Brunation Q

[-MARWOLAETH-]

I've had Garry in a brumation for nearly two weeks.I gave her some damp leaves litter to hide in and her water dish is untouched so i know she's got enough moisture.

I was wondering-

Should I let her decide when to come out of brumation when the room she's in starts warming up or should I take her out in a few weeks time?

How do I stop her from going into brumation next year?

[guidofatherof5]

If the temps are going to rise then she'll come out of brumation on her own. If you want, you can pull her out earlier.
To keep her from going into brumation next year keep her temps up. She may still go off food as this is something she's in control of for the most part.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

The thermometer says that she's at 13C (55F ?)
Is that cold enough for her to not continue to burn energy?

[ConcinusMan]

The thermometer says that she's at 13C (55F ?)
Is that cold enough for her to not continue to burn energy?

No, they're still going to burn energy regardless. It's just that the colder it is, the less oxygen they need and their heart and respiration slows so the less energy they'll use. My snakes don't seem to slow down much at 55 F and are even still active/moving around. I mean, that's just a typical night time low even in the summer. I do my best to see to it that brumating snakes don't get above 50 F but you risk brain/organ damage if you go below 40 F because the heart slows so much that the organs can't get enough blood/ oxygen.

Why would you want to bring her out after only a couple of weeks? Seems rather pointless. If you're doing this for breeding purposes it should be below 50 and should stay that way for around 100 days IMO. Certainly no shorter than 60 days.

Yes, your snake will require less energy at 55 than 75 of course and they can't really digest food properly at 55 anyway so they're unlikely to eat.

The way to keep snakes from brumating is to maintain more than 12 hours of daylight and warm summertime temperatures, it's that simple. A snake may start slipping into brumation mode if it senses that the days are getting shorter and/or nights getting colder. That's the cues the wild ones get around here because in the fall they may still be very active due to warm daytime temperatures. But they still start gathering close to the dens and go off food when the days get shorter and/or nights get colder and longer it's that simple.

If you want to keep her nights long and around 55 F for a few months it probably won't hurt anything. Just watch her weight. If she seems to be losing a significant amount of body mass, you'll have to warm her up and start feeding her. I think she would be just fine at 55 for a couple of months but it's rather pointless to switch back to summer conditions after such a short period of time. I think that would only confuse her.

[Selkielass]

My snakes 'napped' at around that temp. Last year (went off food, hid etc.)I to some would come out when offered worms, others were indifferent.
I saw no visible weight loss on any of mine.
Keep an eye on her and she'll wake up and eat nutritionally hen she smells spring in the air.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

I'm not doing this for breeding purposes I'm just trying to get the little sod to eat again.I'll let her decide when she wants to emerge as the days get longer and warmer.

It was 13C in the daytime I just checked it now (12:43am) it's reading 11C (which was what was recommended to me).She's a marcianus so really low temps probably aren't as important as with northern sp.

Besides she doesn't seem to be active-just curled up in the leaf litter and hasn't moved around much so I think the conditions are favourable to her.