After 201 days . . .

. . . the fast is over! King Rex the Finicky just ate 2 little mice to break the fast.

His last meal was 10/1/05. He's solid, strong, and healthy; he just puts me through hell each winter.

I'm sure he'll be pounding rats again next week. At least that's how it went last year. I'll say one thing for him, he's a cheap date. You only feed him half the year.

He's my first, and last BP. My corn and my boa don't believe in missing meals, and thanks to them, I don't have to loose sleep. : )

K

good to hear :)

Thats a heck of a fast! Glad its over for you!

Congrats on the feed!

monty is on day 173i hope u beat me;)

Geez. I freak...a lot when Ophelia doesn't eat for two weeks.

thats how i am, 2 weeks and im like dieing thinking my BPs dieing. That would suck

congrats on the feeding... it sure is nice to hear :)

Why are BP's such finicky/picky eaters anyway? Why do they go for so long without eating?

Saoirse our WC female rescue BP went 5.5 months from last feed to first spring feeding, ate beautifully and then we moved *sigh*. She's just started back up again but thankfully slammed her rat last week and this week so I think she's back on the road to regaining her weight (she was well underweight before the winter fast). Funny though for not eating for that length of time all she lost was 100 grams...amazing creatures!

Man I am glad I read this post.
My bp is going on fast since 12/15/05. Seems this year he started later and so I guess will finish later. Last year we went on in Oct and was done by March. So I was getting a little worried.

Congrats on the fast being over!!
It will drive you to drink some weeks. :)

man thats a good long time, i hope basill doesn't do that i might lose hair if that happens lol

Check your temps during those months...if you keep them warm, they'll be hungry....I kept my ambient temps no lower than 80 degrees at the coldest and all of mine ate all winter long- even the ones that fasted last year when I wasn't controlling the nighttime temps....

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

Check your temps during those months...if you keep them warm, they'll be hungry....I kept my ambient temps no lower than 80 degrees at the coldest and all of mine ate all winter long- even the ones that fasted last year when I wasn't controlling the nighttime temps....

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I had 2 that went 3.5 months each and there was never a temp drop. Sometimes the seasonality kicks it off. They must sense it in the air.

Agreed.......I also ran a humidifier 24/7 in the room......coulda had something to do with it. Or I just got lucky!

Definitely could have. Mine started eating again as soon as I started running the humidifier. I got the room temp at about 82 and ran the humidifier for a few hours a day on high. Also the change to the new rack. It could have been any of the above or maybe it was just time again.

I would think that for an animal made to live in relative humidity over 50% pretty much at all times, the dry winters have got to irritate their respitory system.

Jamie, what you did sounds about right on. I really started to see a difference in the behavior of all my bps, shedding, eating, overall temperment- since I started keeping them warm (82-84 -- 92-94) at all times.

Here I am playing catch up with the boards and feeding my gang... I was worried about one of them for a bit but 201 days.... It's tough to deal with, especially when all you want to do is provide a thriving environment. I'm sure you're glad that's over. Congrats for not going "bananas"...LOL

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

I would think that for an animal made to live in relative humidity over 50% pretty much at all times, the dry winters have got to irritate their respitory system.

Jamie, what you did sounds about right on. I really started to see a difference in the behavior of all my bps, shedding, eating, overall temperment- since I started keeping them warm (82-84 -- 92-94) at all times.

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Yup..Ever since I moved to NJ and have a stable, interior snake room, all has been well. Even though the temps are warm pretty much year round in FL, rooms with windows are still fairly hard to keep stable. Those temps swings seem to play havoc with the snakes.

Wish the temps humidity thing was the reason mine hasn't eaten.
My temps stay 84 on cool to 94 on hot and humidity never drops below 50.
So I figured maybe he goes off because of the shorter days thing. So I figure he will start back up when DST hit like last year but no go so far.

I was feeding f/t and went to live last year and he went off fast. Been offering live so far this time but think I am gonna get a f/t and put it at the entrance to his hide and just shut the door to my room and leave him alone for awhile and see what happens.
He doesn't seem to be losing weight and he drinks and ur's at least once a month, appears healthy so I think it's just his nature and the fact I am sure he was wc or a cb.

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Originally Posted by jotay

I was feeding f/t and went to live last year and he went off fast. Been offering live so far this time but think I am gonna get a f/t and put it at the entrance to his hide and just shut the door to my room and leave him alone for awhile and see what happens.

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Another aspect of this is consistency......I've been feeding my guys on the same day, about the same time, in the same way (scent the room for about 30 mins to wake them up) and they've eaten much better. I think that you changing things up could have an affect on their overall behavior. Stick to one thing, and do it consistently, and they'll get with the program.

Well I have had him for 3 yrs and for the first he ate f/t no problem and no fast. Then last winter the fast. I was told to try live and pow he ate. Now I have feed live for over a year and he ain't going for it this time.

Always feed same day, same time. Just like clockwork.

Guess just have to wait it out and keep throwing in the live little buggers.
And temps have remain the same pretty much since the start. Upped them last year during the fast and have left them there since then.

Guess as long as temps/humd. stay up and steady and nothing changes in his/my routine he will eat when he is ready.

i think maybe nstead of sensing the heat or humidity of a changing season it could be that they sense the barometric pressure. just a hypothesis of mine.