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3 Questions about Brumation Prep

S

SerpentMama

New member
Ok, I'm new at all this. I've learned a LOT in the last year but now this is the first time dealing with brumation so I have some questions. I hesitate to ask because I have seen people get irritated at questions asked (I'm sure you "old timers" on the forum have seen the many of the same questions asked hundreds of times so it has to get old but I am going to stick my neck out and ask mine. :)
Here goes:
I recently purchased a proven female who these questions are about.
#1 She loves to soak in her water dish and spends a lot of time there. Should I give her a smaller water dish that she can't get into for brumating? (Didn't know if she would get TOO cold in the water)
#2 She hasn't eaten since about the first of Oct (I got her on the 2nd and haven't fed her). Everytime I think she is "cleaned out" I find more poop in her house....found some again today (Oct 30). How do I know she is really cleaned out and ready for brumation?
#3 She shed today too. Is that the norm for getting ready to brumate?
Thanks so much in advance for your patience and help :)
 
Before brumation I would check out the reason she soaks so much - it has not been normal behaviour for any of our corns to soak - even with humidity about 35% - I would want to rule out any possibility of mites before brumation. Also possible it is related to temperature and she is trying to cool down a bit - not sure if that might be an issue where you are located.

#1 We use regular sized water dishes in our brumation tubs but have given a smaller dish to a couple of our honduran milksnakes that we found soaking in their dish during brumation. I think they may have been using the water dish to spend time in because they filled it up and so they felt more secure in the tight space. I don't think the water would actually be colder than the air temperature - but I was concerned about constant exposure to water for their skin condition.

#2 It could be mostly pee, rather than poo that is clearing out - ours continue to drink and pee during brumation and there is sometimes some dark material along with the white urates in the pee. I think that the real issue is to get the large mass of food out of the gut so that there is not a lot of food in there when temps just aren't high enough for digestion. We have them off feed for 2 weeks at regular temps, then off for 2 weeks at room temp before they go down to 55 degrees - still sometimes a bit of poo after that but not enough to worry about.

#3 Shed cycle may be influenced by daylight and temps, but we find it more related to feeding schedule. We have had many shed during brumation, - shed cycle takes longer but usually humidity is high in the brumation tub, so sheds are clean and no problem.

Best of luck - it is sort of stressful (for the owner!) to go through brumation the first time, but after they all come out fine in the spring, it is pretty easy,

mary v.
 
Despite my inherent impatience, I find brumation to be such a relief! ...no feeding or cleaning for 6 weeks! About the most effort I put in is checking/changing the water once a week or so and besides that I have some much needed time off!

I agree with all the other points though, check husbandry and health issues before you put her down for bru.
 
Thank you Ladies. And now I know this probably sounds really dumb, but how do I check for mites? Can they be seen with the naked eye?
Thanks,
Penny
 
Put down some white paper and run the snake through your hands over the paper a few times. If you see a bunch of little black spots it could be mites you see or it could be dirt. You'll also see them floating in the water bowl if you look closely...that's why snakes with mites soak so much.
 
Thanks Princess, I checked like you said and didn't see anything so guess I'm good to go! :)
Thanks again for your help.
 
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