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Brumation

S

suecornish

New member
I plan on breeding so I have Eluyanka, Danu and Gaia as "team one" and probable this November I'll get another male and two females for "team two".

Team one will not be ready to breed for, at least, two years.

My question is this: Should I put team one in brumation each year to get them into the cycle so that when they are old enough to breed they'll be used to the process.

As team two will be purchased at the start of brumation should they be given a year to put on weight and then put in brumation next November.
 
I do not brumate any of my snakes unless the males are at least 260 grams and the females are at least 300 grams.

D80
 
suecornish said:
What were your first clutches like?
Click to expand...
Sorry I didn't see your question sooner . . . :eek1:

I do not expect a lot from my first clutches, and even less from first clutches of unbrumated snakes (probably so I'm not disappointed!). There's a tendency for them to be fewer in number (<15) as well has having slugs (> 1/2). Much more so with the unbrumated ones. In general, I probably see 25% that are like that, 50% that are "normal" (whatever that is), and 25% that surprise me with larger clutches.. I have several snakes who's first clutches have well surpassed the 25 egg mark with completely fertile clutches. :shrugs:

I've never bred prior to being the size of breeding, so have nothing to compare to. That would be an interesting investigation if done right!! :)

D80
 
I was thinking of just feeding according to schedule the first year(up to November 2008), start brumation the second year (November 2008 thru February 2009), see if they reach proper breeding weight by November 2009 and if so, brumate until February 2010 and then breed them. If the weight is not right then breed them after brumation 2011. This is for Team A. As Team B will not be purchased until November of this year they will be a year behind Team A.

I am thinking that in the wild even hatchlings go into brumation their first winter. Maybe getting them into the cycle early will give me better clutches. I am not in a hurry and I don't plan to make my living breeding snakes so I can afford to take my time.
 
suecornish said:
I am thinking that in the wild even hatchlings go into brumation their first winter. Maybe getting them into the cycle early will give me better clutches.
Click to expand...
And that's exactly why I think it would be a great study for somebody to explore further. If you do it be sure to report back!

D80
 
I have only bred for two years now. I have never brumated my snakes and all of my snakes are first timers! My smallest clutch this year was 14 eggs 4 of which looked fertile but turned out not to be.

I don't have an easy way to brumate my snakes and I am afraid of losing them in brumation so I haven't tried very hard to figur eout how to do it.

Joanna
 
I have one room in my house, used to be carport and the prior owners made it into another bedroom, that gets very cool during the winter. We have to run a separate heater for that room. I was planing on using that room for brumation right now.

We are planing a large long room addition that will have a second bathroom, sitting room and master bedroom. We are making the sitting room a snake room and I thought that I could have a room air conditioner installed where it would be under a counter and in a cabinet. Have the cabinet insulated and the AC running so it keeps the cabinet the right temps during brumation. (My neighbours will think I am screwie running an AC in the winter time.)

So, I am going to brumate Team A next winter (November 2008-February 2009) in the carport-bedroom. This will give me this winter to see how the temps go.

As so start a new experiment. Brumating snakes each year until they are up to breeding size. Seeing that they will be losing weight each winter it may take several additional years to get them up to breeding size. Hopefully the first clutches will prove that it was a successfull experiment.
 
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