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I'm hoping to breed some of my corns next year for the first time. I was wondering how you guys do it. Length of time, temps etc. I'm in N.E. Texas. Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

This topic has been covered quite exhaustively in the past. You perhaps would do well to check the archived OLD forum messages.

I live in Northwest Territories (Canada). I have a "cold room" under my basement stairs, where the winter temps are usually in the 40 deg.F to 50 deg.F range (but sometimes gets a little cooler than that).

For hatchlings that are balky feeders, I put them in for about five or six weeks (good feeders, I don't brumate). Usually this will result in them developing good appetites when they emerge in the simulated Spring.) My yearlings all get brumated for about eight weeks. The two and three year olds are put in for about ten weeks. Most older animals get to rest for a full 13 weeks, and my oldest pair (age at least 16 years) stay in for about 15 to 16 weeks.

I disturb them as little as possible, but I do change their water about every week to 10 days. The water is in very small, deep dishes, but is necessary because up here the climate is extremely dry. It never gets dirty, and I doubt that much of it gets drunk. It evaporates.

Before putting any animal into brumation, I withhold food for at least two weeks (longer for older animals, that take larger prey that may require a longer period to digest). I also "stage" them into it, by putting them in for an increasing number of hours per day for each of the four to six days before they're put in to stay (for me, I find this an easier method of staging, than it would be to find a location in my home that has an intermediate temperature).

I also "stage" them coming out, but over a much shorter period (two or three days).

>>I'm hoping to breed some of my corns next year for the first time. I was wondering how you guys do it. Length of time, temps etc. I'm in N.E. Texas. Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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tricia

I guess I should be more specific. Since I live in Texas most of us don't have basements. There isn't any place in my house that I would consider cool enough. I've thought about building some sort of cool box for the garage with a heater to keep it warm. The average January low here is around 32, but 70 or even 80 highs arn't uncommon. Dont want to confuse the little guys. I did put a male snow with a female normal this spring, thinking they were to small. They were only 24-26 inches. The male went crazy. Chased the little female all over the place. I had to rescue her real Quick. I guess I'll just skip the brumating and see what happens. Isn't the guessing the fun part? thanks for the reply

jim

>>I guess I should be more specific. Since I live in Texas ... The average January low here is around 32, but 70 or even 80 highs arn't uncommon.

That's HOT. In January, the average overnight low here is about minus 30, and minus 40 isn't uncommon. Daily highs rarely get above minus 15 deg.C (that's about plus 5 deg.F). So, you need to get creative about fixing your slinkies a cool space.

>> ... I guess I'll just skip the brumating and see what happens. Isn't the guessing the fun part? ...

I wouldn't recommend trying to use the garage because they'd be subject to rather a considerable gradient of fluctuating temperatures there, no matter how you fixed it up. You'd probably be better off using a wine cooler, or a 'fridge. If you used a separate 'fridge for your brumation "room," and set it so that the temp stays at about 45 deg.F, that would work quite well. There was a considerable discussion in the forum lat winter about the details of using this method. I know that several people do it quite succesfully.

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tricia