Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a wild caught female altena from 277 that my buddy wants to breed to his wild caught male. i will put the snake down for the winter. i was wondering if i would still experience successful breeding if i took the snake out once a week for a few hours for an educational presentation i will be conducting, thank you.

My opinion is that once an animal is in hibernation it should be left alone with the exception of infrequent health checks and refilling water bowls. Taking an animal out of hibernation once a week will be stressful and you will only be asking for problems.. In short, I would never disturb an animal that is in hibernation!

Again, this is my opinion.. I am interested in seeing what other have to say on this topic..

~ Mike Russo

Even if you were not breeding her it would be a stress on her and could cause problems.

Lance
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Herp Conservation Unlimited

I third that Troy, find a couple other snakes to do the presentation with.You will stress them out big time and they will probably get sick if you attemt this.
L8r Shannon

n/p

Sorry guys. I’m not trying to sound argumentive but I don’t entirely agree. We know snakes don’t really “hibernate” but rather they become inactive as temperatures drop. They don’t really stay totally inactive like mammals when they hibernate either. So having said that and if it’s true then they can become periodically active in the wild especially if temps warm up. I have personally collected snakes during the winter months in California and Texas during warm spells. So I guess the question is: “is it unhealthy for snakes to have brief periods of activity during dormant winter months?” and I would have to say I don’t think so. I try to disturb my “hibernating” snakes as little as possible but I’m not too sure how unhealthy it is either. A little activity during a long cool down period might help them pass some bodily fluids or an old stool or something. I can’t say I have any scientific proof to anything I’m saying just my thoughts.

Stu

Stu, I see what you are saying about brief periods but once a week going down then up? I really think its a bad idea. If it wouldn't harm then why do we all lower them down slowly and bring them up slowly? i.e about the time the snake was just getting cool it would be thrown into shock by coming up to real warm temps etc....
Just my .02 but I would never do it.

it was my intention to "put her down" by means of keeping her in the garage and allowing the snake to experience the normal temp. fluctuations that tx. throws our way. meaning the temps. will go up and down like crazy here. i was not able to put the snake in a climate controlled environment such as a mini refridgerator and keep the temp. at a constant 60 degrees. not sure if this changes anything, thank you.

I don't know... I've always put my snakes down & brought them up pretty much "cold turkey". Never had a problem with it. I do give them at least a week to digest, before putting them down.

On that note, I still don't think it would be a great idea to pull them out, on a weekly basis, and handling them.
Cheers,
Max
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"And the rest is all in his head"

Just clarifying what I said. I don't mean to say I think it's a good idea to pull snakes out of hibernation every week. I just don't think it's all that critical to leave them down undisturbed for long periods of time either. Here in Texas and in California the winters were many times very mild and temps fluctuated greatly but I still enjoyed successful seasons. I'm just saying I'm sort of middle of the road on the idea based on my experiences.

Peace

Stu