Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am trying to brumate my collareds, DIs and one chuck, and am trying to use the ice chest/ice pack method, which is not going well because we have temp fluctuations ranging from daytime temps 50-80 sometimes in as little as 12-24 hours. SE Texas. I am either having to change out the ice packs every 30 minutes to an hour, or I have to leave the temps at around 60 because extra ice packs will cause the temps to drop to freezing.

So, has anyone brumated using either a dorm fridge or a wine cooler? Is there enough air exchange in one of these? Any suggestions before I make Popsicles of my precious babies???

Rosebuds, sorry to hear about the flucuation of temps in you cooler. This year I put my coolers in my garage. It's gets cooler than inside my house so I don't have to change the blue ice as much. There are a couple of things to try. This year I'm using a cooler that holds temps better. It's a coldmax Igloo. They hold temps cooler than the standard coolers. You can use different size blue ice packs. If it's too cold, use less ice or more ice to increase the coolness. Find the coolest place in the house or garage or if the coolers are too cold, put them in a warmer place. You can also crack the lid alittle if it's too cold. I checked mine last night and they were in the high 40s so I took the ice out knowing it was going to get cooler over night. I keep an eye on the outside temps and if it gets really cool, I'll bring the coolers inside the house. I don't think that the blue ice can freeze the lizards as long as it's not touching them. I use full size coolers so there is alot of space too cool. I also put sand in the bottom and I think it absorbs some of the coolness and holds some the temps longer(unproven theory). I bought a temperature gun off ebay and it helps me regulate the temps and you can point it on the lizards to get their temps.
Doing it this way reguires you to check them at least a couple times a day for the entire brumation period. I bought a wine cooler a few weeks ago hoping it would do the job. It stated it would only cool down to 54 degrees. That seeemed perfect. I got it cooled down and the display showed 54. I checked it with the temp gun a and it was really 60 degrees so I took it back.
Many years ago I tried a small refrigerator. It was too cold so I left the door cracked. It condesated and filled up one of my plastic containers enough to drown a few lizards. I won't use one of those again.
I hope this helps. Those of you that live in cold places have it much easier.

Desert Reptiles

Thank you so much!

I notice that your lizards seem awake! Is that an illusion? I have mine all sectioned out in containers. Should I set them up like yours? I guess that male fighting isn't an issue right now?

So the dorm fridge is pretty dangerous then? I know that people use them with success for snakes. Well, I will give it a try. Right now and for a few days, I don't have to do anything, because they are out in my unheated sunroom and the cooler temps are a perfect 54.8. Even the desert ig viv is a perfect 55, but the temps will be back in the 70-80s by Monday!

I must say that the brief and accidental freeze might have had a positive effect. I was having trouble getting them to go to sleep, but they are all alive but dead asleep now!

I'm glad the cool weather may help them get started. My lizards look awake because I just put them in when I took the photo.
I have the plastic rock with a hole in there because I have a large male in there and he won't come out so the whole rock had to go in there.

Well, I think that I will go shopping for that better cooler this weekend, and buy two. This one keeps the temps only 4 degrees below room ambient with no ice pack, so that means its really no better than a bucket with a lid! LOL!

Instead of putting the ice pack down in with them, do you think it would be better to either get an ice chest with a pack that screws into the top or somehow attach a pack to the top or near it?

Send them to the NORTH POLE with Santa for the winter OR have Frosty the Snowman sit on their container for a few months. There ya go,,, Problem solved!

ROFLMAO
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PHEve / Eve

Or maybe send them to Auntie Eve's house!

SORRY THE INN IS FULL!
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PHEve / Eve

Gotta go shopping tomorrow for a bigger and better one!

I just put my precious little NM boy in this evening. He was ready. He has had sleepy eyes for over a week and hasn't been interested in food in two weeks.

That critter room out there is a mighty lonely place all of a sudden!

Okay, I got the Igloo Maxcold and they all just fit at one end, and there is room to keep the ice packs a few inches away from the boxes. This model has an unusually large drain hole, so I put the lizards at the opposite end, ran the thermometer probe through the hole, and attached it to the middle of the stack. The ice packs are on the hole side. Because of the hole, I can close the lid tight, right?

I have two small packs in there and it is a perfect 55!

im using a closet that get really cold in the winter if u close the heat vents as cold as it is outside! so i bought a heater and set it at 55 and it doesn't get any colder but it will get warmer as it warms outside so u might have trouble there. just my 2 cents!
good luck
jake
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1.1 v. griseus

Where do you live??? LOL! I am in SE texas. My closets get down to the mid 60s at the lowest. I can't allow my house to get tooo cold as I live with another, elderly human and lots of critters that aren't brumating.

lol i live in bham alabama! i wish i lived in texas! u could use a cheep air conditioner if you can find one! my biggest problem was convincing my mom to let me bring 11 animals from the basement to my closet! lol
jake
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1.1 v. griseus

Again, where would I set up a cheap ac??? I can't cordon off a room, and I don't think I could regulate temps too well if I try to run an ac in a closet. I really appreciate the suggestions, but they just aren't practical in a townhouse with two adults and lots of critters.

The ice chest thing is going to work fine now that I understand that I have to watch it like a mother hen on warmer days. The temps have been perfect for two days because our ambient temps out in the sunroom are perfect. I can expect that at least half the time, so I really only have to worry about the warmer spells and hard freezes, which don't occur here often. I am going to get the igloo that Will mentioned, and all of my brumaters will fit in it and if I buy wisely, I can keep the packs away from the boxes. That is probably my safest and most economical bet.

you guys down south seemed to have trouble keeping them cold while i have a problem with it being to cold. i keep my guys in the garage, where it is easily 45 degrees in the winter, but if i dont watch it, it could easily plummit. i keep them at around 54 degrees, and thats with the help of a space heater and blankets. but it does get cold up here in Illinois, and actually its unseasonably cold for december. we are getting weahter in the teens, when that isnt supposed to happen till january. Well that was my way to compare and contrast different difficulties in bromating... good luck rosebuds and i never thought i would hear someone complain of 80 degree weather in december!!! if you want we can trade places, lol
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Guy LoPresti
2.2 collared lizards (Lizzy,Stevie 2,Ike,Adrien)
1.1 firebelly toads
1 baby emperor scorpion (ceasar "caligula" )
( if you know what caligula means you'll get it)
4 dogs (groucho charles bugs Gracie)

Hon, having to wear shorts on Christmas day is not at all unusual for here! LOL! It is a little less likely than sweater weather, but it happens.

Our temps are a bit unusual too. Daytime temps have stayed below 65 for three days! We will warm up to the mid 70s Monday and part of Tuesday, and then it will drop back down. But any time we get a major hurricane here, we tend to have a colder winter. The year that Alicia came through, I think we had one of our rare moderate snow spells that winter, and I know that the week of Christmas was bitter cold, down to the single digits overnight, because we were still on concrete waiting for the insurance company to settle our storm/flood damage claims. I had to wear 4 pairs of sox on Christmas Eve! We escaped structural damage this time, but I expect a colder winter this year.

With this new ice chest, I don't have to do a thing! I put two small ice packs in there yesterday around noon, and added a second thermom with probe. I ran the probes through the drain hole, and have one probe attached to the top and one at the bottom, and both were reading 51 degrees first thing this morning. At most, they vary 4 degrees from each other. I probably won't have to bother with another ice pack until tomorrow afternoon, and then it might be a whole week! Obviously, my biggest problem was a crappy ice chest. Thanks, Will!

well thats great!! glad its working out for you!! i had a profesor from texas and she was complaining about how cold it was in october. we were laughing at her because she was in for a big suprise!!! you kinda get immune to the cold after awhile, as im sure your immune to the heat. i have one lizard i am not brumating and this cold weather is effecting his temps aas well... i have to use a secondary heat light source to make it warm enough for him. this is steve the non-eater btw who is eating a little, thanks to repti-aid (thankyou rosebuds)hes doiung ok, could stand to gain a few ounces, but hes ok
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Guy LoPresti
2.2 collared lizards (Lizzy,Stevie 2,Ike,Adrien)
1.1 firebelly toads
1 baby emperor scorpion (ceasar "caligula" )
( if you know what caligula means you'll get it)
4 dogs (groucho charles bugs Gracie)

I'm glad to hear that the cooler trick is working for you. It can be a pain but it's safe and does the trick. Mine have been in since Thanksgiving and it's been cool here in Phoenix. I've only had to switch out the blue ice once a day. Only 6 & 1/2 weeks left!!!

Don't I have to wait until feb? How long should I keep them under?

I checked them all just now. I am having to change the packs a bit more often today, but it still isn't too bad. They were all dead asleep until I tried to drip a little water on their lips. Then they looked at me like I was the most loathsome creature on the planet! Kinda like how I look at anybody who disturbs me before I've had my coffee!

and others don't. In general, most wine coolers use a low quality peltier chip that doesn't cool effectively. I would stay away from those. I have my collection cooling in a homemade cooler. Works just fine, but it's too big for my collection. I have another one, but that one is too small. So, I was thinking of making a medium size one, but found this Igloo cooler at a Goodwill thrift store instead for only 10 bucks. It's a bit dirty, but works really good. Here's some pictures with a measured temp. This is at the farthest, highest point of the cooler where it would be warmer. The cooler side was at 33.4, and the ambient temp was in the upper 80's... just sweet! I like thrift stores. BTW, I've seen quite a few TE coolers at thrifts store this time of year. Good luck.