brumation of albino checkered garters questions

catfishrod69

catfishrod69

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ok earlier this year i tossed my male in with the female...they got along really well, but there was no breeding...i wasnt sure if brumation was absolutely needed or not, but i guess it will be what i have to do....last weekend i fed each of them, and next weekend i am planning on starting the brumation...well i know to keep water in with them and everything...but no food of course....well the only room in the house that i can keep them in that gets cold enough for them to bumate in, is a room thats just used for storage, and it has no electric, insulation, or anything...so it gets pretty bad here in the winter, and i figure the room probably gets down close to 30F, roughly....im not sure if this will be too cold to keep them in for 3 months, i plan on checking them every week, but dont want them to freeze....i was thinking of taking a old blanket and wrapping the tanks all the way around, that way it can gte cold, but not quite as cold.....any thought or information if they will be ok or not....thanks for help.
 
pitbulllady

pitbulllady

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catfishrod69 said:
ok earlier this year i tossed my male in with the female...they got along really well, but there was no breeding...i wasnt sure if brumation was absolutely needed or not, but i guess it will be what i have to do....last weekend i fed each of them, and next weekend i am planning on starting the brumation...well i know to keep water in with them and everything...but no food of course....well the only room in the house that i can keep them in that gets cold enough for them to bumate in, is a room thats just used for storage, and it has no electric, insulation, or anything...so it gets pretty bad here in the winter, and i figure the room probably gets down close to 30F, roughly....im not sure if this will be too cold to keep them in for 3 months, i plan on checking them every week, but dont want them to freeze....i was thinking of taking a old blanket and wrapping the tanks all the way around, that way it can gte cold, but not quite as cold.....any thought or information if they will be ok or not....thanks for help.
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You definitely have to brumate Garters and Water Snakes to get them to breed. 30 degrees, though, is too low, and you will risk killing the snakes at those temps. Wrapping the tanks won't help much because there's no heat to hold in. If there is a way, try to get some heat out there, to keep the temps above freezing, and the snakes should be gradually introduced to the cooler temps, not suddenly. Keep water in with them, as you are planning, and no food. It really doesn't have to get cold per se to "cool down" a snake for brumation; I keep mine in my room which gets down to around 62-65 at night in winter, as opposed to ambient temps of around 75-80 in summer. That 20-degree or so drop is enough to trigger brumation in most native snakes. Plus, with me being at work, the lights are on less, and light does play a role in brumating snakes, perhaps more than temperature does.

pitbulllady
 
catfishrod69

catfishrod69

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wow thanks...i was always on the thought that they needed to cool to about 50...i do have 1 room in the house that will get down to low 60's high 50's at night in the winter...i understand what you mean about no heat to hold in with a blanket, i did think about using heat pads with dimmers...but if i can just put them in this extra room then they should be fine...and i can wrap them with a blanket anyways to make sure they get as little light as possible...what do you think about checking on them once every week?

---------- Post added 10-16-2011 at 06:58 PM ----------

and if i get them in this room next weekend, they should have enough time to gradually cool down, because right now its not as cold, you think thatll work?
 
J

JOE P

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my Thamnophis have gotten that cold before...not sure if i would recommend it tho!
 
catfishrod69

catfishrod69

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yeah im not sure i would let them get that cold...i mean they do see that temp in the wild, but they have the option to burrow...
 
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