Maybe some other members can give there opinion and explain better than me , just be patient. :)

[Cynspin]

I'm not new to snakes, just new to colubrids ;) I'm used to my ball python going off feed for sometimes three months, but with everything I've heard about thamnophis having high metabolisms, I've been a little concerned.

[katach]

Are the snakes wild caught or captive bred? Some snakes go off food or slow down on food during the winter months. They are used to brumating this time of year, so if they are wild caught that could be the reason. You could try a quick brumation like state for a couple of weeks. Leave the lights off turn off the heat, cover them with a dark cloth and put them in a cooler place in your home. Just be sure they have fresh clean water. As long as they haven't eaten anything in the the last 2 to 3 weeks that is. Then you can "wake them up" take the cloth off, bring them back to their regular place. Once they are back to ambient temp you can turn on a lamp. That could get them back to eating

[Cynspin]

Thank you Kat! I may just try that. I'm pretty sure these guys were WC, as my little guy Clyde has some chew marks on his tail. They definitely haven't been as active lately, so that's probably it.

[katach]

You are very welcome. It's not a true brumation, but it could be enough to jump start the appetite again. Wild caught are much more likely to do this sort of stuff. Our captive born (but not bred) little guy is much more of a piggie right now than the other 5 which are all WC. They eat, but it takes some sweet talking sometimes. :)

[Barak666]

One of mine did the same thing, stoped eating for few weeks at the winter beginning. Mine eat mainly earthworms, but they love mice pinkie over everything else, but I don't give them those pretty often. So I cut a small piece of pinky, put it in the same bowl I used to hold the worms and present them worms who smell like pinkies, I did it for about a week (so roundly 2-3 feeding) then the one who had stop eating jump on his prey on the first try, and then he start eating again, it was more than 2 months ago, and he continue to eat well since. Good luck with yours.

[EasternGirl]

My wild caught male eastern garter did the same thing a few months ago. He refused to eat for about two months. I was so worried I took him to the vet. He is young, so the vet said that chances are he had never brumated before...but the instinct to do so in the winter months may still be there. The cold weather may have signaled to him that it was time to slow down and stop eating. He was also in with a female and attempting to mate...and I read that sometimes males will not eat when they are focused on mating. He prefers worms to any other food because that was his primary source of food in the wild. I had been offering him pinkies and fish because I was out of worms. I went and bought some worms and he began eating again when I got him some worms. It seems that he only wants to eat worms right now...so I am going to have to slowly start to reintroduce him to other foods like I did when I first found him. Hope this info helps you with your snakes. Good luck and keep us posted.

[PINJOHN]

i am having a similar experience with my cb Florida blues, last year both females[sister's] threw large amounts of slugs one did it twice in the year.
Based on this i decided against brumation thinking i would let them breed next year, my assumption was they would continue eating with appetites that puts pigs to shame, but the girls decide different, they seem to have decided that they would like to hear the slither of tiny scales about the place and accordingly have put themselves into brumation mode even though the room remains warm,
originating from where they do, light seems to be the stimulation rather than temperature, so if it all goes well there will be some free baby Florida's for the UK members this year subject of course to clause 49 [better know as the cup of coffee rule] ;)

[aquamentus_11]

awww now I hate living in West Virginia even more

[EasternGirl]

I didn't know you were in WVA...my family lives there, and I lived there and went to college there for a year. Where in WVA?

[aquamentus_11]

I'm in Lewisburg right now. Originally from Michigan, but going to med school here. I'll be moving up by Wheeling in the summer for rotations.

[EasternGirl]

Cool. My family lives in Buckhannon. My cousin went to WVU. I went to Fairmont State for a year. Don't know if you've ever heard of Fairmont...it's a terrible place. I hear that Wheeling is nice. Totally going off topic here...sorry!

[Cynspin]

Ok, I put them in brumation! It makes me nervous because I've never done anything like this before!

[katach]

Just be sure you keep the water fresh and clean. How long are you going to do it for? What temp and where did you put them?

[Cynspin]

I was thinking two or three weeks. I put a large water bowl in there with them, took out the live plants, and covered the tank with a beach towel. They're in our attached garage, and it stays around 55-60 in there. What do you recommend? If I check on them will it mess things up?

[mb90078]

That might be a bit too warm. You can and should check on them.

[EasternGirl]

I don't know anything about brumation...but don't they need air circulation? Kat said cover them with a dark cloth...I don't know if you need to leave room for air or something though. We should have threads on here on brumation if you search for them...that could give you specifics on brumating.

[guidofatherof5]

I did a search of "brumation" Here is some of the results.

http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/9615-brrr-brrr-brumation.html
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/general-talk/9384-winter-brumation-preparations.html
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/8324-brumation.html
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/breeding/8085-brumation-opinion.html
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/7842-help-needed-brumation.html
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/breeding/7917-time-limit-brumation.html
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/7857-can-i-skip-brumation.html
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/7758-brumation-breeding-strategies.html4
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/breeding/6614-brumation.html
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/6377-communal-brumation.html
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/6339-brumation-question.html
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/6252-quick-brumation-question.html
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/4754-losses-brumation.html

[Cynspin]

Thanks Steve!

Hmm, I'm guestimating temps so it might be cooler. I should know better than that. I'll go get a temp gun tomorrow (we've got a LLL nearby) and find out for sure. I can't do much to lower the temps if they aren't right, because I live in a mild climate. The garage does have a concrete floor and the tank is sitting directly on it so that should help.

[guidofatherof5]

These work great.
Zoo Med Terrarium Digital Thermometer ZM30024 (http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=zoomed+digital+terrarium+thermometer&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=2789726037159216915&sa=X&ei=v0k3T4dMp8qxAu6UkZEC&ved=0CEkQ8wIwBA)

[Cynspin]

Have you ever used their hygrometer/thermometer combo?