Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It is starting to get cool around here in PA. Would it be ok to start cooling my california kingsnakes now??

you could start cooling now if you already fed them heavy enough and then have them go off for a couple of weeks to clean out their system then you can start the cooling.

make sure they are healthy before they are able to cool. i like to keep them no below 50 deg. good luck and hope this help you.

Thanks. I'm going to put them in my basement the lowest temp it goes is around 45F would that be ok to keep them at?

is your basement damp and moldy? if so i would not put the snakes down there. but at 45 it's can be okay but like i said i like to keep it no below 50 but that's just me.

Half the floor is damp and a little moldy were it is damp but the the other half is pretty dry. ???

not as bad as mine. go for the dry area. last year i cooled my snakes in a extra bedroom and i cracked the window open just about half an inch and i shut the room door. i check on them every now and then for water and to see if they were doing okay. at some times i would shut the window for a day then crack it open to control the room from getting too cold and with this it have worked great for me. so i bred and got some nice hatchling snakes!

OK thanks alot!!! yeah basements are such a pain lol. I want to put them down early because I just ran out of Frozen mice and I have to wait about 3 weeks before I can order more. I feed my last of my mice 3 days ago was the last feeding for the cali kings. they nice and big the female is almost 32 inches long and weighs 170 grams and the male is almost 25 inches long and weighs 80 grams.

ok you fed them 3 days ago and don't hurry and put them down yet. wait a couple weeks to clean out their systems. you can also soak them in warm water most snakes tends to poop when soaking. you just mentioned their size and i think they might be bit small/young to breed but i do not know this till you tell me how old they are. might help a bit.

Yeah I'm going to wait the two weeks before I put them down. The female is 5 years old and the male is 3 years old.

alrighty then good luck! the ages are good.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR HELPING!!!

--

PA weather sucks...
Plays tricks on us every year.

Watch it get warm again... And then you'll realize your snakes are just in a "brumation" spot where the temperature is back at 80 degrees.

It's too early.
Aim for at least December...
-----
Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.kingpinreptiles.com
^ Updated 10/8

i second that...i am from ny myself and like to start the cooling at end of nov to dec.