Should I be brumating my Colubrids?

[Ax01]

I have a juvenile Corn, 2 juvenile Milk and a baby King snake. should i be brumating them in this winter/during the cold months?

They are in the same room as my BP’s that are out of QT. they are in tubs, no hot spot but ambient temp is 80-82. the temps outside are in the mid-to-high 30's during the day and get to freezing at night but as i mentioned it is a warm and comfy inside. So should I remove my Colubrids and put them in a cooler part of the home?

My Corn continues to eat. She can now take adult mice. my Albino Milk is also up to adult mice but refused the last 2 weeks. she was in shed tho but the most voracious feeder beforehand. my Anery Milk takes several hoppers and refused last week. my baby King has become very aggressive, striking and rattling her tail. she continues to eat 2-3 pinkie per feeding tho. all prey are frozen/thawed.

So should I be brumating them? what temps and how much light do they need? my least active one is the Anery Milk who likes to hide but each one is still scoots around a lot. Are the food refusals of my Milks due to their need to brumate? Will brumating chill my aggressive baby King out?

Ok, lemme know whatcha think. thanks!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

If you do do plan to breed them in the spring ? No.

Now if you plan on breeding them it would be a good idea, some people have been successful breeding colubrids without cooling them but brumating really helps.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[AbsoluteApril]

I never brumate mine, corns and a king snake. *usually* it's only done by people breeding although I will say I've also successfully bred them fine with no brumation.

[Spiritserpents]

I never brumate my corns and I've had no issues with breeding them. I use the winter months as a time to really get the females ready for breeding, with extra feedings. Mostly brumating in captive colubrids seems to be a convenience factor as you then don't have to feed your snakes for a few months. However, some people have had success with short brumations of non/poor feeding colubrids and getting them to eat well afterwards.

[Ax01]

thanks all. no, they all still young and i don't plan on breeding them. i'm raising my Milks and Kings to be garbage disposals and i'm sure if i want to keep my Corn. i love her dino footprint headstamp tho.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

thanks all. no, they all still young and i don't plan on breeding them. i'm raising my Milks and Kings to be garbage disposals and i'm sure if i want to keep my Corn. i love her dino footprint headstamp tho.

Then definitely keep them like they are now, I only start brumating mine once they are ready to breed before that they are kept as a constant temperature.

[Ax01]

well my Albino Milk shed on Tuesday and wolfed down a mouse last night. she actually struck and pulled it off my tongs. lol i guess she was hungry. also my Anery took 3 hoppers. i guess they're ok. thanks all.

[Albert Clark]

well my Albino Milk shed on Tuesday and wolfed down a mouse last night. she actually struck and pulled it off my tongs. lol i guess she was hungry. also my Anery took 3 hoppers. i guess they're ok. thanks all.

Nice corn snake! Actually any non feeding colubrid should be evaluated for injury, illness, shed cycle in preparation to brumate. It's a natural thing for them to do and their internal clocks tell them when it's time. Even the young non feeders that refuse live foods especially can benefit from a short cooling cycle. While it's true that brumation is done mostly for breeding purposes it's also a remedy for non feeders regardless of age, after all of the previous mentioned possibilities are ruled out. True brumation calls for a gradual reduction in temperatures and varies on acceptable set temps for different species. Definitely for breeding, brumation is key to maximize the maturation of the sex cells and increasing the potential litter/ clutch size. Steven Bol(famous garter snake breeder) has had his extensive brumation/ hibernation research study published on his website and chronicles his methods including baby and juvenile garter snakes. His website is Steven Bol Gartersnakes. This is a brand new study results that he reports on.

[daniel1983]

Last year, I brumated my entire collection(hatchlings to adults) from November to March. It doesn't hurt the animals if they are in good health. Brumating can also help with trouble feeders, saves on a feeding bill,....and of course, it prepares adults for breeding.

This year, I picked up a few ball pythons so I couldn't cool my entire building to brumate the colubrids. I am taking the extra time to grow some subadults up for breeding in 2018 if they want to eat. I have 5 snakes that went off feed once the weather outside changed. My adults are in a refrigerator for brumation to gear them up for breeding.

So it is really up to you. Since you have mixed species, the logistics of cooling can be difficult. But if you ever want to cool them separately one winter, it would be fine regardless of breeding goals...but it isn't necessary by any means.