Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How do most people who live in the South, esp in Florida, and w/o a basement manage to brumate their snakes and maintain the proper temp? Thanks

Some folks in Florida use air conditioners. I live in North Georgia, so after about the middle of November, it's no problem to keep them at 55 or 60 degrees. I have been just putting them out in the garage, but I just finished building a 16'x16' shed so I'll probably put them out there this winter. When it starts getting too cold, I just use a space heater to keep it up around 55 degrees. I have less than 100 snakes that I brumate, so it's not that big a thing to move them around.

Hello all,
This is my first time keeping colubrids( i've had before just never brumated) that I plan on brumating and I have some concerns and now seems like a good time to express those concerns.

My plan is this...keep the snakes (See sig for snakes) feeding until Mid January then slowly wean them off of their basking lights until they are gone and they are residing in my room at about a temperature of around 65 degrees..keep them at this temp for 2 or 3 weeks then after thatI will be bringing them down my basement for about a month and a half and will be keeping them at around 55-60 degrees. I will check the snakes daily to make sure there are no problems as this is my first time doing this. Then i will slowly bring the temp up to around 60 then bring them bakc into my room for a week or two at 65 degrees then give them their basking lights again and have them back to normal temperature...feed them and prepare to mate them. Is this a good approach.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated as this is my first time brumating and breeding snakes.

Thank you for your time,
Ralph
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Ralph

1.0 Bearded Dragon
1.1 Honduran Milksnake
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
1.0 Bullmastiff

Well, first off, I wouldn't do it with the Beardie or the Bull Mastiff.

For the snakes, though...

I don't think that's really long enough. I keep my snakes at brumation temps, 55 to 60 degrees, for three months. I take 2 weeks getting them down to temp, then 2 weeks warming them back up for a total of 4 months. I usually start cooling them off in mid November, then start waking them up around the end of February/beginning of March.

Do not feed them while you are cooling them keep water available but no food (except Drymarchon). Wait at least 2 weeks from the last meal before you start cooling them so they can empty their gut.

Thank you for the response, I will follow your directions when brumating, and go for the 4 month period, thanks again!
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Ralph

1.0 Bearded Dragon
1.1 Honduran Milksnake
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
1.0 Bullmastiff