question about activity level and seasons?

[fsqwert]

My other two posts were just comments that I made regarding different things that I have noticed about my corn snake. This time...I need advice.

I got my corn snake in July of this year. This is my first time owning a corn snake, so on some of the finer points I might not know all the details. Anyway, about 4 days ago my snake shed his skin, pretty much without incident except for the tail portion which I thought hadnt been shed but I found it later in the same area as the larger piece. This was on Tuesday that he shed. Almost right after he shed, I fed him two pinkies because I figured he was hungry since he hadn't eaten since Monday of the previous week. Anyway, he digested everything well, I guess...no regurges. But during the previous months he was out and about in about two days after eating. Like I said, I fed him on Tuesday of this week. I have since been watching the tank at night, periodically, looking for him to come out of hiding. I have yet to see him and this will be Saturday night tonight. I thought this was really strange. This is a first for this type of behavior. I mean...does snake activity correspond to the seasons, or have my temps become inadequate since the changing of the seasons? What I'm really asking is...can I expect his activity level to remain the same even though the seasons change, IF I maintain the proper temps in his viv, or will he be less active in the fall and winter EVEN IF I WOULD keep his viv at 95 degrees all the time? (which I would never do) I live in Ohio where the fall and winters have temperatures much, much colder than corn snakes could stand. I have him inside of course, and I have my house thermostat set on 69 degrees. Everything was fine during the summer months, but now....since this past week...he has become very inactive at night. Like I said...no regurges YET....but I wanna keep it that way!
I do have a heating pad, and I have increased the amount of time it stays on...even at night it is on for a few hours....the temp on the warm end under the hiding spot reached a high of 92 degrees which I thought was very good. Except....why is it then that he has become inactive at night recently??? Im totally confused.

Jeff

 

[rachel132002]

After they feed they become sluggish and often don't do a lot so it's probably just that.

Rachel

 

[fsqwert]

ok......

You could be right, Rachel....I have thought of that....its just that he usually recovered in about two days after eating. I have started him on large pinkies just recently, whereas before I used to feed him small pinkies. So, maybe he needed the extra time to digest the larger meal...combined with the fact that the room is slightly cooler now that it has turned to fall. So maybe youre right....I hope thats all it is
Jeff

 

[rachel132002]

lol yep now we're in that time - both mine are refusing flat out so I'd think you're lucky they're just sluggish he he.

Rachel

 

[Rachel]

I thought I'd add that corns behaviour will change with seasons. If your corn is still being exposed to natural daylengths (regardless of temps) then he could be following a natural seasonal cycle. They have breeding seasons (which no doubt you will find out about all too soon when your corn refuses to eat for weeks and weeks!) and before breeding season (during winter) they would naturally go into brumation. If your corn is being all sluggish then *perhaps* he is thinking he should be brumating. I haven't experienced this with my corns before so this is only an idea. Then again I have the snakes in our living room so the light goes on when I get home as it gets darker (damn british winter nights!!)

HTH Rach

 

[fsqwert]

brumation probably would be a bad thing at this point since he's only 4 months old...but thanks for the advice. I also noticed btw that his poop is much different than before...I have been reading different people's postings on this board during the summer when I first got my snake...and I read the ones about what poop is supposed to look like.
During the summer months...I used to clean his cage..and I used to think to myself...."what organic matter???" "brownish black???" because all I kept seeing was the urate portion...which I thought was a great sign.(a sign of complete digestion) Recently though...I have been seeing much more organic matter along with the fact that he doesnt seem to be as active at night. He is STILL a great eater though. I haven't tried it yet...but I bet he could handle 4 large pinkies a week, 2 pinks twice a week.
And that's a resounding YES....I don't use artificial light anymore. I just switched to natural light about...ohh...a couple of months ago.

 

[rachel132002]

If he could handle 4 a week he could probably go onto fuzzies.

Rach

 

[Rachel]

I have noticed the change in fecal matter too but simply put it down to moving my snakes up a size in their mice. Maybe there is something in it if you've noticed this oo and haven't changed anything...

As for the brumation thing, I didn't mean that he would brumate(if your temps are remaining fairly stable) just that his behaviour might change a bit like he's 'preparing' to brumate due to the change in daylengths. It was only a suggestion, and like most take it with a pinch of salt lol

 

[paulc]

It may be that 2 pinkies twice a week is to much, i would try 2 at one feed and 1 the next, see how that gets digested.

 

[Rachel]

It may be that 2 pinkies twice a week is to much, i would try 2 at one feed and 1 the next, see how that gets digested.

He's not feeding 2 twice a week, I think he meant that his snake *could* handle 2 twice a week as in it has a great appetite

 

[fsqwert]

Yeah, that's what I meant. My little corn snake came out of hiding last night, probably due to the fact that yesterday was an exceptionally warm day. Anyway, I wonder if the fact that he came out means that the temps are too low...I measured the temps on the SURFACE of the substrate and I got pretty close to normal levels...82-90 on the warm side (on the uncovered substrate was 82...and underneath the hide reached about 90) and well....between 68 and 72 on the cool side. (due to the cooler weather we have been having lately) Yesterday was an exception though, as the high was in the 70's outside. I'm wondering if I should raise the air temps inside the cage and this would provide additional heat and my snake would then start coming out of hiding more frequently at night. This whole dormancy thing scares me...I just think that one day I'm gonna offer him food and he won't eat.
Here's a novel idea I toyed with the other day. If the reduced activity at this time of year is in fact normal, I was thinking that he might benefit from a sprinkling or spraying of his food with those digestive aids that they have for people at the health food store. (I'm trying to think of eeeeverything here...LOL) Those digestive aids with enzymes such as papain, bromelain, and pancreatin. I would sprinkle or dip that on a pinkie once in a while (not at every feeding) just to make it easier for him to digest his food to reduce the chance of regurgitation (never happened yet)

"Gentlemen...we can rebuild him..."

 

[fsqwert]

He came out of hiding......

Hey people! Thanks for all of the advice you offered me. This was just one problem I had to tackle myself though. To make a loong story short, my TEMPS were TOO LOW! DUHH!!!
My temps had only dropped about 5 degrees when summer turned to fall, but apparently that was enough for my little guy to cease all activity. I didnt suspect that it was temps at first, because in response to the colder weather, I doubled the amount of time that my heating pad was on. Apparently since he never regurged, the temps I had were high enough for digestion under the hide boxes. However I suspect that the ambient air temperature wasnt high enough for him to come out of hiding and to be active. He was probably comfortable under the hiding places, but then when he tried to come out...he was like...."brrrhhh is it cold out here, I think I'm going back under" Anyway, I fixed the problem without any bad things happening (which is JUST THE WAY IT SHOULD BE)
I went out and bought a ceramic heater for the top of the tank, which gives me a daytime high of 85 on the warm end, and 75 on the cool end. And the nighttime temps are back to where they were in August...80 on the warm end, and about 70 for the low on the cool end. I run the ceramic heater during the day from about 8 am to 5 pm..and the heating pad kicks on in the evening....from 5 pm till 8 am.( Before, I just had the heating pad on for about 16 hours a day.) Not only was he roaming the ground with this new arrangement, he also climbed his branch that I put for him. Needless to say, I was ECSTATIC.
He came out about 8 pm, and he was still going when I went to bed at midnight.
Sure glad I figured that one out....I would never expect a temperature difference of 5 degrees to have such a dramatic effect on behavior. But, this is one reason I decided on a snake...because of the CHALLENGE.

"Gentlemen....we can rebuild him..."