Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello. This is my first year brumating my snakes. I stopped feeding 2 weeks ago and cooled them gradually for the last 2 weeks. They are now down at 60 degrees . The problem is that one of my males is going into shed. Do I need to warm him back up to help him shed? Then do I recool him or would he be able to shed at the cooled temps. Any help would be great. thanks.

Kat

What species is this? 60F might be too warm to properly brumate your snakes, thus not slowing them down enough to halt such metabolic processes as ecdysis. WHile I'm not the expert in this area of herp keeping, I my opinion would be to bring the shedding snake back up to temperature and try brumation again next year. I suggest this because shedding takes a fair amount of energy, energy that is best sustained by eating... somthing not done if brumating.

Ian

They are brooks kings and I planned on dropping them to 50, but the first two weeks I like to have a gradient when cooling them. So far, I've had 2 messages telling me to warm them back up and 2 saying it's no problem, leave them alone.

A gradual decrease over a few weeks is generally okay (and perhaps recommended) from what I've read. I don't have any snakes that I need to hibernate so my opinion only counts from other's experience. It's your call, if you decide to continue hibernation, I wouldn't be overly concerned as long as you monitor hydration and perhaps weight (some weight loss is obviously expected, but it shouldn't be dramatic).

Good luck, I love the kingsnakes and regret not yet owning one myself.

Ian