General BP Fasting Question

[Herp Hugger]

I have a few BPs that have been in a winter fast for a few months now. (The females range from about 800 - 1400 g and the males up to 1900 g - no significant weight loss). When should I expect them to come out of their fast? Is it about this time of year generally? or are they all totally different? I've been offering every couple of weeks but no interest yet.

Thanks!

[Adam Chandler]

If the mature males and females are in the same room as each other it very well could be a breeding fast. My breeder males typically stop eating from November until May/June each year. My breeder females are about the same but they usually take a meal here and there during the breeding season.

[snakesRkewl]

I'd cringe if my females stopped eating that early in the season, they NEED to put weight on to successfully drop good pearly white eggs.
Most of my females will eat right up to about a month before they ovulate.

Some males will eat year around and could care less if it's breeding season and others shut off their food drive for the breeding season.
My clown, black pastel and yellowbelly males never stopped eating this year but the lesser stopped in December is now pulled from breeding due to weight loss.
If I want a male to return to eating after breeding I put him in another part of the house, give him a hide(something I normally don't offer my snakes in tubs) and give him time to settle in and then offer food a week or so after removing him from the snake room.

[Adam Chandler]

If I want a male to return to eating after breeding I put him in another part of the house, give him a hide(something I normally don't offer my snakes in tubs) and give him time to settle in and then offer food a week or so after removing him from the snake room.

I forgot to mention this, towards the end of breeding season I've had luck getting males to eat by moving them to a different room.

[Herp Hugger]

Thanks for the insight. My snakes are all on the same rack (2 or 3 to a shelf) but none of them have started breeding yet. I was hoping to start this season but I couldn't get the females up to a good weight before the "winter fast" started. Will the fast likely end naturally for these BPs if I keep offering or will I likely have to separate the males from the females to get them eating again? How far apart do the males need to be from the females before they no longer "sense" each other's presence?