Reptile & Amphibian Forums

always out and about. temps are sill up to 70-75*. but at night the temp are falling to 55 plus. how many of you breed cal kings in the south and what problems do you have with temps and breeding. i have to keep mine in my garage so they are up most days. i took them off food last week of dec. they still hold a great looking size girth. just wondering if i may not have prepared for them properly. im not really to worried if they don't this year. but it would be nice.this was taken this week thought i would share

I am not sure what your asking, but hibernating has nothing to do with breeding them. I guess your from SoCal, I was too, a long time ago.

In the early sixties we bred cal kings out in a carport, I added a tiny litebulb in the winter(way pre-shoeboxes). Then I got smart and started to control them. I kept them at a constant 84F degrees and they bred every 11 months, they did that for a couple of decades.

Hibernation only becomes important if their metabolism is running to fast. That does not allow energy to be used(stored) for reproduction, only for supporting the snakes basic needs(to stay alive) They conserve energy at lower temps, So it allows fat buildup and of course that goes first to reproductive energy(internal fat). Then it goes to the back fat(external).

So as long as they are fed up, you should have lots of eggs. Good luck. The pic was from yesterday.

Thats a darn cool pic you took FR. and I must say your explanation was very good and clear. Nice to have your knowledge around here.

Take care
Dawn

I have always had concerns about brumating snakes and whether it was worth the added risks of illness or whether it even increased the likelihood of copulation. During discussions about it, several people have cited anecdotal evidence that the rate of good eggs went down if they didn't brumate their snakes. Have you ever had issues with a high number of slugs? I realize from your post that you never have problems with breeding behavior itself.

Well sir, no, as a matter of fact and I didn't because I understood something about snakes. hehehehehehehehe, if you think back, I mentioned it to you on that long dusty road. Snakes like/use/pick/need, cool temps year around. They use higher temps for certain purposes and higher temps then that are tolerated, then of course, they they fail, then die as the temps become too hot. I have regularly seen snakes crawl(cross roads) at temps from the fifties, and that includes Boa constrictors and several species of pythons.

The veiw that snakes are exposed to cold winters is not about reproduction or heck all the snakes in the tropics would be sterile. But of course they are not. Hibernation is a survival behavior, not a reproductive one. Snakes seek places they can be active for the longest possible time(whatever that is)

Their are problems with the other extreme too. Too hot or constant warm is not what they need either Too hot is expresses survival behaviors. What makes me chuckle is, most snakes like room temps(65 to 75F)(how convienent is that) with the ability to attain specific hotter temps for specific functions. Temps like 85 to 100F. Which kinda leaves a middle neutral zone thats in the middle.

I hope your not hibernating your greenrats. IF you are, you better go feed them. Those bad boys really take the groceries in the winter. Cheers

Thanks for some affirmation. I was starting to wonder if I was flying solo with some of these thoughts/ideas.
As a matter of fact, I am not brumating the Greenies. One, however, did go off her feed in mid-December but she's showing more activity again. I've got them in my coolest room but that means 70 -72 degrees. The young one is still hopping around and having a good ole time.
See you down range Codie says to tell you "Hi."

Way back in the dark ages, before we knew we weren't "doing it right" I kept snakes together and didn't worry about brumation. I got clutches of aberrant X banded kings (some that FR and I caught!)and San Diego Gophers with less than 1% infertile. But now that I have been enlightened I am trying brumation for the first time. We'll see what happens!

Pastor Pat

That pet shop I/we hung out/worked at? Remember that display case I/we set up as a sorta natural set up for gophersnakes. We have Desert gophers, coastal gophers and Affinis. Then some laid eggs and they were crossed up babies of all types. hahahahahahahahahaha Yea, we had a handle on husbandry, hahahahahahaha. Oh well it was fun. Cheers FR

about. I mean does everyone who hibernates do it for fertility of the eggs. Or to stimulate the breeding cycle. I have often wondered if it was just cause you can save a few dollars on your feeding bill. Im the same as the others when I had snakes before I never did hibernate them and I dont remember no large number of slugs and to the best of my memory they seem to breed with no ill effects.
Just my .02 worth
Toby
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www.Wood-N-Snakes.com

not a necessity, i have sold non-brumated mated female corns that have produed 100% FERTILE EGGS, believe it or not.