Winter fast?

[bnorb]

So my little guy started fasting around the middle/end of October. I'm not exactly sure when, because he is prone to missing a few meals here and there. So I've kept track of his weight since Nov. 19, which looks like this:

2018.11.19	593g
2018.11.26	583g
2018.12.03	582g
2018.12.10	570g
2018.12.16	571g

Before I've started keeping track of his weight, he was 628g if I recall correctly, but had a pretty big poop, so the 593g should be realistic. He is about 1.5 years old, and I think he should weight a bit more. He was a problem eater when I got him, so there were quite a few missed meals while transitioning from live mice to F/T rats.

What keeps me calm (yet) is that he behaves like his normal self. Hides all day, then comes out at night for a bit of climbing and streching. Doesn't seem stressed even if I get him out (he is always pretty chill about handling). Also he is drinking normally.

Humidity is around 50-60%, I mist the enclosure about once every two days.
Ambient temp is about 26-27°C(78.8- 80.6°F), the temp in the warm hide is around 33°C(91.4°F).
He has 3 hides, uses all of them.
Substrate is cypress mulch, I've switched from aspen shavings recently.

I've tried feeding about once every 7-10 days, but most of the time he doesn't really care about the rat.

So is it realistic that he's having a winter fast at this age? Should I be concerned about this amount of weight loss, or is it considered normal? (He did pass some urates after I started measuring).

[Avsha531]

Seems completely realistic and normal for now. Going through the exact same thing with my 1.5 year old BP (as well as with the older ones lol). Nothing to worry about as long as husbandry is correct and there isn't any drastic weight loss

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[bnorb]

Thanks for your reassurance! Do you maybe have an estimated weight below which I should be concerned? (Of course I hope it won't come to that.)

[Avsha531]

Since the current size is already on the lighter side for 1.5 year old BP I would say like at 520g, but definitely wait for someone more experienced than me to chime in here

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