young bull snake not eating

[goopyguy]

Anywho, I know some bull snakes might slow down and stop eating at certain times of the year. My young and probably less than six month old bull snake refused his last meal. I tried feeding him a few days later to no avail. My other bull snake, who I believe is a little younger, attacks mice like an Ethiopian would attack an all you can eat buffet. The male has eaten pretty well until recently. I always thought the seasonal shut down wouldn't happen till they were a few years old. I was just looking for some input. These are my first pituophis so I don't entirely know what to expect in my month and a half of experience with them.

[Skiploder]

Anywho, I know some bull snakes might slow down and stop eating at certain times of the year. My young and probably less than six month old bull snake refused his last meal. I tried feeding him a few days later to no avail. My other bull snake, who I believe is a little younger, attacks mice like an Ethiopian would attack an all you can eat buffet. The male has eaten pretty well until recently. I always thought the seasonal shut down wouldn't happen till they were a few years old. I was just looking for some input. These are my first pituophis so I don't entirely know what to expect in my month and a half of experience with them.

How long have you had them?

What temparature are you keeping them at?

What size are the prey items in relationship to the snake? What are you feeding him? Are you leaving the prey items in the enclosure with him?

What has the temperature been doing where you live? Is it getting colder? Is it raining?

[goopyguy]

I have had them for about six weeks. I have a heat mat under half there cages set at 88 degrees with a thermostat. The room temperature usually stays around the lower 70's. I keep them in separate cages and have had those settings since ive had them with no problems until recently with just the male. It has been getting colder lately here in NE Ohio. I have been feeding them adult mice about every 5-7 days which have been what they have been eating the last few times. The snakes are getting close to the three foot mark. The weather is really messed up in northern ohio. One day it's warm, the next day it's cold. But overall it's getting into fall weather. And yeah they have been eating frozen thawed mice. I would leave them in the cage with him for several hours and he just kind of sniffs em out and leaves them alone. I have tried jiggling them sometimes but he just gets scared and rattles his tale. The female usually snatches them up no matter how they are presented.

[Skiploder]

I have had them for about six weeks. I have a heat mat under half there cages set at 88 degrees with a thermostat. The room temperature usually stays around the lower 70's. I keep them in separate cages and have had those settings since ive had them with no problems until recently with just the male. It has been getting colder lately here in NE Ohio. I have been feeding them adult mice about every 5-7 days which have been what they have been eating the last few times. The snakes are getting close to the three foot mark. The weather is really messed up in northern ohio. One day it's warm, the next day it's cold. But overall it's getting into fall weather. And yeah they have been eating frozen thawed mice. I would leave them in the cage with him for several hours and he just kind of sniffs em out and leaves them alone. I have tried jiggling them sometimes but he just gets scared and rattles his tale. The female usually snatches them up no matter how they are presented.

If the weather is getting cold he may just be slowing down - these sound like 2009 or 2010 animals. My 2011 animals were born in March and are nowhere near that size. These include louisianans, northerns, lines, locality gophers and bulls - and ruthveni are born BIG. If yours are March 2011 babies and are near three foot I'd be surprised.

I'd try feeding him a similarly sized rat pup/large rat pinky and see if he takes it.

If you haven't already done so, I would recommend taking fecal samples of both animals.

[goopyguy]

Yeah maybe they are older than I thought. I was under the impression that they usually hit the 4-5ft range by one year of age. I have heard of some bloodlines that hit 5.5ft in a year without power feeding. I will take some poop samples to the vet. I hope he poops again even if he doesn't eat

[goopyguy]

You know, I just took him out to handle to see how he was doin. If I am not mistaken, It looks like he might be going into shed soon. His eyes aren't clouded over it but it seems like they are just starting to get slightly milky. Maybe that would explain the recent food refusal. Although the ball python and red-tail I had as a kid ate when they were in shed. I have heard that some snakes won't eat when they are getting ready to shed so hopefully that's it. Maybe it's just wishful thinking.

[Skiploder]

Yeah maybe they are older than I thought. I was under the impression that they usually hit the 4-5ft range by one year of age. I have heard of some bloodlines that hit 5.5ft in a year without power feeding. I will take some poop samples to the vet. I hope he poops again even if he doesn't eat

There was a study done in which the average length of yearling bulls was taken and it was around 65 cm or 25".

Some bloodlines get bigger and some get smaller. I will tell you that fed in a responsible manner, even the biggest pits (think lineaticollis) rarely get that big in a year.

As you mentioned, it could be the shed. Or it could be him naturally slowing down with the onset of colder weather.

[goopyguy]

Well, he wasn't going into shed but the vet told me to try offering him something smaller so I went and picked up a few frozen fuzzies and he ate one today. I offered him the usual adult mouse right after wards but he didn't seem interested at all. I hope he comes around and starts eating decent sized food again.

[goopyguy]

Can a snake that goes through a period of decreased activity or a seasonal slow down still eat occasionally? I ask this because when I used to have a ball python it would stop eating completely at certain times of the year. My bull snakes seem to have slowed down but haven't completely stopped eating. Some weeks they won't eat and when I try later they eat. It seems pretty sporadic. They used to both be savage beasts when I would drop a thawed mouse in the cage. Now they just kind of sniff it and may only eat it after I walk out of the room for a few. I was just seeing what others experience is with the whole seasonal thing.