Winter Fasting

[Aerries]

So its been exactly two months that my BP hasn't eaten and I'm kinda getting worried... He's a little over a year old, when I weighed him last month he was at 520g and now is at 500g, not sure if that's something to really worry about, he's shed since then but also there was blood present. I've been keeping up with his husbandry religiously and all of his readings on temp and humidity are 85-90 degrees and 50-60% humidity. He's still as calm as ever and does his normal roaming around his cage every night and early morning. Just trying to get an idea as to how long does their fast normally go for on average. Below is the bleeding that I was talking about. Please help me out with this!

[aes1004]

My male bp also went off of feed but for around 3 months, he started eating again this month, I offered food a couple of times a week until he ate again. I'm not sure about the bleeding though but mine did shed right before he stopped eating. You may just have to be patient. Sorry if this doesn't help but I thought I would share my experience.

[Lizardlicks]

Snakes very commonly bleed just a tiny bit around the spurs/cloaca when they shed. It's not usually anything to be concerned about.

[Prognathodon]

That's less than a 5% loss in weight. For BPs, 2 months and a negligible loss in weight is no big deal. We mammals may worry, but try not to.


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[Stewart_Reptiles]

20 grams is nothing, I have animals half that size losing as much in one bowel movement.

Fast can last for a few weeks of for several months, it depends on the animal as well as what is done to help the animal resume feeding.

During the winter I keep males in extra small quarters to ensure that they will eat throughout the season.

Males can (even females) can go off feed for various reason.

Changes in weather, breeding season, cathing up because they are over fed etc.

Just make sure that your husbandry is optimal, downsize the enclosure if you think it may help and most importantly be patient.

I never recommend changing prey type in this type of case since it may mean being stuck with this prey type from that point on.

As for the bleeding it's pretty normal after a shed to observe blood in the vent area.

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[JodanOrNoDan]

During the winter I keep males in extra small quarters to ensure that they will eat throughout the season.

I am interested in the psychology of this one. My males that eat year round, eat year round. My males that fast, fast no matter what I do. How small of a container are you placing them in?

Anyone else doing this?

[rufretic]

I am interested in the psychology of this one. My males that eat year round, eat year round. My males that fast, fast no matter what I do. How small of a container are you placing them in?

Anyone else doing this?

Im not sure about the psychology of it other than added security. I've noticed all mine are more eager to feed since being moved into small tubs. My hatchling to about 300g are in small 6qt tubs and at about 400g I switch them to their adult 28qt tub. An in between size would be ideal but right now those are my only two sizes. None of mine are larger than 1200g so I'm hoping I won't need to make a rack with larger tubs as they get larger. As of right now, mine all feed very well, between every 4-7 days depending on size. Smaller enclosures definitely seem to keep mine more comfortable and stress free equaling better eating consistency.

[JodanOrNoDan]

Im not sure about the psychology of it other than added security. I've noticed all mine are more eager to feed since being moved into small tubs. My hatchling to about 300g are in small 6qt tubs and at about 400g I switch them to their adult 28qt tub. An in between size would be ideal but right now those are my only two sizes. None of mine are larger than 1200g so I'm hoping I won't need to make a rack with larger tubs as they get larger. As of right now, mine all feed very well, between every 4-7 days depending on size. Smaller enclosures definitely seem to keep mine more comfortable and stress free equaling better eating consistency.

This sounds inline for animals in their first year. Get prepared to get larger tubs. I have a few smaller males and a couple that are substantial in size. My adult males that eat all year are the ones I "allow" to be stressed the most. They do not have hides, they are in clear tubs, and are the ones my daughters play with. They are pretty much bomb proof. The ones that do go off food have a setup that is closer to what is on the caresheet with the exception that I am on ambient heat. I tried the smaller container zero stress deal on some of my males that go off food with absolutely no change in behaviour, so I was curious as to what may be different in Deborah's environment. I have a suspition that she tends to feed smaller and or less frequently than I do and it may have more to do with that than the smaller diggs. I don't know. Hopefully she will chime in.

As a disclaimer, I know my animals very well, I do not recommend experimentation to new keepers. Sticking to the caresheet will keep you out of trouble. And I am talking about adult males here. Babies need an environment that they feel secure in at all times

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I am interested in the psychology of this one. My males that eat year round, eat year round. My males that fast, fast no matter what I do. How small of a container are you placing them in?

Anyone else doing this?

I keep males up to 800/900 grams in 15 quarts tubs to ensure that they eat while breeding. Few years back I have noticed that smaller males 500/700 grams (not all but enough of them) would often go off feed during the winter/breeding season, no big deal for those not being paired, a little more of a deal for those that were, so like any animal that would stop eating for a certain period of time I started to downsize a bit and sure enough they resumed feeding (nothing new there). From that point on I decided that every winter/breeding season rather than fix an issue I would prevent it, so all males under 800/900 grams get moved to 15 quarts.

It's been working very well they eat and breed which is exactly how I like it, having male that stop eating and are being paired can take it's toll very fast compare to having a pet that stop eating so to me it was essential to make sure that it did not happen to start with, of course it's not the only thing making sure that males are not overfed throughout the year will help as well.

Larger males are in regular 32 quarts tubs and really do not care they eat no matter what.

The psychology is easy and has been proven downsizing offer added security and will in most cases alone help an animal resume feeding of course if it is an animal that hit "the wall" it a whole other ball game.

[JodanOrNoDan]

I keep males up to 800/900 grams in 15 quarts tubs to ensure that they eat while breeding. Few years back I have noticed that smaller males 500/700 grams (not all but enough of them) would often go off feed during the winter/breeding season, no big deal for those not being paired, a little more of a deal for those that were, so like any animal that would stop eating for a certain period of time I started to downsize a bit and sure enough they resumed feeding (nothing new there). From that point on I decided that every winter/breeding season rather than fix an issue I would prevent it, so all males under 800/900 grams get moved to 15 quarts.

It's been working very well they eat and breed which is exactly how I like it, having male that stop eating and are being paired can take it's toll very fast compare to having a pet that stop eating so to me it was essential to make sure that it did not happen to start with, of course it's not the only thing making sure that males are not overfed throughout the year will help as well.

Larger males are in regular 32 quarts tubs and really do not care they eat no matter what.

The psychology is easy and has been proven downsizing offer added security and will in most cases alone help an animal resume feeding of course if it is an animal that hit "the wall" it a whole other ball game.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate the detail. I have never tried going that small on an adult male before and I have at least one male that will get this treatment next season. He tends to only be concerned about one thing this time a year and unlike most of my others tends to loose more weight than I am comfortable with. Half my enjoyment with these animals is obsessing about their behaviors and guessing which behaviors are conditioning, genetics, or just flukes.