Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm new to the owning a Collard. I've had my lil guy since Aug. Hes still a babe. Anyhow,I've been reading where some of you are talking about brumation. Do they HAVE to have this?The reason I'm asking,is cause I live in Bama,and it desn't get just real cold here. So at night with the lights out on the cage,the lowest his tank has goten is like 72. Here latley,hes been acting real sleepy. I've read somewhere on here,someone saying they put their lizard in the fridge for brumation,is that harmful to them,I would be afraid of killing my little guy. But like i said,i'm new to the Collard,so I really don't know.
Can someone please post info on how to go about all of this. Like when should he start brumation,how long to keep him that way. And what about feeding,I read somewhere to stop feeding like 2 weeks before you shut the lights out.
So sorry about all the questions. I just want my lil guy to live a long and happy life. So any info would be great!
Thanks guys!

Howdy! I live in Alabama, too. Tuscaloosa, to be exact. Are you nearby?

I've had the same concerns about brumation myself, and opted not to do it with the collareds I used to own. So no, you do not have to brumate them; mine stayed healthy and active without it. However, it is necessary if you want to breed them.

There are varying opinions on how to do it, and since I am not experienced, I will not add my two cents. However, I will say that I have a cellar that gets cooler than your average room temperature during the winter, and I plan on using that when my babies are large enough to withstand brumation. I believe it will be cool enough during February when the temps stay fairly consistently cold down here.

Best of luck. It's nice to know I have a neighbor on this forum.

élan
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1.1.0 Collareds
1.0.0 Mali Uromastix
0.0.1 Butterfly Agama
1.0.0 Green Anole
1.0.0 Chinese Dwarf Newt
2.0.0 California Newts
0.0.1 White's Treefrog
0.0.1 Fire bellied toad
0.0.1 American Bullfrog
0.0.1 Midland Brown Snake
1.1.0 Felines
0.2.0 Canines
1.0.0 Equine

i have never brumated my babies. it is good to do it for breeding cycles but mine bred last year with no hibernation. if your guy is still young you may not want to brumate him yet.
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vonnie
***There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Wilson Little ***

Hey,yep,its great to know I have a fellow bamain here. I live about an hour from you. Mine was a hatchling when i bought him in Aug. Hes by himself(I'm guesing its a male)so there won't be any breeding.
Thanks for your imput. I'm so glad I found this board,the stuff I've read on different websites,tells you a little bit about stuff,but they don't go into detial on the hows,and whys,but everyone here is very imformative.
Thanks again!

Hi, glad your here, and congratulations on your baby ya got this summer. In answer to your question, No you do not HAVE to brumate, if you don't want to. Especially a baby !

It is however nessesary for breeding purposes. And down the line is supposed to be benificial to the lizards to have a rest period.

It is not for the very young, or extremely thin lizards or unhealthy in any way. They should be quite fit.

Some will brumate on their own and you will see a decrease in appetite, or a sudden stop in their eating . And more sleeping than basking. (some look a bit dazed) half awake /half asleep

Further down the page I explained brumation as far as stopping food, and about 7 days later turning off (heat/basking light) and then about 10 days later turning off UVB light.

You may want to talk to one of the other buddies on here that use refrigerators, to get temps down to 50 -55 Sorry I can't help with that. I have never used one.

I let them brumate in their tanks with lights off at room temp or about 65 degrees.
As long as its darkish they usually sleep fine.

If your guy is a baby you may want to brumate next season. Any other questions just holler someone will surely try and help.

Hey need some pics of your baby, heheheheh !

Be sure to stick around, good bunch of people here with pretty lizards

Enjoy !
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Eve / PHEve

Thank you for the welcome! My guy is still just a little babe. So I may just wait till next year. I had read somewhere,that in order for your Collard to live a long life you had to let them do this every year. But like i was saying in an earlier post,different websites tell diferent things,so I would rather get my info,from people who actully own a Collared.
I'll try and get a pic posted real soon.
Everyones lizard here that I have seen are soo big a pretty,mine looks like a runt compared to theirs..LOL
I wonder How long it takes them to grow,you know,are they slow growers? I can't wait til mine is a little bigger.
Thanks again for the nice welcome,and the helpful info you gave!

the size, he will be adult size before you know it. The babies do grow fast. Then it slows at about a year, as they begin to bulk or fill out that gaulky teenage look

The colors continue to get brighter until they are about 3 years old. As they do not fully mature until about that age.

You will love this lizard, they are fun, active and friendly.

Waiting for that pic, hehehehe
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Eve / PHEve

As of this year I'm one of the fridge people. Here is my setup.

I use a little beverage/wine fridge, which you can see here. It is sitting on a stack of foam sheets because I have a hardwood floor and the vibration is annoying otherwise. There is a paper towel on the shelf inside the fridge to catch the water that condenses on the inside; I change that once a day (hence the spare paper towels on top.)

There is a little wedge (just a rolled-up piece of paper) taped to the front of the fridge so that the door can't close completely. That ensures that the lizards have a little bit of fresh air. The fact that the fridge cools down the air actually helps here -- fresh warm air is slowly pulled in at the top of the door and cool air flows out the bottom. Not very energy-efficient, I'm afraid.

Finally, the lizards are in a plastic food container wrapped in tinfoil to keep it dark. (With air holes poked in the top, of course!) There is a jar lid for water, and the bottom is lined with a folded paper towel so they don't have to sleep in a puddle if one of them spills the water. I change that paper towel every couple of days, which is also when I check up on them to make sure they don't look dehydrated (really thin tail).

The inside of the fridge is set to stay between 50 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

They've been in there for over a month so far with no apparent ill effects, other than two very groggy, slow-moving lizards.

You got a pretty good set up there for them. Yep,they looked passed out! LOL When i first read that some people put theirs in a fridge,i thought it was a joke,I didn't know you could do that.
But now,after reading/seeing how you do it,It makes sense.
Thanks for sharing your pics and the info!

Thanks for the post, now people get to see the REfrige way ! Nice post and pics & comentary

and most of all PRETTY Collared
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Eve / PHEve

A most excellent and informative post. Thank you!

élan
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1.1.0 Collareds
1.0.0 Mali Uromastix
0.0.1 Butterfly Agama
1.0.0 Green Anole
1.0.0 Chinese Dwarf Newt
2.0.0 California Newts
0.0.1 White's Treefrog
0.0.1 Fire bellied toad
0.0.1 American Bullfrog
0.0.1 Midland Brown Snake
1.1.0 Felines
0.2.0 Canines
1.0.0 Equine