Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi I am new to collecting snakes and i was just wondering what wintersleep is. I would also like to know if all snakes or just some types go into wintersleep.
Thanx for any help.

"Winter sleep" is the layman term for brumation, which is a state of inactivity undergone by some species of snake to bypass the cold or other natural disturbances in their daily routine. Basically the snake stops eating, releases all food from its intestines, and goes into a state of torpor from the cold. They do not eat and barely move, if they move at all, throughout their brumation. When warmer temperatures finally come, the snakes slowly "wake up" and head out to search for food and possibly for another snake of the opposite sex. Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

Wintersleep is the basically a snake's way of living through the winter. Snakes from tropical areas don't need to do this in the wild, and brumation can be very harmful to them. However, many tropical snakes respond well to a seasonal 'cooling' period that they stay active through. Also, brumation isn't always necessary for captive snakes that would otherwise do it in the wild, but in some cases it's necessary, and in other cases it's the only way to get them to breed.
So, to sum up, do research on your particular species to find out what it needs in the way of brumating!
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?