Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have always coold my hondos to 52-55 F with good breeding result and no problems with sickness. However I have mowed to a different house with a warmer storage area. Will 60-65 F be a sufficient cooling temperature? Has anyone gotten bad breeding result from cooling hondos at this high temperature?

i haved lived in south Florida my whole and I have bred hondos for 12 years. I do not get any of my snakes that cool I just tinker with the photo period. I have had very goood success with them that way along with a number of other milks and kings.

I have had the same success as Charlie..photo period is key..not temps.

-Rusty

What phot0period do you guys use? My are currently covered by a dust sheet 24/7 and cooled between 55 and 65. Dan
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Lampropeltis triangulum lover!!

I've used a few methods with success...

One, very little food...completely covered the snakes, no light ...cool (around 50-70)...24/7 for about 3 months...mid Nov thru mid Feb.

Two, reduce the automatic lights (must have the lights on a timer) to something that mimics the normal day 8am to 5pm (with heat)...fed them once every two weeks (verses every week)...for 3 months...

After either method...re-adjust the lights to go on at 7am off at 8pm...feed the crap out of them!

After the first shed put them together...if not the second will do it.

-Rusty

Thanks for the advice. My preperation is going like this for calis and hondurans.

1st November - lights and heat off
11th November - water
21st november - water
1st December- water
11th December - water
14th December - small feed
21st December - water
1st January - water
11th Janaury - water
14th January - small feed
21st January - Water
1st Febuary - lights and heat on
feed- feed- feed- feed- feed
As soon as the 1st shed has passed, leave it in and chuck in the males.

If anything seems wrong please let me know. Thanks, Danny
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Lampropeltis triangulum lover!!

-Rusty

Have you ever been to where central american milksnakes live? I haven't produced 1000's of snakes like some here. Still, I have never had a getula or Mexican locality milksnake not produce when cooled to around 60 deg. And then I cool them at night only. Occasionally night temps dipped as low as 53 deg, but only for the night. Heat during the day offered on one end of the cage. They produce.

My guess is this constant 55 deg thing is a generalization that happens to work most of the time. I also think you may be holding to those temps because that range has become ingrained in the way we think about breeding colubrids. I truly believe that snakes will not choose temps that impede their reproductive success when given a choice. Better you test this yourself than let me tell you. I'm can only give my experiences that lead me to believe that constant 55 deg is not magic.

BTW, I know of a breeder that produced ruthveni, and he cooled them to no less than the low 60's. Ruthveni are high elevation kings in an area with a cooler climate than Central America. Even if this was just a few cases, it does show that 55 deg is not necessary when other requirements are met.

Test it.
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Mark

Living in a nyc apt. the only cooling period is when the bldg. boiler breaks down and it takes almost forever to fix it. I only do the photo period thing and it hasn't failed me yet.

Mike

i have a pair i would like to try and breed in the spring, could you detail your method (non cooling) photo period how long, temp, etc.

thanks tim

by the way the non cooling method only worked for Hondos and Cal Kings...NOT AZ Mountains or Grey Bands!

-Rusty

>>I have always coold my hondos to 52-55 F with good breeding result and no problems with sickness. However I have mowed to a different house with a warmer storage area. Will 60-65 F be a sufficient cooling temperature? Has anyone gotten bad breeding result from cooling hondos at this high temperature?

Since we moved further north cooling is now part of the equation for all my milks and kings. I plan to drop them down to 55-65 without feed for roughly 3 months, maybe cooler. Photo period goes along with the seasons and stays on the darker side during this time of year. I hope all goes well and by this weekend I will record there weight and see how it goes day to day.
Right now two are in blue and it seems to be taking allot longer for them to shed.

In the past I just always heated the room, however with this cooler climate and larger room I only heat to mid 50s.

Male Cal King in new rack..

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Jason A.
"Long time Herper, first year Breeder `07."
My 2008 Care Sheet & The BRB Stats. Username: brb@kingsnake.com

For yours advice...
I will do the -lights off and low sixties for two months- method.