Brumation/Bathing Question

[mycolorfulheart]

I put Raven in brumation last night; she's in the fridge, it's about 50 degrees in there. Today I checked on her and she's bathing (not a surprise, she did it alot last brumation) but her head was under the water. :eek: She was moving really slowly, her tongue was still flicking in and out. Is there a possiblity that she could drown or am I worried for nothing?

[Stefan-A]

You're worried for nothing. :) They know what they're doing, most of the time.

[mycolorfulheart]

You're worried for nothing. :) They know what they're doing, most of the time.

Thanks!!!!

[Snake lover 3-25]

yeah my boy goes under water head included and doesn't come up for very long periods of time.... and he's not even brumating!!! i've given him weekly baths since he was a little one and he has developed a love for water:D

[adamanteus]

Just to be argumentative......
I once had a perfectly healthy gecko drown in a tiny water dish. During a rather cool night, the gecko must have become torpid, it slid down the glass of it's tank until it's nose was resting on the bottom of the water dish. I found it in the morning, stone dead, still stuck to the glass.
I doubt very must that wild snakes have access to drinking water in their little underground crevises during brumation.... why do we give it to them?

[Snake lover 3-25]

but in the wild wouldn't it be damper under ground???

[drache]

that's why it's not a bad idea to give them damp hides

[crzy_kevo]

ive heard that snake dens do have water in them from charles parenteau

[infernalis]

I concur with James in several aspects of what he is saying.

Snakes seem to behave more naturally when we give them natural conditions to live in.

A nicely done up viv may be visually appealing to us, but for the most part completely foreign to the critters.

Why not brumate using an absorbant medium like coconut hair? moisten it a bit befor placing the snakes in there.

[Stefan-A]

Just to be argumentative......
I once had a perfectly healthy gecko drown in a tiny water dish. During a rather cool night, the gecko must have become torpid, it slid down the glass of it's tank until it's nose was resting on the bottom of the water dish. I found it in the morning, stone dead, still stuck to the glass.
I doubt very must that wild snakes have access to drinking water in their little underground crevises during brumation.... why do we give it to them?
I thought you might be interested in this:
Animal Life at Low Temperature - Google-teoshaku (http://books.google.fi/books?id=qYnI3evIZJkC&pg=PA114&lpg=PA114&dq=garter+snakes+submerged&source=bl&ots=NImW37lbVT&sig=R8R5b4Ef0qkjAsVOWUzYcmVnpf4&hl=fi&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result)

I don't find it at all unlikely that they'd have access to drinking water underground. Seems like those crevises in particular would gather water.

[adamanteus]

I'm not going to argue the point, because I'm not advocating it..... I just wanted to 'put it out there'.
That said, in every nature documentary I have ever seen snake hibernacula are dry.

[infernalis]

Out here the ground is comprised of sand and pebbles below the soil.

The valley is glacial deposits for MANY feet down before any shale or bedrock.

Water heads straight for China when poured on the ground.

On that note, Dorothy found an abandoned gopher hole behind the barn and we observed several garters basking near the mouth of the hole just before it got too cold out:D

Going to monitor the opening in the spring to see if it is in fact a brumation site... It would be great if there is some wintering down just a few hundred feet from the house.