I have often been curious about the general temperature trends my animals face during hibernation, so I bought an inexpensive data logger to record temps in the "hibernaculum" (i.e. garage). Unfortunately, I didn't get the logger until the beginning of February (next year I'll be ready!).
We had a fairly cool winter here in San Antonio, TX with overcast skies that probably kept the garage from heating up too much over the last 6 weeks. I had the logger record the temperature every 15 minutes from early February to mid March and this is what I saw.
This actually represents over 3,430 temperature readings. Right around 75% of the readings were below 65°F, which I look for as kind of a maximum winter temp for good hibernation. Although the temps look a little high, remember that it was colder in December and January. Since I put them down on December 13th, this data represents the last half of the hibernation only. The lowest reading during the 6 weeks was 52.6° and the high was 70.1°F.
I am actually surprised, I didn't know it had been getting that warm in the garage (up to 70°F on occasion!).
Anyway, I don't know what use it is, I just thought it was interesting. I'll probably put one in with my eggs this year as well just to see how consistent incubation temps are.
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Chris Harrison
