Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok i bet no one ever post this before and you might think i worried too much lol. first of all is it normal if the snakes peed during cooling? i am sure that's ok. one thing i am worry about is my cornsnake's tub had a thing in the tub and i will let the pics tell you. just look at the black slugish look and it's not a bug.
thanks

i just want my snakes to be good and alive that's all. but above all all of my 4 snakes that are cooling is in great shape and good weight.

Looks like a sperm plug..seconds?

how could it be? the snake are cooling and not paired together yet. but with your reply makes me feel better and i am just pushing my luck lol. thanks any more ideas out there?

As long as you've been below 65 F. the entire brumation time, I wouldn't worry. You should never brumate above 65 F. When you get just low enough for them to lose their appetites, but high enough that some digestive flora still thrive, the bacteria, protozoa, amoeba, etc overwhelm the snake. When snakes are below 78 F., they have immune-suppression and are not able to fend off internal beasties.

If you have not been below 65 F. and these snakes are still being cooled, either drop them down below 60 or get them above 80 immediately. The stools you showed us are not uncommon for brumating snakes, but that middle temperate range (65-78) is very dangerous. Since you're showing us a stool, I presume they're already out of brumation so feed the heck out of them and the stools should change very quickly.

Don
www.cornsnake.NET
South Mountain Reptiles

Hi Don, I use my garage for cooling here in central TX. This year I am happy that it has been on the cool side. One thing I was wondering...some people prefer a gradual warm up and wait before feeding. Do you think setting them up with a hot spot of say 80 degrees from day one and offering food soon after is just as OK as it is to warm them gradually? Nature runs the show here at my place as far as temps go and the past 2 seasons I did not have temps drop as much as I would have preferred, yet I produced oodles of eggs so I really don't sweat it. Still wondering if I am prolonging things a little by not literally warming them up faster as oppopsed to the gradual warm up and waiting a bit before feeding? I also feed one undersized food item to get the disgestive system up n running before feeding a large meal. Is this standard or have you tried feeding a lot right away as soon as they warm up? Tom Stevens
-----
TomsSnakes.com

don, thanks for your help. i am new to this breeding thing but i am not new to keeping snakes. i am still cooling the snakes and i will explain where and how i did it for this winter. first of all it's been about a month since they are put down and i still am doing so. i have them in 32qt tubs placed in my bedroom and it sure did get very cool in this room. they are kept in my bedroom and i stacked the tubs and put a light blanket over them for the darkness. me and my fiance have been sleeping in the living room most of the time because our bedroom is too cold for her. now for temp. it's been mostly at 50's - 60 but seems to sit right on 60 deg mostly. last week it's been warm out about 50's so the room was in the high 60's and a couple times it hit close to 70. so i guess i will put more work in to it but i can't use an air conditioner because the window has a differnt style. any suggestions? i guess i will keep my focus more on temp. thanks.

Short periods above 65F shouldn't present problems. Just monitor temps closely and when they're above 65F for several days, consider bringing them up. If they're corns, California kings or Florida kings, a short brumation shouldn't degrade your egg production.

Regarding the stool you got, I wouldn't worry about it unless you're aware of some other stimuli that could have caused it.

Good luck,

Don
www.cornsnake.NET
Corn Snakes In Captivity

Tom,

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Because I like to have more control over when the snakes are brumated, I artificially cool them. As you know, I used to let Mother Nature do it, but just like South Florida, we seldome get real winter weather down here. It's the fluctuations that are frustrating. One day it's 50F and the next day it's 85F.

Okay, to your Q. I take all my snakes from my brumation building and roll them directly into the snake building. They go from 55F to 81F in just a few hours. I've done this for years and have not had a problem. Like you, I give them one small meal within the first week of brumation emergence. Then, I hit them with normally sized meals until next brumation. The first two or three stools are sometimes scary, but after that, they return to normal.

Don
www.cornsnake.NET
Corn Snakes In Captivity

Thanks Don, and it is the same here. The first couple of poops look a little odd but then they just snap right back into being normal. I used to wonder if a sudden increase in temps would be a bit of a shock, welcomne or not. I have some Kings that could benefit from a few extra meals before being introduced for the first time so I may up the ante a bit. Thanks again
Tom Stevens
-----
TomsSnakes.com