Posted by:
ratsnakehaven
at Sun Dec 5 23:43:22 2010 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by ratsnakehaven ]
Cool spells and warm spells is one way to do it, I think. If the beauties were warmed into the 70's, I bet they'd be active enough to eat. In that case I'd put a UTH under one end of the tank and let them digest for a few days.
My active snakes are going about three weeks w/o any extra heat. Then I feed them. It gets down to the high 60's at night and up to the low 70's during the day, in my Herp Room. I call this partial brumation. A lot of the time I'll run a space heater and raise the room temp to the high 70's. I also run a humidifier to try to keep the humidity near 30%. The rest of the time it stays around 68-72*F. This isn't harsh enough to do any damage, but it slows down their metabolism and gives them a little break. Later in the year, January/February, it'll probably be even cooler, depending on the year. Snakes that have eaten get a UTH under their tank which raises one end to about 80*F., or so.
I just fed my Boot Key rosy rats this afternoon. Right now it's 74*F., but it will drop overnight. They have the UTH's to keep them warm while digesting. I'll take them off the heat in about 3 to 4 days. They're in great shape and I'm pretty sure this will be enough cooling for this subtropical form to be able to breed in the spring. ASAMOF, they might be able to breed w/o any cooling, but I like at least a partial brumation anyway. I'm also using this method with my green rats, Mexican night snakes, thornscrub rats, rootbeers, and baby snakes. They all look good.
I think this method would work for the blues and cave racers, although I've only kept more northerly beauties.
>>Lloyd, I can't really speak on the blues and caves - but Terry Cox (ratsnakehaven) posted a nice response, under your original post below, which I think gives some good insight.
>>
>>Reading his response and thinking more about it - has given me some ideas for this year's brumation of the bimacs and beauties. I don't think snakes really go to sleep during any type of cooling / brumation, and even less at warmer temps in the 60's. In the past when I cooled my Asians in the fridge, I would often find the diones actively cruising their tubs at temps in the high 40's / low 50's. They slow down, but still occasionally drink water and will also slough during brumation. The beauties and bimacs were less active in the fridge than the diones. Reading Terry's post, I have ideas regarding feeding and thermoregulation for the bimacs and beauties for this year's warmish brumation.
>>
>>I cooled a pair of adult northern green rats (Senticolis triaspis intermedia) last year, in my snake room in unheated room conditions - usually with the window slightly open. I had read that this species needs a warm spot during brumation, so I left the heat tape in their rack on for the duration of the winter. During warm spells I would warm the room up and feed the green rats - allow them to digest for a couple weeks, or until the next good cold front, and then cool the room down again. I did this at least three separate times - and I did not really expect them to be able to produce good eggs (or maybe not even breed) with this sporadic cooling. However, they bred and produced not only one good clutch of eggs but two healthy clutches! Terry has said that he occasionally feeds his bimacs during the winter and gives them heat for digestion - so I am thinking this is probably the route I will take with all of my snakes this year - not just the green rats.
>>
>>I based my feeding the green rats, during brumation, on how active they were during warm spells. I worried about them losing weight, so I fed them. If I was cooling the blues and caves in the 60's, I would probably look for signs of them being active. If they become very active, I might warm them up and feed them. If not, then I might just continue cooling them. If the temps are constant in the 60's, you might want to just cool them without feeding.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>-----
>>-Toby Brock
>>Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research
-----
Conserving reptiles by helping to protect habitat...
www.ratsnakehaven.com
www.scenicsantaritas.org
[ Hide Replies ]
|
RE: More on Brumating Beauty Snakes. - ratsnakehaven, Sun Dec 5 23:43:22 2010
