I have a Night Snake named "Hypsi" I caught almost 2 years ago. During the first couple of months she did not eat a thing. All I had was a heat cord and whatever natural light came into the room. I thought, "It's a night snake! It doesn't come out in the day-time!." Because of feeding problems, I decided to give her a regular 25W bulb and put it on a timer. Presto! She started eating (and she didn't do any basking though, the heat cord helped with that!). I believe this reflects a need for animals to be aware of the daily and seasonal cycles. All my snakes are now on lamps (even if it's just a low-watt UVA) that are on timers, which I adjust monthly to fit the seasons.