Freeze, the Checkered Garter Update

[Greg'sGarters]

Everyone is saying that there is no way that he could have been frozen, so I'll assume that he wasn't frozen (although he was stiff, I am sure of that, that was not my imagination). And whether I warmed him up over the course of 2 minutes or 2 days, all that really matters is that he survived. I'm glad that things worked out the way they did, because if I had done something different, I might be saying "hey I got a dead snake in the mail today".

[Greg'sGarters]

Mother nature is not stupid.

Yeah but she can be a real pain sometimes.

[thamneil]

Yeah but she can be a real pain sometimes.

Or rather we are the pain as we can't seem to get our act together.

[d_virginiana]

Everyone is saying that there is no way that he could have been frozen, so I'll assume that he wasn't frozen (although he was stiff, I am sure of that, that was not my imagination). And whether I warmed him up over the course of 2 minutes or 2 days, all that really matters is that he survived. I'm glad that things worked out the way they did, because if I had done something different, I might be saying "hey I got a dead snake in the mail today".

Well, it does kind of matter... If you run into the situation again, you know not to warm him up quickly. I'm glad he seems to be doing fine, but that is a sign of you getting lucky, not a sign that nothing could have been improved

Also, there are other explanations for the way the snake looked/felt on arrival than freezing solid. The snake's muscles were probably tensed or locked in a way that felt strange or lumpy. It's not too much of a leap to think that an animal dying of exposure to cold would have strange posture, but like it's been said that doesn't mean it's frozen. Just wanted to throw out a possible reason you were feeling 'lumps' on his body. It's far more likely that you were feeling the musculature than the actual organs (if you were actually feeling the snake's heart, then you would have had to break its ribs to do so).

[Greg'sGarters]

I never said that I felt his heart. It really doesn't matter because I now just won't order in the cold again . And yes, I agree that it probably was indeed his muscles.

[ConcinusMan]

I found a tree frog in my driveway one morning after a freezing rain storm. He was literally frozen stiff. hard as a rock. You could pick him up by the hind leg like he was made of hard plastic and he wouldn't bend or change position at all. Thawed him out and he came to life.

[thamneil]

Rock hard hey? I bet he was hopping around as soon as he thawed.

[d_virginiana]

I found a tree frog in my driveway one morning after a freezing rain storm. He was literally frozen stiff. hard as a rock. You could pick him up by the hind leg like he was made of hard plastic and he wouldn't bend or change position at all. Thawed him out and he came to life.

Have you ever seen an aestivation gone wrong? They literally look mummified. I've seen a couple cases where they can come back even from that.
Of course, that being said, if they sit in the wrong type of treated water for ten minutes they tox out and die

[Greg'sGarters]

I found a tree frog in my driveway one morning after a freezing rain storm. He was literally frozen stiff. hard as a rock. You could pick him up by the hind leg like he was made of hard plastic and he wouldn't bend or change position at all. Thawed him out and he came to life.

Actually the Gray Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor) actually will freeze completely over for the winter, and then thaw out in spring to breed. It is their way of surviving the cold, harsh winter.

http://www.units.muohio.edu/CRYOLAB/...costanzo92.pdf

[guidofatherof5]

I was speaking with Steve Schmidt last night and he told me of a situation he was in. Power was knocked out at his house by a blizzard and he was away at the time. By the time he returned home he had lost a few snakes(non-garters) to the cold but he was able to save many by handling and lightly messaging the heart area. He said in some instances he did this for over an hour on individual snakes.
He just wanted me to pass this along.