Reptile & Amphibian Forums

There is this theory ( tried and true I guess ) of certain temps of snakes kept during winter months even if the snakes species are not from this country. With the exception of boids, I'm pertaining this to North American, Latin America and some South American species. I'm living in central USA ( Kansas )and for the past several years our ground temps has not frozen where the frost line is suppose to be. Normally it is beleived to be down at around 18" but I can tell you it hasn't passed below 6 or 8 inches in the past. Now if one isn't planning to breed ( pertaining to the lower temps of males to build up sperm count and other viables listed as a suppose to do with the breeding concept ) why isn't it feasible to keep snakes at room temp that probably wouldn't see a below 40 degrees ? Even if one was to think of breeding, if the snakes out here in field are at below freezing at probably not very much below the frost line in either hibernacular dens or the proximity of what is dens, why can't a snake be kept at 40 or even lower ? And why would it be diff. for a captive born ? Maybe because the snake has never saw a LOW temp ? Is there concrete evidence on what the lowest temp a snake can take in captivity during brumation/hibernation ? I just don't see a lot of difference of a snake in the wild taking a hit on metabolism at lows comapred to a snake in captivty.

M Chambers

I brumate my garter at around 40 degrees.My temps have gone as low as 35.Any lower than that you have a frozen snake.

of air stratification, pyros and greeri are kept at floor level and things progress upward with tiger and speckled rattlesnakes being kept at upper levels were it is ten degrees warmer. I also keep cooler snakes towards the outer wall and warmer snakes towards the inside of the house. I regularly shoot to keep the pyros and greeri at 40F. Living at 7000ft we sometimes have cold snaps well below zero and the outer wall at floor level will drop to the 20's. There is no harmfull effect on my pyros and greeri. In fact I have experimented with pyros and kept them for weeks at a time at 30F with no problems whatsoever. As a kid growing up in Tucson I was not at first allowed to keep my snakes indoors. I maintained them in metal icechests on the shady side of the workshop. Winter temps would often drop to the 20's at night but I never lost a snake in hibernation.