Reptile & Amphibian Forums

the unusually warm weather? Anybody planning on pulling their colubrids/kings out of brumation early? Any of the old timers, (Frank LOL!),have any experience with this in the past? I live in Virginia Beach, Va., and my brumation room got into the mid 70's yesterday. My snakes seem to be a little more active too.
Frank, do you notice any early breedings in the feild when this happens?
Thanks,
-Phil

Here in central TX i recall the pst two Decembers being a lot warmer than this year. I saw my snakes acting "awake" a lot during December and Febuary with some of the only really cold time during January. I can't say it made any difference in my egg production over here. I like to put my snakes back in the snake room around the 1st of March but if it is warm a few weeks prior and everything seems awake anyway I take some that I want to get a few extra meals in inside early and keep the rest in the dark most of the time. Tom Stevens
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TomsSnakes.com

I just put a male New England axanthic into a cage with a female hypo "patterneless" side brooksi today just to see what happens.

Here is a pic of the patternless side hypo brooksi (not to be confused with whitesided) in case anyone was wondering. The pic was taken over a year ago so its pattern is even more distinct today.

Wow, those are gorgeous! I don't own any of those types of kings yet but seeing those makes me start thinking. I love how those look!
Very nice!
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Genesis 1:1

n/p
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3.3.4 L. getula californiae
1.1 L. getula nigrita
1.0 Boa constrictor constrictor (suriname, fostering/rescue)
2.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata

Your winters are based on the jet stream dipping and causing artic air freeze you up. We do not ever get that. Its always above us. Our winters are normally warm when yours are cold and visa versa. Relatively speaking.

We actually have warm winters on a very normal basis. We can winters that rarely freeze. Or winters that freeze a lot.

So far, this winter is average. We have had around fifteen freezing nights, with the lowest being high teens.

I remember a winter back in the ice age, where it only froze one night in the whole winter. Then again, 20 or so years ago it every weekend in Jan. It normally snows here once every four or five years. It almost snowed this year. hahahahahahahahaha

So what your experiencing has no effect on us.

What effects my work is rain. Good winter rains means I get to see alot. The reason is ground cover, Snakes and gilas, need this to keep hydraded and keep the surface temps down. For instance, surface temps where the snakes winter on dry years can reach the 170's F. On wet years, they have the option of moist ground that cools the ground when it evaporates. Also, they can shelter in plant cover where I can still find them. On dry years, they do all their doing underground.

Back to temps. We can get seventy or eighty or even low ninties, anytime all year. Snakes do not care. We also find snakes active year a round, all the time, again, no change there.

Breeding is prey dependant and may be more influenced by monsoons here then anything else. Most reptiles here time birthing and hatching to occur after the start of the monsoons. Cheers

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I'd say that in captivity light cycles seem to have the most impact on letting snakes "know" when it's time to breed. I don't think temperature has much to do with it.

Although if not cooled, it may affect the fertility snakes, they seem to want to breed the most in the Spring (if exposed to a natural light cycle), whether cooled or not.

Tim

Third Eye

It is my impression that the snakes know whats going on outside. I feed my snakes and give them a warm spot uring brumation. Thqts why when the grass started truning green a couple days ago and the warm weather, I placed a male and female florida kings togteher. Nothing is happening however. Guess you can't fool mother nature or the trees would be blooming as well.

Good question about the dark cyles. I used to breed rosys that way by placing them in a dark closet during winter. Even with the warmer temps in the house (I don't think it is good to chill rosys like other colubrids anyway) they produced young every year.

SO ya. Light cycles will work. But a lot has to do with the species you are working with. I would not try that with zonata or andean milks.

tspuckler, if you're saying that the light cycle seems to be part of cooling snakes then i should'nt be covering the tubs with blankets? would they do fine cooling in the open with light coming thourgh the windows? i seen many differnts opinion whatever there's should be darkness or light cycles. thanks and i know this theard is old. sorry

As long as the cycle is natural, there's no need to do anything. My point was that in the winter the day length gets shorter. As Spring approaches, the daylight length of time increases, which triggers colubrids to breed. There's no need to cover cages if they're getting a naturally occurring light cycle through a window.

Tim

thanks, i guess with this method of having cooling temp along with natural winter lighting cycles would work also? they don't really have to have the darkness for cooling? i could try this method next season for cooling because i would like to veiw the snakes for check up without having to take blankets off and putting them back over it. let me know if your method of cooling works for you and other. i will see what works for me, this will be my first time to breed snakes for a hobby.

I'm fixin' to crank on the a.c. and also hope for some 50 degree weather here....
They'll be fine no matter, I expect.
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

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