First off, hibernation or brumation IS NOT REQUIRED for the health and reproduction of reptiles. Hibernation/brumation is a behavior to AVOID/SURVIVE adverse/harsh conditions.

What is required is a range of temps. During most of the year, snakes work for cool temps to hot. Not hot to cool. That is, they remain cool and only use heat to perform certain metabolic tasks, like shedding the skin, digesting large prey items, healing wounds, development of the immune system, growth, etc etc.

Additional heat is required for snakes to reach full physical activity, like moving quickly. If they cannot move quickly, they choose to move slowly and they can when very cold. In these cases, they choose to move under cover as they are not fast enough to escape when in the open. ALso in this case, reptiles utilize their cryptic abilities instead of their speed or quickness. Most snakes use a "hot" area/spot of aprox 100F but some lizards and some snakes will use hot spots of 150F or more. Like varanids.

OK, back to your question. All you need is a temp range so the animals can be active(heat) and rest/conserve(cool) 65F to 75F is are suitable cool temps, of course, 55F is very good.

So all you need are normal room temps to allow your snakes a decent range of temps.

A couple times, I lived in an second story apartment could not keep the apartment cool. So I bought a closet door and installed a tiny room air conditioner on the door, hung it on a large walk in closet. Set it on a thermostat at 65F and it worked great. A small room will work too.

Of course, you can set the air conditioner at a lower temp and hibernate/brumate them as well. Its your choice.

ALso, I have bred all manner of snakes for a very long time and was one of the pioneers of HIBERNATION/BRUMATION, and I have to say. Its handy to give us keepers a rest, but it surely is not required or even a good thing for snakes. Let me explain, I said, or even a good thing, that means it does take some understanding and experience when brumating snakes, so inexperienced can make mistakes. Good luck

[ Show Entire Thread ]