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does any breed nelson's or any other milks without putting them down for the winter. is it just a fertility issue.

>>does any breed nelson's or any other milks without putting them down for the winter. is it just a fertility issue.

My dad got a clutch of nelson's from an albino x het albino pair in 09. They weren't brumated at all. IIRC it was 8 or 9 good eggs, 3 het normals and the rest visual albinos.
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Josh Loehr

Ive bred twice without brumation. A Pair of hondurans and a pair of pueblans. The hondo had 8 fertile eggs out of ten and the pueblan only had 3 good eggs out of 5 but she was an old girl. I like to hibernate just so it gives me 3 months to catch up with my mice breeding to stock the freezer.

I've successfully bred black milksnakes without brumation, haven't tried it with others. They will likely let you know when they are ready... the female will swell up with eggs, and the male will go off feed and become restless. Give the female all the meals that the male refuses so that she can make big, healthy eggs. The most important thing in my experience is to give the pair plenty of time together to ensure successful fertilization... two to three weeks should be sufficient. Good luck!

Nate

>>does any breed nelson's or any other milks without putting them down for the winter. is it just a fertility issue.

Sometimes when people report breeding without brumation i wonder how thoroughly they considered the term brumation. Lowered temperatures always comes to mind. But what about reduced light periodicity? If there are windows in the snake room, that's a possibility. What about reduced feeding? Is it possible the keepers relax just a little over the winter, and feed once a week instead of twice? Maybe rodent breeders reduce their production because the majority of keepers are brumating their animals, and the reduced supply trickles down to result in fewer feedings, but not on a level dramatic enough to be immediately apparent? I've seen plenty of snakes exhibit a reduced feeding response, or stop entirely, as winter approached but BEFORE I lowered temps and shortened the timers on the lights. So there's some internal response, too.

I'm not saying any of these things was the case with the people who reported breedings here. But I know I've had plenty of conversations with people who said they didn't brumate, and after conversations reviewing the considerations above, had clearly, clearly brumated their animals.

peace all
tdd

Guess I'm a brumator. Lights out according to the season and light feeding for the winter.

Mike