Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So living in an apartment obviously limits my ability to have a "snake room" where temperatures can be altered come cooling season.

How do yall cool your animals when that time of the year rolls around? Could I just remove their heat source? For kings and pits we know it needs to be around 55-65 degrees but I doubt I can run my A/C at 65 degrees during the winter. Im thinking about an outdoor closet I have on my porch but that might be too cold.

Tips? Suggestions? Or just wait until I have a house?

Thanks guys/gals

I also live in an apartment and know what your going through.
I went out and bought a wine cooler cause they don't get too cold,
put the brumation boxes in it for about two months to get the temp right. The best i could get was 52-55 degrees for 3 months. I followed all the other procedures for brumating a north American colubrid. It was a little unnerving to be putting my snakes into a cooler but that's why i messed with it for 2 months first.
Sorry I don't have a pic of it as a brumation chamber but I do have one of its alter-ego.. a incubator.
Nate

I used the closet just inside the front door in an apartment before. Temps got down to 50 or so, that will depend on where you live and the type of winter weather you get. You just have to watch and keep an eye on what's going on.
DaveB

I think removing the heat source, stop feeding, and keep them in darkness for a month or two will spark the mating process in spring. I never put my bulls under or change their light and they've still mated the past two seasons.

My apartment has base board heaters that I have no control of. I might be a special circumstance for getting cooler temps.lol! I have heard that cooling is a vital part of brumation and actually helps to rejuvenate the "sex" drive. I have not bred any other snakes besides corns and pines and a bunch of geckos but I had a good clutch this year so I think I'm going to repeat the same things next year. I'm also kinda of crazy about the whole process and freak out on the few herps i have. only 19, twenty on wednesday with my new baby spilotes..Woohoo!
I would be interested to here some other methods of brumation in north American colubrids and hatch rates etc.. If others are having good hatch rates without significant cooling I wouldn't mind not putting my snakes in a fridge, it just doesn't seem right.

Nate

I too have pondered putting them in a mini fridge and just checking them daily or every other day to allow fresh air in.

Any harmful effects of putting them inside a refrigerator? Obviously I will closely monitor temps beforehand to ensure they stay where they should be.

I'll likely have a red bull and a female ready for cooling in Dec of 08 and a pair of Arizona mtn kings as well.

I would not use a mini fridge but a wine cooler. Mini fridges cool from about 35 to 45 degrees where as a wine cooler cools from 40 to 60 degrees. I also hooked up a small aquarium air pump that pumps are in from the bottom and then added a small vent hole on the opposite side top. In the hopes that heat rises and would create a small amount of circulation. I noticed no harmfull side effects from using this meathod and the two blackpines only lost 20 g's respectively.
Nate