Reptile & Amphibian Forums

For those of you that keep milks and brumate them every winter I am wondering where you brumate them.

Living in a fairly new home, the unfinished area of my basement only dropped to about 60F in mid winter which just won't cut it. I was forced to look for another solution.

I came up with using my basement bathroom as the brumating room. I have the window open about 1/2 CM and right now my temps are steady at 58F and as the weather becomes colder the room will drop to around 55-56F with less of the window needing to be opened. I have also used a few blankets on top of the rubbermaids to keep it dark and to keep a barrier between the cool outdoor air and the rubbermaids. The heating vent has been shut and insulated and the door has also been insulated.

I'd like to hear where everyone keeps brumating snakes, be it milks, corns or any other colubrid lets hear it. Also any opinions on my setup?

your setup seems fine to me,i would have just used the basement.i live in tx. and we have seasonably warm winters. i cool all my colubrids in my garage, basically i just turn off heat tapes and keep them in the dark for 6to8to10 weeks usally from dec.thru feb.ambient temps average 60s but dip into low50s and up to low70s for short periods, personally i beleive its the taking away or absense of external heat and light that does it,rather than the actual temp. range,(tho ambient/room temps certainly have alot to do w/it) i will actually turn my tapes on, on very cold days 40s or under for short periods but the only light they get is when im checking water bowls, this works for me,,, best of luck,,,,,,,,thomas davis

I think you're in great shape with your basement. I live in Charlotte, NC and I brumate my snakes in a spare bedroom closet. Last year, we had a very, very mild winter and the temps were in the high 60s low 70s most of the winter in that closet and my gaigeae and campbelli breeders did fine and produced great clutches with that set up.

I echo Thomas' comments on the light cycle. I think keeping them in a dark place for 3 months is just as important if not more important than keeping them at a constant low temp. I would try to keep the temp flucuations to a minimal, but they really don't have to be at 55 degrees in my opinion. Anything in the 60s should be fine. Just my opinion.

Good luck!

Dave

DNS Reptiles

Here's what the temps in my garage did last winter and into spring. I didn't put the data logger in there until February, but temps in January were about the same as early February.
We don't use our garage for the cars, so it stays closed and dark and at a consistent temperature most of the time.

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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Chris,

Interesting graph. You didn't see any issues with the snakes as a result of temp flucutations? It looked like the temp changed significantly on a few occaisions over a short period of time.

Is your garage insultated at all?

Dave
DNS Reptiles

You didn't see any issues with the snakes as a result of temp flucutations?

Not really. I think most snakes hibernate in the wild in areas that have those sort of fluctuations, particularly in the southern US. Generally there was a 5-8 degree fluctuation between night and day.

It looked like the temp changed significantly on a few occaisions over a short period of time.

We had a few warm fronts come through in February. And if we have a sunny day in the winter, the garage heats up somewhat.

Is your garage insultated at all?

Not really, although it does have a room above it and is fairly shaded by big trees. The sun doesn't shine on it too much in the day.

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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Very cool graph. What equipment do you need to do that logging?

This may just be an echo of other responses, but here are a couple basic methods that 2 friends of mine use. There are for hondurans by the way. Next year will be my first attempt at breeding so until now I have never had to worry about the preparation for that.

In the southern US - no brumation at all, reduced feeding (about 1/2 to 1/3 of normal) and a natural light cycle ... heat is only added on the coolest days since feeding is not ceased. Great success every year.

In central Europe - a couple months of rest in a cool, quiet and dark bedroom. This isn't started until as late as December so temps and light would be at their least this time of year.

Seems to me that temperature plays only a very small part in getting tropical colubrids ready .. when you look at the climate in Nicarauga, temps rarely dip below 65 degrees. I think light cycle and a calm quiet place are definitely a must and lack of artificial heat is probably more important than seeking a coolest spot.

Any snake from Mid to North US and Canada would definitely be used to a full-fledged brumation but I really don't think its necessary for any species south of here .. especially Central America.

Hope this helps add some opinions ..

Jawn, thanks for the response. Although you are close, in the mountains of Honduras the temps can drop to around 50F in December. Can anyone tell me at what elevation most Honduran Milksnakes are found? I know that is a very bland question but a rough estimate would be great.

E

As far as I can find Hondurans remain near sea level or just above so maybe the temps do only drop to 60-65F?

For the last 2 breeding seasons, I put my Hondos in the basement crawlspace. The area is carpeted and the temps would get to the low 50's. Well this year I just kept them in their racks and turn off the heat and wraped the rack with black 3mil plastic film. The rooms gets to the low 60's and if the nights do not get cold enough I just open the window. I already have my collection brumating and will keep you guys posted as to how it works out.

I figured since when I lived in Puerto Rico, I did not brumate any of my snakes and I had corns, milk and kings. They all would lay fertile eggs every year. I did this for 5 years. In average I would have about 300 baby snakes in all. Now I live near Denver, Colorado.
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Thomas Sierra
1.1 Irian Jaya
1.1 Ball Pythons Het For Albino
Alb Honduran 1.3
Hypo Honduran 3.4
Anery Hondo 3.2
Tangerine Alb Hondo 2.4
DH Snow Hondo 2.0
Het Tang Alb Hondo 3.3
Het Pin Stripe Hypo 0.1
Triple Het Hondos 1.1
Het Hypo 2.2
Snows 2.1

Great info and make sure to keep us updated on your progress.