Do you notice some of your corns losing their appetites when the weather gets cold?

[wendhend]

I have a pretty large collection of corns, and every year in late fall or winter I notice that some of my corns, especially hatchlings, that are normally consistent feeders will lose their appetites and fast for awhile. It always seems to resolve after a few weeks, and I think it's just a normal thing that happens around this time of year. However I have recently had customers contacting me a bit panicked, because their hatchlings who were good feeders seem to have lost their appetites recently. I can't seem find any threads on this forum that address this seasonal fasting thing, so I thought I would start one as a poll to see how many people are affected by this and to see if there are any trends related to our locations. I would speculate that those of us further north might see it more, but who knows? So, have YOU noticed some of your corn snakes losing their appetites as the weather has gotten colder?

[Buzzard]

I have seen this on my larger snakes in years past. This year will be my first year brumating so, I can not say it about my adults this year. However, I have had a couple of sub-adults and my cb Alabamas skip a about every other feeding so far this fall. My hatchlings are garbage disposal, so they haven't stopped at all. They are like 16 year old boys on a "see" food diet.... I see food, I eat it....

[Holly12]

My corn lately has always eaten 2 pinkies now this time it only wanted one is this normal when the weather changes?.

[AliCat37]

I have yet to notice it happen in mine, however, my friend who first got me into snakes has seen her female slow down in food a lot.

[Allalaskan]

Well, temp dropped to -25F on feeding day here (few days ago) and my snakes hadn't lost any appetite haha. :D I did notice last spring for about 2 months my corn lost his appetite but I think that do to his "looking for love".

[Tara80]

I've noticed this very much this year. I can say a little less than half of my collection refused to eat last feeding, which was actually a frustration for me because I would really like to get a few of my females a little more plump before they head for brumation. I ended up having to pull out the chicks for a few of them to ensure that they ate something (most of my snakes never refuse a chick). It feels a little better knowing that I'm not the only one having this issue. I plan to try again tonight and see how it goes.

Wendy, I wonder if it might have something to do with our location. The heat might still remain steady in the house but you sure can feel the difference in the air around here with the barometric and humidity changes. I think they can be really sensitive to that.

[wendhend]

My corn lately has always eaten 2 pinkies now this time it only wanted one is this normal when the weather changes?.

From my experience, it seems to be pretty common. Right now I have 37 hatchlings in my home, who were all very consistent feeders until the weather started getting colder. Currently 13 of the 37 (35%) are showing some degree of feeding fussiness, whether it is eating fewer pinkies than they used to, eating sporadically or flat out refusing for weeks at a time. A couple of my subadults have also gotten a bit fussy lately as well. I see a little bit of this every year around this time since my collection has become larger. I know it is just temorary but still frustrating nonetheless!

[wendhend]

Wendy, I wonder if it might have something to do with our location. The heat might still remain steady in the house but you sure can feel the difference in the air around here with the barometric and humidity changes. I think they can be really sensitive to that.

You may be onto something. It will be interesting to see if anyone else from our area replies and is also seeing a lot of fasting going on.

[AdamF]

I am hardly an expert, but from what I've read and seen, many species (even tropical ones) will eat less during winter. It is due to changes in barometric pressure event though tanks temps don;t change, and the differences in amount of natural sunlight (if any).

These light changes signal arrival and departure of seasons, and the snakes sense this. Many of my pets over the years also display a reduction in activity during our winter months as well.

I automatically cut back on their diets (wish I could do that for myself!!) during these seasonal changes.

[cmjetton]

I am new too but totally agreee with pets 'knowing' that the winter season is here and dark means sleep! but one corn (Gambit) eats like a disposal... another corn will eat but not when blue (Slinky)... the baby balls are still having a growth spurt and being nocturnal seems to be their element (Fluffy & Pumpkin) but the old man (Jack) is an adult Western hoggie and he's like "I'm hibernating get that dang mouse out of my face!" So we went to the local smoke shop and bought a scale that goes up to 2000 grams and weight all the little boogers for our piece of mind by verifying no serious weight loss is going on when any of them decide to hunger strike and just mark the calendar for reference next winter :)

[wendhend]

Another trend I have noticed is that sibling groups seem to be affected by this seasonal fasting thing. Right now I have Abbotts Okeetee, butter stripe and hypo lavender motley sibling groups that have all become noticibly finicky since the weather has gotten cold. And with the large clutch of bloodreds I still have a bunch of, not a single one has been affected.

[SnakeAround]

I have a yearling female refusing for almost a month now, about the period it has been noticeably colder around here. September was very warm with a day of close to 25 degrees Celsius in the last week but a few days later it was down to 15 already. At the start of November we reached 5 and it has been up and down between 5 and 10 so far. We had very few days with fall temps.

Today my adult boa hesitantly ate her rat and refused her 2nd, but she shed today I found out so I hope that caused it.

My male gopher flatly refuses most of December each year and skips an additional 1 or 2 before or after that.

Some of my corns do get a little fussy indeed each year during the winter months. I also notice more occurrences of non optimal digesting.