I have never hibernated monitors although I do have an interest in the desert monitors. I also live in cent. Fla. so temps here may be as extreme as where you are but I do have a few reptiles that hibernate. I keep Mali uromastyx outside here year- round and they go dormant around mid-late Nov. They have a deep sand substrate in their cage and they retire to their burrows and only come to sun themselves on really warm days. I do plastic their cage in January and February when Night-time lows go into the upper 20's to very low 30'sf. But only to buffer the effects of the extreme (for Fla.)cold. I usually remove it once it warms a little. I do not feed them at this time unless there is a run of warm weather for several days and they are active and I stop feeding a few days before the next front. I have done it like this for 4yrs with no problems. I hibernate Leopard geckoes by keeping them in their same tanks but reducing the temp in their room and I do not feed them for 3-4 months and only mist them lightly once a week or so. They will breed whether or not you cool them but produce better with the cool down. I also keep Argentine boas that somewhat go dormantin the winter. Some are kept in a room that gets little heat (low70's during the day low 60,s f at night) others are kept in a room that is about 85f all the time, either way the argentines go dormat and will not eat for about 4-5 months.

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