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question about seasonal fasting....

E

elvis45

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This is my first year dealing with the suppression of appetite in my female couperi during breeding season. About when should I expect a return of her usual ravenous feeding behavior? Are there any environmental conditions that I should be changing? Currently, cage temps range from 68-80 F during the day; clean, fresh water 2x week; daylight cycle of 12-13hours. She doesn't appear to be losing weight and she is active when handled (once every 7-10 days). Thanks for any input.
 
Most D. couperi, both male and female, will fast throughout the winter months, whether they are breeding or not, though there are some that will continue feeding. The fasting period is normal behavior and is not cause for alarm. Females will normally begin feeding ravenously immediately post oviposition and males generally start feeding again in early march, as do females which haven't reproduced.
Personally, I continue offering small prey items throughout the breeding season on a weekly basis, but you can also watch for them to begin cruising their enclosures in search of prey, as they inevitably will, and offer food at that time. If you watch them closely, long enough and often enough, you will begin to pick up on their behavior and they will communicate many of their needs to you…

Best regards,

Jeff
 
some do,...some don't. some do at different times, ages, and stages of development, especially during winter/mating season. Remember these snakes might well eat one another instead of mate, if not for their decreased winter appetite which coinsides with mating season. So there is a reason for it, and many other things affect feeding response, but I'd say that's the biggy. They'll come around when the days get just a bit longer. You'll be complaing then that they are eating you out of house and home. If they don't get really crankin by April or May,then worry I think. But I've heard of individuals which never display a lack of appetite or fasting at all, and never turn down a meal throughout the winter. On the other end of the spectrum, there's Mongo, who stops eating completely in October, and does not eat again until February or March. But he still weighs in at 15 and a half pounds! So it is a highly variable phenomenon to say the least. But they don't seem to suffer any ill effects for it no matter which end of the spectrum they fall.
T.
 
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