Reptile & Amphibian Forums

With the fluctuating temperatures here in AZ, I'm worried about my atrox and cerastes.

Ready to buy a wine cooler to keep stable temps. Comes with a fresh air fan and quiet motor. I can still keep the beer and wine chilled too. haha. Dual compartments for 2 different temps.

What temps should I keep them?

I have only hibernated Northern Snappers. Told by 2 Herp phd's that below 50F, reptiles don't require nourishment.

Now I have the rattlers and it's new ball field.

Do cerastes even brumate?

Thanks in advance.
-----
Be a Boy Scout, Help a Cougar Cross the Street

I've always brumated my atrox at 55 degrees.

Not sure what a "Northern Snapper" is though. In North America we have the Eastern Common Snapper, Florida Common Snapper, and the Alligator Snapper.

The Common Snappers require permits in Arizona to be possessed.
-----
Tim Cole
www.austinherpsociety.org
www.AustinReptileExpo.com/
www.AustinReptileService.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<
Conservation through Education

I was in Michigan when I had Serpentina Serpentina.
-----
Be a Boy Scout, Help a Cougar Cross the Street

Just an update. They have been hibernating just fine since January.

I got a wine cooler to hibernate my herps in. Controlled temperature and a fresh air fan built in. Very quiet. Temp is set at 48F.

In the morning when it's dark and cold in the house, I open the door to refresh the air now and then. A water dish is there, too.

Still have room for 8 standard bottles.

Next weekend I will start raising the temp one degree per day until 65F. Then they can go into their cages.
-----
Be a Boy Scout, Help a Cougar Cross the Street

Anything that I have put down for the Winter was kept at 50-55. My basement does fluctuate though, and got as low as 42. Keep in mind that I was hibernating rat snakes from southern Florida (Deckert's rats) and they did fine.

Even where you are in Tucson you shouldn't have any problems at all with those two species. You don't need to worry about the fluctuations in your area. Just pick the most stable cool area you have, be it a garage or a room on the north side of the house with the window cracked or opened. Shoot for a night time temp of 50-60F, don't worry if it drops lower or warms up a bit in the daytime. They will do fine for three months without food as long as their bodyweight was good going in. Growing up in Tucson, I used to hibernate both pyros and greeri in this manner in my bedroom,(two of the montane kingsnake species usually considered more difficult to hibernate and breed)and still had babies every year (along with just about every other local snake species at some point in time). Do keep them in the dark.

In teh wild atrox vary a lot according to locality as they have quite a wide elevational distrubution. At higher elevations they go down for the winter and don't come back up till Spring. In the Tucson area they return to hibernacula where they stay all winter and don't feed. One may however find them basking outside on any given day that is warm and sunny in Dec. thru Feb. Sidewinders are pretty much the same.

Rich