Cali King Fasting?

[Vengeance]

Do Cali King's fast?

My Cali king has been off food since late October, he used to be my best feeder but hasn't had a meal in a few months. Nothing has changed in his cage setup. It's a 15 Gallon glass tank with screen top. Temps are 70 - 75 on the cool side, 87 - 90 on the hot side. I measure temps with an infared heat gun. Substrate is care fresh, he has 2 hides, one on the hot side and one on the cool. Water dish is in the middle of the two hides, he still seems very active and alert, I haven't been keeping very good track of his weight, but I've started to keep track of it because of him not eating so I'm not sure if he is loseing a rapid amount of weight yet or not.

So if this common for King Snakes at this time of year or should I be looking for something else?

[vanderkm]

Based on him being in a 15 gallon tank I am guessing this is a youngster - but even they seem to know when it is winter and time to rest their guts and brumate. We cool our adults and even find that the young cal kings seem to be looking for a cool place to rest when the daylight hours decrease (our corns would eat all year long if we let them!).

I would monitor his weight, insure he has fresh water and drop the frequency of offering feed to every 3-4 weeks. I suspect its a seasonal thing and that he won't be too keen on feeding for the rest of the winter but will likely get back to normal once spring hits. If it is a male, even youngsters may be more interested in breeding in the spring than in food, so may be April before he feeds again. No need to worry if he doesn't drop much weight.

mary v.

[Vengeance]

He is a youngster, less then a year old from PCPC. I've dropped his offerings to once every 2 weeks. It is a male, I figured it was a seasonal thing, just didn't realize that even Cali Kings started fasting in the winter as well. He is not going to be used in any Breeding projects, he is just a pet so I don't burmate him. I'll keep a close eye on his weight, last time I weighed him he was around 100 grams that was a few weeks ago, I'll weigh him again and see if he is maintaning his weight.

Thanks

[Jeff_Favelle]

Winter time.

[Will]

My guess is that it is just the season.

You'll find that they will set their own agendas, whether you are planning on breeding him or not. More often than not, I found it to be a losing battle, trying to get them to eat when they really don't want to. Regardless of whether they will be bred or not, all of mine are brumated starting in their second winter - some in the first winter if they go off feed...

[Manitoban Herps]

Yep, one of males is off due to the season.