Well, I know quite some breeders who hibernate their snakes and even the newborns. Some hibernate very late newborns even directly. They still have a very low mortality rate on those and say the hibernation has a good effect on their eating. Normally late newborns are problem feeders from the beginning, which make's them very weak. But the hibernation is apparently naturally to them.

Maybe it can't be taken as proof, but snakes of the same species tend to live longer if they're hibernated. This is also something from keepers, not scientific. But maybe somebody knows about some studies about it?

PS: This will probably be the last post before I go on holiday, till over a couple of weeks