Chilled out.

[gregmonsta]

Temps 13C ... I had to evict the boys from the waterbowl today :P .... it was a shame as it looked rather cute.

[ConcinusMan]

4 snakes packed off to the kitchen cupboard for brumation .... how dull

Still .... it'll make me apprechiate them more in January

Process followed - Nill by mouth for two weeks
4 days gradual temp decrease
Into Kitchen cupboard and currently at 15C (this should gradually reduce to about 8C minimum if the last figures are anything to go by).

That's pretty much exactly what I did. They are resting "comfortably" at around 8-9 degrees C now. About half of them gave me no choice. After pounding down the food furiously during late summer through fall, they simply refused to eat for 2-3 weeks so some of them, I had to brumate even though I hadn't planned on it.

[gregmonsta]

missed the last couple of updates.
12C last weekend and down to 9C on Saturday.
Brumation quarter residents seem to be doing well in their slow-motion world.
Looking forward to warming them up again in Jan.

[ConcinusMan]

Their "slow motion world" that's funny. It is rather interesting to watch their tongues flick in slow-motion. Pretty cool. Hey! I just realized, what a great way to get some tongue pics!

I just checked on them. All is well, 49.1 degrees F.

[gregmonsta]

It was pretty funny when I saw it first, even when I had been told to expect it I was quite surprised by the effect .

[gregmonsta]

11C at the weekend and all seems well . I'm really looking forward to 'wake up time' next weekend. I'm planning to take the boys out first. They'll be at room temp for the first day and then on a heatmat overnight. The girls I'll bring out two days later and I'll be pairing them with the boys while their in their 'room temp phase'.
Fingers crossed I'll witness some mating activity ... but I really can't wait to see them in their enclosures again

[ConcinusMan]

Just doesn't seem like long enough. I've never been able to get a breeding response from a garter with such a short brumation. About half the time, anything shorter than 60 days doesn't even get the non-feeders eating again, let alone breeding. There are pheremones/hormones that gradually build up during brumation and those are what gives them the breeding response, and it takes time to build them up.

[gregmonsta]

Just doesn't seem like long enough. I've never been able to get a breeding response from a garter with such a short brumation. About half the time, anything shorter than 60 days doesn't even get the non-feeders eating again, let alone breeding. There are pheremones/hormones that gradually build up during brumation and those are what gives them the breeding response, and it takes time to build them up.

Considering that many European breeders I've met breed parietalis and all the others successfully with 2 months as a cooling period I guess we'll find out next week. I'd imagine WC being a trickier prospect.
Could be down to them having been part of long established captive lines. There's probably a certain amount of tolerance to the captive routine after several generations.
Then again I know of one WC red-sided that was never brumated and yet double-clutched for its owner repeatedly (as was probably quite happy not to face the chill of its home range ... possibly extatic ).

[ConcinusMan]

Could be down to them having been part of long established captive lines. There's probably a certain amount of tolerance to the captive routine after several generations.
Then again I know of one WC red-sided that was never brumated and yet double-clutched for its owner repeatedly (as was probably quite happy not to face the chill of its home range ... possibly extatic ).

Good points. Makes sense that snakes that are several generations removed from the wild would have been inadvertently selected for reproduction in the absence of long brumation or any brumation because, if that happens, then naturally, they are going to be making the next generation.

[gregmonsta]

We'll see what happens . If it doesn't work out then I will try 3 months next year, I'm fairly certain it will happen though. Suzy is definately ready, producing slugs this year without brumation or male contact.
Fawn is the one I'm taking the chance on. But she's a good size