Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone, the eastern milk snakes I hatched earlier are doing ok right now, but I am in a bit of a dilemma.

They didn't eat at first so I put them into hibernation. I did this by burying a container underground beneath a lot of insulation, so the temp would stay above freezing but still cold enough. They had water and substrate and all that, and I think they would have done fine except that we just had a TON of rain and the container flooded, I had to bring them out of hibernation.

All of them survived the flood but I am unsure how to proceed. Should I try and feed them immediately, or wait a few days? Should I try to put them into hibernation again or will they be unable to go in for another cycle?

Thanks,

crocacutus

Good grief! Who told you to bury your snakes??? Brumation is a very simple thing, it doesnt require you to do anything nearly so radical! Not sure on your temps but its above freezing if you are getting rain. Find a spot in the garage, basement, attic, somewhere that remains ABOVE freezing but below 60. I have brumated in spare rooms, garages, basements, breezeways, fridges, and bulkheads. The only thing you have to worry about is:

1-is the temp right?
2-is it dry enough? Too wet will cause resp problems
3-access to water, they will move around
4-dark

Right now I have mine brumating next to my fridge in the kitchen. They are covered with a tablecloth. I check on em every couple of weeks making sure they havent knocked over their water or jammed their heads in the lid. Now dont overthink this, its way easier than you are making it.

Okay, but will they be capable of going back into brumation after I took them out for a day?

crocacutus

Its not uncommon for snakes in more temperate areas to be active in spurts during warm spells. Just not as much as during the spring and summer. They may come out and sun a bit, then go right back down into their brumation area when cold weather sets back in. Here in Louisiana, I am seeing anoles still sunning at times when the temps warm up. Now its getting into the low thirties and upper twenties at night, and no activity is seen. However, I am sure we will get some fluke warm spells when animals could surface and sun a bit, maybe even lightly feed. Go ahead and make sure they are clean and dry, then find another suitable brumation spot that is NOT buried and prone to flood or freeze, and let them go back into dormancy for another couple of months following the natural season changes in your area.

About 15 years ago I was deer hunting the first week of December in Mass. COLD! Temp was about 40, walking down a path I looked down and there was a hatchling LTT in the middle of the path! Put it in my pocket and forgot about him. All day. At the end of the day I got home and was taking off my clothes and put my hand in that pocket and he was still there! Cute little bugger obviously was looking for a winter hand out and he got it!

They dont hibernate like a bear. They are active, thats why they still need water. The cold makes the air very dry. Just dont bug them all the time and you dont even have to consider it brumation. I think a weekly visit to a warm hand would be a benefit...

Thank you so much, I am going to brumate them again because I don't think they will feed after such a short brumation time

Anything below 60? I thought it had to be in the 40s. We have 60 degree nights every so often in the summer here, I never thought they could brumate at such a high temperature.

Thanks again,

crocacutus

60 will work for them just not for 3 months.They need to get into the 50's for a while if you plan on leaving them down for about 3 months.
If all you have is 60's then just leave them down about 6 more weeks.
That should be fine for them.I do it every year for hatchling problem feeders like alterna,zonata,pyro's etc....

L8r Shannon

Thanks, this is my first time raising hatchling snakes out of the egg, and my first time keeping easterns altogether, they are my favorite (sub)species and I really want them to do OK. I am going to contact fish and game to see if I am allowed to release them where the mother was once their normal active time is.

That said, 6 weeks sounds good if you've seen them eat after that time, I want them to gain some weight by that time. I will see i the temperature is my basement is Ok and brumate them there.

I think they may have lost weight while brumating but I can't be sure because the scale I use to weigh snakes is broken.

Thanks again to everyone who replied,

crocacutus

the reason you want a shorter brumation at 60 than at 50 is because they're still burning some energy/calories and thus weight, at 60--less than at normal high-70's or 80, but more than at 50. So you shorted the brumatyion so they don't lose TOO much weight.

and jeff's advice was generally spot-on, but be aware refrigerators generate heat around them, not cool air, so before you brumate something by your refrigerator make sure you've got a working thermometer, even if your scale is broken!

I have them in a back room in the basement, it is very cool, probably in the fifties, I will take them out towards the end of January. They are in a plastic container on a concrete floor, which also sucks out heat.

crocacutus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frost_line
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"He's down in the basement staring at his snakes " My Wife

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Doug L

Yeah I know but they were underneath a lot of insulation which kept them warm enough even when it was close to zero above ground. Rain was the only problem.

crocacutus

Rain in a limited space would have increased humidity to a unsafe level and caused respiratory infections. This is almost always a death sentence to a baby snake. My thinking is you got lucky.

Yeah, too many horrible things could have EASILY happened with that risky scenario for sure!

I am glad to hear they are inside now to be quite honest.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com