Burmation?

[hissy100]

Hey my Snakes haven't eaten for a week and a half, are they getting ready to burmate, if so tell me how to burmate them, if not please give me some other suggestions.

[ssssnakeluvr]

some garters go off feed around this time of the year. if they refuse food for another week then they will be ready for brumation. gotta make sure they are off feed for at least 2 weeks as undigested food will ferment and kill the snakes. you can put them in a cage with a water bowl and hide box. put them in a cool place, i put mine in the garage. make sure the temps are in the 50's or 40's. any warmer they won't brumate, colder could cause problems too. leave them down for a month or 2 and check on them weekly, change the water, and watch for weight loss. small amounts of weight loss is normal, but if they are losing a lot, to the point you see skin flaps on their side, they will need to be brought out and fed. most people that breed put them down for 3 months. my smaller ones and adults that aren't gonna be bred that go off feed are brumated for a month and brought out. that usually will get them eating.

[anji1971]

Hey, Don,
Do you have to do this with garters? I've always just fed mine a bit less often during the winter and so far they've been okay, but this brumation stuff is new to me. Am I doing something wrong??????

[ssssnakeluvr]

no..brumation is the winter hibernation thing....if you aren't breeding them, they will be fine. just keep them warm and feed them If you are going to breed them, they will need to be brumated. i have to brumate non feeders sometimes....some of them will go off feed this time of the year. if i'm not planning on them breeding i brumate them for a month and bring them back out...helps kick in the appetite.

[anji1971]

Whew! thanks for the reassurance!
Had no idea what i would have done if you'd said they did need it, since i have no place that cool anywhere in my house. Guess i would have had to ask the neighbours to borrow their garage for the winter!!!!!!

[ssssnakeluvr]

your welcome!!!!

[drache]

yeah
there's no space in my fridge either
Jeff's already had to put up with rodents taking up 20% of the freezer space

[garterchick]

i've been wondering about brumation myself, it doesn't get that cold in central texas, at least not for extended periods of time. there is no room in our fridge, but i could possibly buy a small dorm-room-style fridge for the spare room, would that work? i would have to house some snakes together that aren't normaly in the same tank because i don't see getting more than a couple of rubbermaid containers in there, but i guess that's ok?

[drache]

actually
I'm kind of curious about that as well
in our apartment that we just moved out of, there were a couple of rooms cold enough that the snakes I did have could brumate in their enclosures
but when you put them in a fridge you obviously need to put them in a smaller container and then in the fridge
for those of you who do that, how do you go about it?
do you just - after some cooling and light reduction, I assume - grab them out of their enclosure, put them in a container, and set them in the fridge?

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

hey can i keep the two snakes i plan to breed together during burmation?