Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It's about that time and I need some advice. My snakes are in a room that is about 70 during the day and drops down to about 65 in the evenings. Can I stop feeding now and turn off their under tub heat for a few months, turn it back up in March and consider this enough for cooling before attempting to breed? Should they normally be in a much cooler location for a few months? I don't have access to a cooler location.

Any information and advice is most appreciated.

Thanks,
Jim

If you room gets cooler why not just use a heat tape and keep feeding them all winter. they will still cycle and be healthier for it! A forced cooling is not good for the snakes IMO.

This works as long as you have a cool end of at least 60 and a hot end of at least 82. Works even better if the cold side gets down even lower than 60F.

Plus that is a good time to bond perspective mates.
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www.Bluerosy.com

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Wasn't it Tony D, who tried this last year and was very unsuccessful?
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

>>Wasn't it Tony D, who tried this last year and was very unsuccessful?

Yep....but he just prolly did it all wrong......lol
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

Or he was the only one being truthful about it on here.
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Genesis 1:1

Jorge ,
I don't know what tonyD did but i have bren doing this for over a decade and produce 3 clucthes a year. Also FR posted below that he has as well as many other. it is no big secret and also makes more sense than the traditional pet shop method since snakes in the wild thermoregulate themsleves all year round without any help. They figure it out on their own and survived for a couple hundred years...no wait...a couple thousand maybe even six-seven thousand years..LOL

It makes perfect sense to give CHOICES with captive snakes. At least and many as possible . That is why FR posted that a greater heat temp gradient is better than what i mentioned. But i am trying to help others understand with practicilty in mind. Not all herpsers keep their snakes in cold rooms like I do. So, of course a range from 40-100F is even better. But for most, this concept is new to folks. So thanks for throwing a wrench into this again// Since you already know all this. Why do you bring it up? Escpecially since one person who says they tried it, compared to others who , like me, have been doing it year after year after year, with greater success than the forced method.

Why Jorge WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY? are you always saying things that most people would have compartmentalized in their mind ten times over by now.
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www.Bluerosy.com

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"it is no big secret and also makes more sense than the traditional pet shop method since snakes in the wild thermoregulate themsleves all year round without any help."

I didn't know pet shops bred snakes?

The reason I bring it up is for the benefit of new people on this forum. Let's say for a minute I wanted to "try" this method for myself. I would have to find a way to cool my snake room down to 40 degrees, then wire up all my tubs and racks with heat strips on one end. So far this is looking like a huge expense to get a third small clutch from some of my snakes. I already get double clutches and always have, doing it the way I do it. So there is more than one way to get it done. In lew of all the fires lately, and the high cost to create those extreme temps, I will stick to the method that has worked for me for many years. Wjo know I may spend all that money, and get the same results Tony did?
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

>>It's about that time and I need some advice. My snakes are in a room that is about 70 during the day and drops down to about 65 in the evenings. Can I stop feeding now and turn off their under tub heat for a few months, turn it back up in March and consider this enough for cooling before attempting to breed? Should they normally be in a much cooler location for a few months? I don't have access to a cooler location.
>>
>>Any information and advice is most appreciated.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Jim

What type of snakes?
And a wine cooler is a great brumation tool for a small number of snakes..........

Rainer's suggestion works great for getula but probably not for montane species like alterna, ruthveni, pyros, zonata or mexicana..................
IMHO!
At least no one has shared that data or information for montane kings like Rainer and others have with getula (Floridana to be specific).
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

It works great for montanes as well. Been there done that for decades.

I suggest a wider range. fifties cool and a warm area around 90F, use a very small warm area or it effects the cage temps. Cheers

>>It works great for montanes as well. Been there done that for decades.
>>
>> I suggest a wider range. fifties cool and a warm area around 90F, use a very small warm area or it effects the cage temps. Cheers

Do you think deep Aspen will help isolate a small hot spot so that it doesn't effect the cage temperature?
I use this technique in the Spring, Summer and Fall to achieve 72F on the cool side and 90F on the hot spot........I just wonder how well it would work while the room is in the 50's.........I may try something with a pair of pyros..........
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

Last night my brumation area (the floor under my computer station and work desk in my bedroom) got into the low 50's Fahrenheit. Now I can place my pyros and pits in their 105 quart tubs for their winter brumation. Cover the tubs with quilts to keep the temperatures in the 50s and block out the light. Big tubs allow for deep aspen and more of a thermal gradient than little tubs. This has worked well for a few years now. I got sturdy babies with both my pyros and pits, cohabitated together successfully. For the few snakes that are still feeding, they are still in their tanks with a nice hot spot in deep aspen, covered with a box or saucer to hold the heat. I let them tell me when they are ready to brumate, not just throw every body into the brumation thing willy nilly. Am still a newbie at this snake keeping thing but my animals seem content so I am gaining confidence.

I also have to bring in all my fence lizard cages at night now as it is in the low 40's at night outdoors and dropping as winter approaches, and put them out in the green house during the day for light, as the lizards are active and feeding during the day.

I have only 32 snakes so maybe my methods would not be practical for those with really big collections.

A useful post:
forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1950242,1950760

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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Bob...
Currently I brumate about 120 animals but they are in a small room with a large window unit A/C in the dark at 50F...

So the idea is the same as your method.....

I am just contemplating trying a year round feeding and hot spot in correlation with the cold temps........
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

Since everyone is ignoring the fact that you said you don't have access to cooler temps, I will say that in your situation, it could work as you suggested, but I would only do it for about 2 months. Since they will still be somewhat active, and using up calories. If you have common kings it should be enough. Even most milk snakes will do ok like that. As John said some of the colder more montaine species may need lower temps. However we do what we can, right. I live in Florida and just keep the snakes in a room with no heat, from Dec to the end of February. It's worked for me for many years. I'm not in the position to experiment and possibly get bad results. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

All - thanks for your input. To answer one of the questions asked in the posts, I have brooks / florida kingsnakes. I currently have a number of anerys and hypos, all with various hets thrown in. This will be my first go with the kingsnakes - I have had some previous success with ball pythons.

Again, thanks for all the information. In a few months I'll let you know how I make out.

Jim

>>All - thanks for your input. To answer one of the questions asked in the posts, I have brooks / florida kingsnakes. I currently have a number of anerys and hypos, all with various hets thrown in. This will be my first go with the kingsnakes - I have had some previous success with ball pythons.
>>
>>Again, thanks for all the information. In a few months I'll let you know how I make out.
>>
>>Jim

Cool Jim, post some pics of the babies when you get them. Or even Momma laying eggs!
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com