Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My female Florida is not interested in food anymore. I live in Houston so the weather is still fairly warm with the exception of this week. When do you guys start brumation of your females and what method do you use. I Have never bred her before, she is an '02, I would like to breed her next year. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Miller
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Miller
0.1 Florida King
1.0 Chow Chow
0.2 Cats
1.1 Eastern Kings

I start in November. I feed on 1 Nov for the last time; wait a couple of weeks and then by mid Nov I shut the heat off. This year I didn't start warming them up until 15 March.

Kerby...

Thank you for the reply. Do you lower the temp at all? Also, do you put them in complete darkness? My plan was to feed until november but she is showing no interest in food. So I wanted to see if I should start now since she is not eating.

Thanks again,
Miller
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Miller
0.1 Florida King
1.0 Chow Chow
0.2 Cats
1.1 Eastern Kings

Here in the Phoenix area there isn't much "cold" weather for brumation. It starts to get cold sometime between now and the end of November (it's forecast to be 90 degrees today). Usually I do okay if on Thanksgiving weekend me and the snakes all have a nice big meal, then two weeks later I shut off their heaters and cart them out to the garage. I leave them in the garage until it starts to get warm again (end of January) and then bring them into the house and warm them up and start them eating again. Within six weeks they are usually ready to start looking for a mate. It's a short brumation, but I don't have much of a choice. It usually starts getting pretty warm by the beginning of February.

In a colder climate I would be cooling them down already if the weather allowed for it, not bringing them back up until march.
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~Sasheena

I think I will since she is already not eating. I think she has pooped her last meal aready. It is suppose to be in the seventies here this week. I will put her in the garage, should I deprive her of light? My only concern is that being in Texas, I am sure the temp will rise again before they fall.

Thanks,
Miller
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Miller
0.1 Florida King
1.0 Chow Chow
0.2 Cats
1.1 Eastern Kings

Make sure your snake is on heat for at least 2 weeks after the last feeding to allow for the complete digestion of anything that may be left over in its GI track. Any leftover food can rot in its gut and injure or kill the snake while it is in brumation.

Basically the goal is to reproduce what the snake would feel in the wild. You want to gradually lower the temps to about 60°F. At this temp, a brumating snake will lose very little weight. I typically brumate at 55°F for 2.5-3 months, and my snakes loose less than 1% of their body weight. I have heard of people keeping them in the dark during this time, but I don't, they just get the 10 hr winter light cycles from the sun coming in the window.

Make sure they have a tight hide and clean water during brumation.

Sometimes if my snakes go off of food early I offer them live, smaller prey items to try to intice them to eat a little while longer to I can brumate them when it is actually cold.

If you can't get it to feed anymore this year, remember that basements are a little cooler than the rest of the house, and the floor level is the coolest place in a room.

I hope this helps.
Good luck,
Tom Anderson

Thank you for the additional details. I have offered her smaller mice but she shows not interest. She is however still very active. I will try to feed one more time, It has beenabout two weeks since her last feed. Basements aren't very big is Texas lol. Getting the temp down is going to be a challeng for me. Probably will not get that cold during the day for another month or so if then.

Miller
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Miller
0.1 Florida King
1.0 Chow Chow
0.2 Cats
1.1 Eastern Kings

I drop the temps between 55-65 degrees. Pretty much dark with some sunlight. I do keep fresh water in their cages.

Kerby...

...is from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day. That way, I don't have to remember much:]
:Mark

If I can get her to eat that would be good for me too! The memory is slipping by the year!

Thanks
Miller
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Miller
0.1 Florida King
1.0 Chow Chow
0.2 Cats
1.1 Eastern Kings