Anyone elses female off feed this time of year?

[Maverick67]

Scarlett hasn't eaten in 38 days now. she lost a little wieght but by no means is skinny. the temp and humidity are solid in the tank. 83ish on the cool side 92 on the warm. humidity around 55%. She had eaten well for me all summer but she went into shed and wouldn't eat and after the shed the temps outside started to change. very minimal impact on her enclosure but animals just know when the seasons change. Anyway I was talking to my friend who is the previous owner and he told me she usually goes off feed for a while this time of year. the longest she has done it is 6 months. So the rat i bout for her is getting huge and i even picked up a mouse to try to spark her interest. she played follow the leader with it but never struck. so now i have 2 more pets. whats the deal is this a normal thing?

[anatess]

It happens a lot when it gets colder. Just continue to monitor her weight, keep offering food every week, keep husbandry spot on, and wait it out.

[Maverick67]

ya that was about the plan i guess

[JibbaJabba]

My girl (late 08 / early 09) - 1200 grams also refused the first time .. Just one of those things - nothing to worry about.

[MitsuMike]

Both my breeding girls are now off feed

[saber2th]

Mine are still eating like pigs! Well, today is feeding day so I will see if they are still little pigs.

[L.West]

A question along these lines - if feeding live - how long should we leave the rat in the tub with the snake if it doesn't take it immediately?? I currently stand by and try to supervise as much as one can when you cant really see into the tub but I do listen for any signs of trouble - I usually take the rat out after about 15 minutes tops - is this correct??

[Zedd]

mine has been off feed for 3 weeks now also

[Maverick67]

I usually give mine 15-20 min with the live rat in the enclosure. supervised of course. If they don't take it out the rat comes and we try another day.

[WingedWolfPsion]

I usually give it a half hour with the lights off, if it's not gone by then, it's not going, so I remove it.

Yes, some girls will go off feed over the winter, too. And there seems to be a 'teen fast' that females between 800 and 1500 grams will do over the winter, even if they never fast for the season again afterward.