Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I realize this question may be too basic for this forum, but I need some reliable advice.

I purchased a wine refrigerator for brumation purposes and the temperature is not as constant as I had hoped. I have been monitoring the temps on the lowest cooling setting for the frig and the fluctuations have been recorded with a temperature probe. The bottom of the frig fluctuates between 44.6F and 50.8F and the upper portion between 52.7F and 58.2F. I door is ajar about one half cm on top to allow for oxygen exchange. I have a pair of mountain species (knoblochi) that I believe will do fine at the lower temps but am worried about the thayeri.

Will my thayeri be okay at these lower temps? Should I get a cooling thermostat to better control the temps, and if so, can anyone recommend a reliable one?

Thank in advance for your help.
Maria

some nights my garage is 30 degrees or lower and my thayeri all do fine. Now notice I said "Some". I'm not recommending you keep them at that low of a temp as it will most likely be leathal. temps that range as low as 30 and as high as 70 will still produce viable eggs in the coming breeding season....this is my experience and I my thayeri don't show any signs of fertility problems.

Russ

Maria, you should be fine with your lower temps...........my room goes down to 40 some nights and they do fine breeding.........chad fuchs used to tell me he used to have thin ice on his water dishes some mornings and they survived. I would'nt go near 32 degrees myself, but your temps should be good........mike

CHRIS' COLUBRIDS

...I feel much better now. I'm quite surprised they can take the 30's! Unfortunately for me the garage cooling won't work as I'm in Chicago and it gets way too cold in the winter. As my adult collection grows, I will have to figure some other cooling method. Larger wine chillers can get quite pricey.

Thanks for the replies,
Maria

I hibernate my colubrids, including mexicana and knoblochi in a garage. Most of the time the temp fluctuates between 45 and 60 but in CA during the winter we sometimes get hot days or cold nights and the temps go as high as 70 to as low as 34. During he heat spells we don't get real cold lows and when we do get real low temps it is usually only below 40 for a couple hours early in the morning. All of my snakes have done fine with these temps. I have no experience with refrigerators but I heard you do need to be careful the snakes don't dehydrate in them.

Hi Aaron,

I didn't know it can get down to 34F in CA, even if only for a few hours! It must be a welcome break to the constant perfect weather conditions CA usually enjoys :^)

By the way, I have put a fleece blanket over the front of the wine chiller to keep it nice and dark, but it has also appeared to help stablize the internal temps. The coldest portion is now hovering around 48F.

I have also heard about the potential problems with dehydration associated with frig units. To help safe-guard against this, I have 2 bowls of water in the chiller; one on the top shelf and one on the bottom.

Thanks for your input Aaron,
Maria

I would try and avoid letting the temps get down into the 30's. I'm sure that they can survive it but it's just a little to risky for my money. I like to keep mine between 45-55 degrees F.

As far as dehydration goes just make sure that they have plenty of water in their water bowl just like you do while they are not brumating. More often than not I find my snakes in their water bowls when I check on them during the winter. I would use a cool whip size bowl and cut out a 2 inch diameter hole in the middle of the lid. Put the lid on tight and fill it about half way with water. There's no way they can tip over the water, so their substrate will stay dry.

The blanket is a great idea too.
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Vichris

Vichris Variables

Chris,

The frig is maintaining temperatures between 45F and 55F at the moment, so that's great. I'll be checking the temps everyday though to make sure they don't get too low as you mentioned.

I really like the covered water bowl idea, thanks! I'm definately going to try that. The problem I'm finding is that I needed to minimize the snake's container height relative to depth and width. The Container Store sells a plastic "Paper Storage Case" measuring 14" sq. by 3 1/8" high which fits the shelving in the frig perfectly. Due to the low height, however, I've been having trouble finding appropriate sized water containers. The "cool whip" size would be great overall, but it is too high for the snake's containers. I'm going to have to keep looking...

Thanks,
Maria

Wow that is a very low container. I can see why your having trouble finding a narrow enough water bowl. Maybe one of those GLAD food containers will work????
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Vichris

Vichris Variables