WC yellow ratsnake not eating

We caught a yearling yellow rat snake in our house a few months ago. My stepson had been wanting a snake or lizard for some time, so we let him keep it.

At first it did fine - ate f/t, p/k or live mice easily. The last 4 weeks it has refused everything. It acts interested, but seems more afraid than it is willing to eat. We offer it a mouse every time we feed our other snakes (every 5-7 days), and if it refuses, we just give that one to one of the others.

It is in a 20gl tank with a hide, 75F on the cool end and 80+ on the warm end. It is very healthy and has a wonderful temperament otherwise.

Is this a natural reaction to the season (brumating?), or could it be something else?

I have been reading a lot on here, but haven't seen this yet: What are your feelings on WC snakes as pets? I know many of the exotics come in as wc, but what about native species?

So, is this perhaps normal behavior and it will be fine once the days lengthen, should we be concerned and take it to the vet, or should we just let it go?

My first thought is that its wild caught and stressed.. you might never get it to eat..your best bet..put it back in the wild and buy a feeding CB baby..

In my opinion you should put him back outside. He does belong there. The exotic species were imported by extremely experienced breeders. They had the time, money and experience to put into the snake. What you should do, if your stepson wants a snake, is find a breeder and buy him one.

He's been in captivity for several months. Don't release him.

It's not unusual for snakes to go off feed or slow wayyyy down at this time of year. Especially the wild caught ones.

Post a pic. Do you know if it's male or female?

They make excellent pets. I've kept a few over the years and when I find the right ones, I'll keep them again. They have neat personalities.

I agree with wilomn, I used to keep a lot of WC stuff growing up and most of them would go off feed during the winter, then pick back up closer to spring. Even though the temps stayed the same they still knew when it's winter, kinda wild