Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My BRN rick has been hiding for 3 days periods for two weeks now and hell eat only then thyn geoes back in he sleeps the whoel time hes not losing weight hes fecal test came up negative im guessing brumation, all the tems adn humidty is right.
what u guys think?

Sean
-----
1 Black roughneck Monitor (Slick Rick)
3 Crested Geckos (red, neon orange, and neon orange dalmation) (Rocky is the oldest other two are Adrian and Mick)
1 Vieled Cham (Tony Montana)
1 Leo (Nikki)
2 Niger Uromastyx Spike and Mike

My Email

Go to the www.varanus.nl forum and ask Mark Bayless aka Mkbay. He's a nice guy and very knowledgeable about this subject.
-----
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ " If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullsh1t"

Thanks Ratzu....what happened to your post you posted yesterday Was deleted eh? It happens to the best of us....oh well.

Brumation is a behavior African Varanus undergo during the summer months in east Africa. V. albigularis do this, V. niloticus does this under great duress and drought, and V. exanthematicus does this in West Africa, and V. griseus in North Africa...it is common among the "polydaedalus' group of varanids. Brumation is similar to hibernation, but in summer, hot months, when the animals are not generally feeding, using their fat body organs reserves for nutrition while they go hunting of females for males, and male for females. After they have accomplished their deeds, it time to go sit in a tree for a few months period, or under some tree bark in an acacia tree or perhaps a hole in a termitaria....away from honey badgers, martial eagles, jackals their primary predators.

cheers,
mbayless