Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My 17" mtn. king ate a live fuzzy 8 days ago but has clearly indicated that she is no longer interested in eating - three days ago she killed, started to eat then rejected a fuzzy mouse. The next day she refused a smaller live fuzzy..... then later even 2 live pinkys.

Currently her aquarium has gradient from 87 degree small hot area (subsurface heater on dimmer) to 71 degree cool area with s moss hide, layered hide, coco shell hide, wall cave hide, water

So i am planning to wait 6 more days (two weeks since her last meal) then brumate her in a shoebox in the fridge or in the garage... Should i try to feed her another time before brumating her?

Fridge... John mentioned it is possible to fridge brumate them but i don't know if he was referring to a specialized refrigerator like a wine cooler or just an ordinary kitchen type?If they can be kept in a kitchen fridge what is the optimal temp to keep them at? How best ensure they get enough moisture... other than changing their water regularly

If in the garage, is it too cold if temp in the garage is usually in the low 50s but ocasionally in the coming months may drop down to low 40s? i assume dont leave them out if there is any chance of chill or freezing that night to prevent your beloved pet becoming a popsicle.

With either the fridge or garage method how can you gradually acclimate them to either - i read some people reduce their temp down over a week.... i will reduce the heat on a dimmer over the remaining time then perhaps put her in a cold room for a couple of days - anything else i should do?

Thanks for your input on this...

All my kings/milks are cooling right now so I may be able to offer some help.
Leave the heat on your Z for another week or so, to ensure everything that may be in the stomach is digested. My method of inducing/gradually introducing a snake into brumation is to then unplug any heat source and let the temps fall, with some fluctuation being okay. Photoperiod is decreased a tad. After about 4-6 days of this, I place the tank/snake in my garage where it gets to the mid/low 50s (again, some fluctuation occurs, but no biggie).

I have never heard of using an actual food fridge to cool snakes, but many people I know that live in warmer areas use wine coolers that have a temp control.

I prefer the garage, and add a heat pad on a dimmer. This way, the snake has some control, and the snake can decide how to "gradually" cool down. You do not need to do that for the snake. The all or none approach is just not the best method IMO. Trust me, the snake knows better than you or me how it wants or needs to cool down.

Regarding the garage, who cares if it gets in the 40s if this is a Calif mtn king, have a heat pad at one end set to something higher - like 75 deg maybe to start, then dim down from there to maybe 65 deg, doesn't really matter. Snake will do what it needs to do.

I've had zonata and even thayeri eat and digest at 65 deg when I fed them and power went out for 2 days one year. Perfect timing on my part. Rosies puked but zonata and thayeri, no problem. For a zonata, 55 deg is nothing - they don't get truly lethargic until well below that. I guess I'm assuming you have a zonata?
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Mark

how cold does your garage get? In mine (it's not attached) water will freeze solid in the winter, so I can't use that
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

I read somewhere that Brumation is not really necessary in captive breed snake. Is that true? What do y'all think about that?

*shrugs* I h aven't burmated before this year but I'm going to try it.
For keeping as a pet it's 100% unneeded pretty much. For breeding, from what I've heard, it greatly helps to increase your results. Some people just drop ambient temp but leave heat pads plugged in, some people actually burmate. I'm going with burmation because it's what I can do; I keep my pythons and kingsnakes in the same room so I can't drop ambient temp to the 50s for a few months without getting my pythons sick.
But this is my first year trying to work on breeding snakes so...others here have more experience with it, but they argue too
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

With temperate climate snakes that have gone off feed for the winter brumation is useful to help conserve body weight until spring, when they will commence feeding again. If they are not eating but are kept at summer temps (our average house temps) they will lose too much weight, so a winter rest is good for them.

For breeding snakes, the males need the cooler temps for fertile sperm production.

I will be brumating my bulls and gophers soon, if nobody eats in the next two weeks. The older pyros are already in the brumation chamber. The baby pyros will not be brumated until next winter, as they will feed all winter for the most part. If some of them do shut down for the winter I will brumate them, too.
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Bob/Chris
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire