It's brumation time...

[Zephyr]

AND I'M FREAKING OUT. Most of my snakes are refusing food; Fatty not included. I intended to start cooling them down at the end of the month: Now I think the snakes have decided they're going to brumate right NOW.

So, I'm looking at next next week Monday as d-day for putting them in the fridge.
My main question though is, should I keep their temps up right now?
The males are already cool-er. They'll be moved to the basement next week, and then they'll be put into the fridge, but the females are all "crammed" into a communal tank with temps in the low 80's. They've been given their last meal opportunity today.
So do I keep the temps up and let them metabolize the meals fast, or should I let them digest the stuff slowly and let the temps drop to room temp?

[Snake lover 3-25]

i thought you were suposed to stopp feeding at least 2 wks b4 brumation....... i'd wait.... dont chance the food rotting in their stomachs......

[Zephyr]

No no no, I don't mean I'm gonna shove them in the fridge right now. XD
I just want to get an opinion on whether or not to keep the temps high.

[Snake lover 3-25]

ooo lol idk..... mine usually stop eating in sept and i just leave them be until around november then i start to lover the temps and they go down to the coolest temps on christmas...... come out march 1........

[Zephyr]

Do you think I could skip the fridge and simply move them to my basement?
It gets around 65-68 down here during the winter...

[Snake lover 3-25]

i try and get mine down to 60 at the coolest point...... but do you really stick them in the fridge????

[Zephyr]

I'm going to buy a fridge specifically for the purpose of brumating.
AKA "stick them in the fridge."
lol

[Snake lover 3-25]

oooooo lol i had no idea what you ment lol but arent fridges air tight?

[Zephyr]

oooooo lol i had no idea what you ment lol but arent fridges air tight?
...
That is a very good point you bring up...
Okay, now I'm thinking that finding a cold, quiet place in the basement may be a better way to brumate.

[Snake lover 3-25]

lol yup.... what i do as im taking them down is
turn off their lights 1 week
put them under my bed 1 week (or covered in the same room they are kept in)
put them covered in the bathroom 1 week
put them covered in the basement 2 months
repeat same steps backwards:D

[Zephyr]

Woo.
So do you think 64-68 will be good enough? I don't want them to lose weight too fast.

[Snake lover 3-25]

um..... i have no idea...... i've only dont it for 2 yrs.... but they didn't lose weight...... never have....... but then again..... my female is overweight........ that's why i dont bother starting cooling till november.........

[reptile3]

Question? is this for all the snakes(garters,ribbons, dekayi's) I am just curious.

[Snake lover 3-25]

Yes, Not completly necessary

[Zephyr]

Mainly for breeding purposes or to get a snake off a severe hunger strike.

[reptile3]

Mainly for breeding purposes or to get a snake off a severe hunger strike.

Oh ok... i am not going to breed.. well I hope I am not going to! lol

[ssssnakeluvr]

should be down in the 50's or so...give them at least 2 weeks in warm temps befroe starting the coold down. I gave all my breeders their last meal last week. they get 2 weeks in the nice temps to clear them out. then off to the garage...will be in the 50's for a bit as the temp here cool down, then into the 40's as winter gets here.... then sleep for 3 months. non-feeders go down for a month after not eating for 2-3 weeks. they are down for a month and brought out.

[Zephyr]

You get them down to the 40's Don?
Some one needs to find out if there's been a study on the temperatures in snake dens.
When I visited Utah, (no offense to your obviously larger amount of experience over there Don) the places where I finally found garters had noticeable brumation sites: probably going at least 10 feet down underground. I'd tend to bet that that far beneath the frost line the temps would be at least low 60's.

[ssssnakeluvr]

frost line doesn't go down too far...garters are very cold tolerant snakes. mine do just fine in the 40's in the garage for 3 months.

[Zephyr]

So do you think there'd be any problems with brumating at 65-ish?

[Snake lover 3-25]

that's what i do mine at.......... but i have never breed....... and it always gets them out of their yearly hunger strike.......

[ssssnakeluvr]

seems a little warm.....barely hit 60's out here today, my daughter found one out and about....

[Zephyr]

Yeah, the wanderings were out in the yard today too before I brought them inside...
At about 38.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

about the fridge being airtight... as long as you briedly opened it up every day or so.... they would be fine... they don't use up a whole lot of oxygen!

I was using my basement... never thought about the garage!!! definitely looking into that!

[Zephyr]

about the fridge being airtight... as long as you briedly opened it up every day or so.... they would be fine... they don't use up a whole lot of oxygen!

I was using my basement... never thought about the garage!!! definitely looking into that!What temp is your basement at Shannon?

[ssssnakeluvr]

I used one of those 3 ft tall fridges...samller ones. I peeled of the weatherstripping on the top and bottom of the door. that let air in....however, humidity in the tubs caused serious problems...

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

hahaha, honestly... I dont know!!! I enver measured the temp... I just know it gets cold... but not TOO cold.

I did not have a good year though... I didn't have them down long enough and I think it could have been colder. I think my garage is the solution, as my basement actually has the vents connecting to it, while the garage does not at all!

[Loren]

I brumate non-garters in a closet at 60- ish., but maybe garters need colder. I am not a garter breeder. :)
Shoot, it was 95 here a couple days ago, hard to think about brumation quite yet here.

[Loren]

about the fridge being airtight... as long as you briedly opened it up every day or so.... they would be fine... they don't use up a whole lot of oxygen!

I was using my basement... never thought about the garage!!! definitely looking into that!
Have to watch humidity issues/dehydration real careful in a fridge, I would think.

[drache]

I have an enclosed sunporch that's almost as cold as outside in winter
my snakes' cages get covered with space blankets, along with a heater on a thermostat that kicks in when the temps drop too low
I've seen the parietalis move around in the low 50s
I would imagine that a parietalis brumates at lower temps than a marcianus or an atratus
and I would also venture to guess that brumation is not as important to breeding success in southern species as it is to their northern relations

[reptileparadise]

Ah man, is it that time of the year again!...sigh....

[bsol]

I have a question
I recently w/c a tiny baby eastern(like Monday). High temps were in the low 70's and lows mid 50's. He was soaking up some sun when I ran across him. He also looked like he recently ate something judging by the size of his mid-section.
With all that said, Should I keep him in the 60-70 range for a couple of weeks w/o feeding him then cool him for a month to keep him in cycle?
I'm not breeding at all, but I dont want to put him in shock either...

let me know

[infernalis]

I have a question
I recently w/c a tiny baby eastern(like Monday). High temps were in the low 70's and lows mid 50's. He was soaking up some sun when I ran across him. He also looked like he recently ate something judging by the size of his mid-section.
With all that said, Should I keep him in the 60-70 range for a couple of weeks w/o feeding him then cool him for a month to keep him in cycle?
I'm not breeding at all, but I dont want to put him in shock either...

let me know

Spend the winter enjoying your baby snake:D Babies will usually eat just fine all winter long.

I also cycle my lights in the snake room, if you keep the lights on for 12-14 hours a day, the snakie should just keep on eating and growing.

Isn't the first winter of a garter snakes life when the largest numbers are lost?? (anyone know?)

[Snake lover 3-25]

i think my garage gets tooo cold.......

[ssssnakeluvr]

quick test on the garage....put a glass of water out, if it freezes, its too cold.... i have a thermometer I put in my garage, temps stay in the mid 40's all winter.

[sschind]

Yeah, I know what you mean, I am starting to freak out a bit myself. Last year a friend of mine let me put my 6 pairs of snakes in his basement when he cooled his snakes but he doesn't have them anymore so I don't know if I want to impose on him again this year. and besides that he has a couple of balls and a bearded in the room so I don't think he will be cooling it down. The year before that I lugged 40 pairs of corns into one of my employees' basement while she cooled her snakes. She has since converted her entire basement to a winter tortoise habitat so I lost that option. I know one guy who has a crawl space and he seems to be my best option right now.

I won't have much this year, two pairs of garters, a pair and a trio of Mt king snakes, a trio of blue tongue skinks and perhaps a pair of frog eye geckos but I don't know where to put them. The basement of my apartment complex would probably do it but I am leery about putting them in a public place. We don't have individual storage rooms and but I could get a cheap used storage cabinet with a lock. People rarely go down there and so far I haven't heard of anyone having trouble with anyone stealing items left out but I would hate to be checking them one day and have someone walk in and see me working with them. I am also not 100% certain of the temps. There are water lines so obviously it won't freeze but I don't know if it will get cool enough. I don't know how to nonchalantly ask the landlord if he happens to know how cool the basement gets.

I've only got a few weeks left to figure it out.I wonder how high you can set the temps on a refrigerator. If I could get them up above 50 I would be fine.

[GartersRock]

Gosh. I didn't even think of when I was going to brumate mine.... I want to breed everything next year but it's so odd cause it's still hitting the 90's here. lol! Last week I think it hit 100. LOL

[crzy_kevo]

im planning on keeping my babies out for the winter and i will be putting george and checkers in the crisper in my fridge i got the temp reading to be 48-50 so it should do nicely

[Garter_Gertie]

I can deal w/worms on the door o'my 'fridge.
But I don't think I could deal with kids in my crisper...
Not that I gotta worry. I'm not gonna breed enkneeweigh.

Kevie, your milk will spoil at those temps... Just so you know.
Not that milk's more important than kids. Just so you know if you're a milk feak...

[infernalis]

Gosh. I didn't even think of when I was going to brumate mine.... I want to breed everything next year but it's so odd cause it's still hitting the 90's here. lol! Last week I think it hit 100. LOL

Flips bird and ducks.........