shinglebacks very mellow, is this normal?

[noni]

hey all, my two shinglebacks have been very sedentary for the last few weeks; not eating a lot at all and hiding all the time.

chunk (female) has burrowed into the breeders choice and seems to have been in the same spot for a few days, and superted (male) likes to hide in their little house with just his nose poking out.

i haven't seen either of them near the warm end recently. do shingles go through a cooling period in winter like snakes or should i be worried? it has been freakin' cold in sydney lately.

[falconboy]

Yes, you will find it is the temps doing it. Nothing to worry about if they are in good condition.

[Timmo]

Your Shinglebacks are getting ready to hibernate for the winter.Like wat falconboy said its the temps doing this as long as thay have a nice fat tail and healthy they will be fine.

[noni]

guys just a bit more info on this please, do i need to change the temps at all or do anything differently over winter? obviously i'm not feeding them quite as much as they are mostly in hiding.

also their house has ample room - it's a long, low reptile one enclosure about 3ft + long, but is there any advantage to taking them outside for a little wander around on the grass? we've had a few nice sunny days lately and i feel a bit guilty that chunk & ted aren't out enjoying the sun. or would it be best not to disturb them?

[noni]

bump

[noni]

thought some pics might help to show the male's tail - is it fat enough? - and his size compared to the female. 1st & last pics show male on the left, female on the right, and the 2nd pic is just the male.

we've just given them some mealworms; the male ignored them totally and chunk ate about 30, she's a guts.

we usually feed them dandelion greens and occasionally the flowers, pal puppy food, curly endive, grated carrot, grated broccoli stems, broccoli florets and grated pumpkin.

[mckellar007]

he looks fine to me, male shinglebacks tails are generally alot thinner then females. my male's tail is much thinner then my females, but hes just as healthy. my stumpys are also spending alot of time in their hide down the cool end, barely eating at all. i took them out for a feed today, the female wasnt really interested, but the male got soo excited he nearly took my thumb off. first time he's gotten me and its actually bled. but this would be the first time they have eaten in nearly a week. winters coming!

[RedEyeGirl]

cute

[Daniel_Penrith]

I love shinglebacks!! the yellow looks awesome!! have they bred before? If so could u post

[midnightserval]

Mines not. I wish he would hibernate already rather than coming out of bed and never eating. If he gets up i put the heat on, otherwise i leave him be.
I have to contact my breeder sometime and see if he has a lady for my fella.

[noni]

mckellar - do you offer food less often than summer too? i know it's supposed to be sort of every 2 or 3 days but lately i've been offering food more like twice a week and they still seem to either ignore it so i have to chuck it out, or the female scoffs the lot

[mckellar007]

well, usually i feed them every day, because they are kept in with my dragons, but recently i have only been offering food every 2-3 days. each offering is usually about half the size they usually would get. occasionally they might have some, but usually they will just walk through it and make a mess.

[LaZeDragoN]

I love shinglebacks to.. I had a massive black male that was the best but he croaked years ago
I can never find any

[mckellar007]

if your happy to wait, mine should breed this year!! they aren't the most coulorful, pure black. but they are beautiful little guys

[LaZeDragoN]

Originally Posted by mckellar007

if your happy to wait, mine should breed this year!! they aren't the most coulorful, pure black. but they are beautiful little guys

i'd love to.. in memory of "shingy" ha ha
colour smolour