Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have thought for a long time that the practices I see people use to brumate could really be causing some common health issues associated with that time of year.

The bottom line is that I think cold and dry is a dangerous combination. And one that is not natural. If a snake is cold enough, I think that its highly possible that they will remain torpid despite dehydration. Too cold to go get a drink from the bowl. In the wild they don't have to wake up every few days to get a drink because they choose consistently humid locations to weather out cold, drought, famine, etc.

I talked to a good vet about this and he thought based on his experience that it was plausible, but that he didn't have actual numbers to back it up.

So now you have a snake that is dehydrated, it mucous membranes, especially in the respiratory tract take abuse, and to compound it you have an animal with a severely suppressed immune system.

By now I think you see where I am going with this. It brews for a while, you turn on the heat, and the snake wakes up from hibernation only to immediately succumb to a respiratory infection.

I always used "humidity chambers" for snakes that wanted to cool off for the winter. And I have never had a URI. Not saying that a b=c... but I am just saying. This year I will be trying new set ups described in the post below.

For those who have experienced URIs coming out brumation, I would love to hear about the husbandry leading up to it.

Yes, what you said.

Back when I had lots of kings/milks/rosies, simply cooling them in a big insulated plywood box with a water bowl in the box and very little ventilation kept the humidity from getting too low. That is, the snakes didn't lose much moisture. Water balance. No problems with that setup.

Before that, I had a few wheeze. Where I live Winters have low humidity. If I lived in Atlanta, I bet this discussion would have little meaning. For you and me, we see the benefits of proper humidity. A water bowl in super low humidity with a cage with lots of ventilation does not do much for the captive snake to achieve a water balance, especially when that snake is a snake (kingsnake) that spends most of its time below the surface where a water balance is more easily maintained.
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Mark