Quote:
Originally Posted by hhmoore
He's not in brumation unless you're keeping him cold enough to slow down his metabolism. There are a couple of reasons he might not be eating - the first one to consider is temperatures. What is the room temp, and what are you using to provide heat?
That snake has a retained shed...most of my bulls wouldn't be phased by that, but I have a couple that might feed sporadically if they were left that way. I'd soak him & get that old skin off.
What's with the gloves???
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I wasn't wearing the gloves, someone else was. I was the photographer. He's a typical bull snake in aggressiveness and is snippy with quick hand movements. He is calming down, tho.
I'm getting conflicting info regarding heat/light and brumation/hibernation - some are telling me to cool him down and reduce light, some tell me to maintain light and heat that it's lenght of day/time of year that he responds to. I would prefer to maintain stable year-round lighting and temp with regular feeds, but I will do whatever is necessary to maintain his health.
Currently I have a heat lamp for day time and a red light for nighttime warmth (both on 12hour timers). I also have a heat pad attached to the warm side of the tank
He has 2 hides (neither of which he uses) and a water dish
He has moss that I spray to increase humidity, but I doubt that it helps much.
So............... should I be trying to hibernate/brumate him?
For how long?
Light? No light?
Tank temps?
How long should I be soaking him for and how often?
Should I do anything else to aid the shed?
Again, I can't stress enough how much conflicting information I've found on the internet. I would really like to find a good, authoritative book by a reputable author regarding Pituophis that addresses all these concerns.