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Brumation ?????

Smokey-Steve

Smokey-Steve

New member
Hello guys

It will be a while yet before i need to know this but would like to just find out what exactly is required for Smokey in her brumation period ???

As far as I think i know she has to have the temp droped in the viv and fed more(Not to sure on this one) ?????

Would just like to find out for Smokeys sake and just generally interested as well.
 
You don't actually need to brumate in order to breed - I've bred for years without and done fine.

During brumation, feeding is stopped not increased. Hopefully someone will be along shortly with experience of the finer details.
 
where did i get feed more from lol shows how much i need to learn before i can breed but hey ive got over 2 years to do it

Thank you for the reply

Have you ever had any failures breeding without a brumation period as again from what ive read it gives you a greater chance of succesful breed
 
Actually you don't breed the female till she is 3 yrs old 3 ft and 300 grams. And when you do brumate you stop feeding 3 weeks before dropping the temp to make sure there is no food in the belly then you slowly drop temp. till you can get it to stay ideally around 55 degrees a little higher is ok so is a little lower. You brumate for 3 months then slowly raise temp in the course of a week then offer a smaller meal. But you do not need to brumate to breed some do some don't.
 
harm781 said:
Actually you don't breed the female till she is 3 yrs old 3 ft and 300 grams. And when you do brumate you stop feeding 3 weeks before dropping the temp to make sure there is no food in the belly then you slowly drop temp. till you can get it to stay ideally around 55 degrees a little higher is ok so is a little lower. You brumate for 3 months then slowly raise temp in the course of a week then offer a smaller meal. But you do not need to brumate to breed some do some don't.
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Yes she is 7 months now which is why i said just over 2 years but didnt realise the 3 foot and 300g she is just under 2 foot now im hoping that is a suitable length for her age but then again i suppose all snakes are different. Also didnt realise you stop feeding 3 weeks before but i guess it makes sense as they cant digest when they are not warm. It seems weird fasting them is this what they do in the wild or is brumation just a techmniqu that has been discovered by breeders over the years ???

Thanks for the advice i'm learning more and more everyday i come onto the forum
 
Have you ever had any failures breeding without a brumation period as again from what ive read it gives you a greater chance of succesful breed
Click to expand...
I have one pair that just won't look at each other but I don't know if that can be ascribed to lack of brumation. I don't actually *need* them to breed, so I'm happy to accept their decision!

Brumation is said to offer the following advantages that I can think of off the top of my head:

1) Increased fertility i.e. fewer infertile eggs in clutches. Personally, I don't feel that I have a problem with infertile eggs. I do get the odd bad egg and occasionally a very poor quality clutch overall. However, it's never been such a problem that I've felt the need to correct it. Figuring out how to brumate in a two-bed apartment with no outside space, would be more trouble than a few infertile eggs.

2) More control over when the female is receptive. Having a set routine for taking them out of brumation will give you a better idea of when the female will be ready to mate, and in turn, improved control over when eggs are due to be laid and then hatch. Definitely an advantage if you have a large number of Corns, when staggering clutches must be a real help. Also if you have vital activities that you need to plan around e.g. exam periods. I have so few Corns that this really wouldn't make any difference to me. My bunch tend to lay at different intervals anyway.

3) If you have a warehouse full of Corns, then brumating allows you to take a well-earned rest over the Christmas and New Year holidays. You still need to make routine checks and maintain clean water supplies, but with no feeding comes no pooping and therefore minimal cleaning. Again, I don't have enough Corns for this to really be an issue.
 
i like how you say you have s few corns lol you have 13 but i suppose that seems alot to me as i only have 1 so far. Do you find that normals are generally more desired as i prefer the different colours (Smokey is a clue to that) Suppose it depends on the person your selling to though.

Do you sell your clutches or is this how you have 13 corns, by keeping them i mean???
 
Smokey-Steve said:
and fed more(Not to sure on this one) ?????
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The feeding more that you refer to might be in preparation to brumate. As in getting the fat reserves up for the time while it is on its long fast. Make sure you give it plenty of time to digest before you put it out in the cold.
 
gelshark said:
The feeding more that you refer to might be in preparation to brumate. As in getting the fat reserves up for the time while it is on its long fast. Make sure you give it plenty of time to digest before you put it out in the cold.
Click to expand...

Out in the cold is it not just the case of cooling the viv down ?? Or do i have to find somewhere outside for her ??
 
I keep my snakes in my basement during brumation as its unheated and living in NY it stays in the 50's all winter
 
Well, the most important points have definitely been covered. Don't put the females down until they are mature or very darn close to it. I know it's a bit of overkill, but I like to stick with the 3', 300 gram, 3 year rule. For the males, if you want to they can go down perhaps one year earlier. I tend to still wait it out with them too for the MOST part ;)

I empty them out for three weeks in the fall, weight them, then set them up in their brumation tubs, and make sure they have clean water, thick shavings, and a hide in their box. During brumation, you should check and freshed the water every week, I would GUESS that two weeks MIGHT be ok if you have your temps very nice and low...

In the late winter I wake mine up. I usually just weigh them, check their body condition, get them set up in their new tubs, and right into the snakeroom. I've never had a problem with just going right to the warm temps, but some people put them up gradually. For the first few weeks after brumation I feed every five days and often use rat pups for the extra fat value...

Here is a thread I made on brumation...

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91578

Rebecca
 
wow thats alot of snakes lol im wondering if it will drop to temps that low in the UK i presume you keep the radiator off in your snake bathroom to keep temps down i will have to get a thermometer in the room i plan to use as a snake room see how cold it gets that time of year.

Thanks for linking the post will be really useful when i come to breeding(not that many snakes though)
 
When I brumated mine this winter (only two, and for the first time for both them and me), it was out in the garage. Our basement was too warm, it would get to the low 60s frequently. In my garage, the temps varied from 34°F to mid 40s (but were mostly in the mid 40s). Both snakes are currently doing great. I doubt that the temps need to be that low to have a successful brumation, but I just thought I should let you know that you shouldn't get to worried if they do dip occasionally to a little over freezing.
 
Do you sell your clutches or is this how you have 13 corns, by keeping them i mean???
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I sell all of my clutches to my local reptile shop.

All of the adults I own, I've bought at various times since 1991. As they can live for 20+ years, they do tend to build up over time!
 
Cool i'm looking at doing some research into demand for corns at the many pet stores around where i live there are four within about a 5 mile radius of where I live.

Problem is they are mostly just general pet stores rather than specialist reptiles stores.

The problem i think with me breeding is i'd want to keep all the hatchlings lol but i suppose i'd have to try and get rid of them before I got attached.

One thing I know for sure is i'm gonna really enjoy the breeding as much as I enjoy keeping Smokey.
 
Being able to sell/rehome hatchlings is probably the most important part of breeding. Congrats on doing the groundwork well in advance.

I'm not breeding this year as the shop I sell to has seen a 75% decrease in demand for Corns over the last year. No point breeding animals if I can't sell them to the outlet I trust. Hopefully it's just a temporary blip.
 
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