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Waterrat

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A question: is it important to allow reptiles that normally hibernate in the wild, to hibernate in captivity?

Yes or know? Why? What advantage would it be to the animal?

:D:D:D
 
if it was summer all year, would they still hibernate?
 
Very few reptiles actually fully hibernate but many brumate, they basically become less active and stop feeding for varying amounts of time. Whether it is strictly necessary is debatable as many species still breed without any sort of cooling. I know people that have kept many species of colubrids that would normally go through some form of brumation that don't cool them and they seem to live long healthy lives.
 
Doesn't it make you feel silly when you interchange two words but know better? Gah!

There do appear to be several species that benefit from cooling for breeding etc but I can't say as to whether this is also for basic health and well being reasons as well. It could be related to the fact there wouldn't be as much food around
 
What did your outdoor GTPs do in winter, Michael, especially since it got quite cool in Cairns this year?
 
Judging by the level of interest and idiots selling popcorn I should have started a thread "name my spotty".

Thanks to those with higher level of intellect. Boa, you're right about brumation as oppose to hibernation, however both mean that their "normal" activities cease for a prolonged period of time.

My angle was (not fishing), during hibernation / brumation, the physiological time slows down, therefore the snakes don't expand energy, that it turn means, theoretically, they should live longer.

What did your outdoor GTPs do in winter, Michael, especially since it got quite cool in Cairns this year?

No, in tropics snakes don't brumate, my GTPs are still active in the winter but males don't eat and don't even feed females.
 
Personal observation this year... I did'nt "cool" my adult geckoes (golden tails) this year but they still stop feeding and behaved as they would if they were being cooled. Whether or not I dropped the temperature in their environment did'nt seem to make a difference.... they still went down so to speak. Their just starting to slowly pick up their appetite back in the last month.

I didn't cool my spotted python either and she powered through winter with her feeding (but spotteds are known to do so anyway)....

It would be interesting to hear about other reptiles, if they slow down as well even if the temperature regimes in their environment are'nt changed over winter.
 
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I was thinking more of Tiger snakes, Copperheads down at Tassie and southern states where they truly brumate. It was a hypothetical question anyway because we don't have data to compare longevity of wild and captive snakes that normally brumate.
 
I guess it would certainly depend on their locality. I have a friend who has a rescue coastal from local and I have a bred coastal. It gets quiet cold here and unless its the middle of winter, his doesn't really care about how long its away from the heat and all mine wants to do is sook and curl up in the warm.

From handling both in the beggining of spring, his was as eager as a normal day even though it wasn't too warm yet and mine was still acting all sleepy.

I'm not sure if this means much on the large scale of things but in my opinion it might lead to theorising that if you have a snake that likes it warm but live in tas, maybe you should let it go and curl up and stay warm
 
I like to cool mine, it saves time and money with cleaning and feeding expenses.
With diamonds for example, They will feed in the wild for only 4 to maybe 5 months of the year, at the beginning of the spring when they are coming into feed mode they are at their most energetic and fast moving, sort of at the top of their game, and quite willing to bite if handled for too long or roughly. Any other time they are slow docile and a lot less inclined to bite. The natural winter cooling certainly seems to benefit the wild ones as like I said they come out of winter at the top of their game raring to go. it certainly doesn't do them any harm unless old frail or sick.
For what its worth I see it as a cycle, a rhythm of life that they have evolved with. Any change to this cycle, as far as I am concerned, would probably be stressful.
 
Good question Michael,

I have wondered what the difference between not cooling a diamond python in captivity as opposed to the natural brumation a wild diamond goes through, and if this can affect their long term survival? Is their body evolved to slow down several months of the year to prevent some liver disease/Dps?

Great topic.

If I hear about another name my pet thread soon, I think my head will explode.:shock:
 
Evolution certainly shaped up their mode of life as they adapted to local climatic conditions. The 4-6 months of hibernation probably seems like a one night's sleep to us. We wake up in the morning with no recollection of what went on in the past 6-8 hours (except for dreams). Surely, spending 5 month in physiological suspension must prolong their lives, I would think.
Of course it wouldn't work for us endotherms.

I wonder what happens with a load of parasites snakes carry during the brumation. Do they keep on sucking life out of their hosts, do they brumate too or do they die?
 
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for my adult pythons I use yearly seasonal temperature and photoperiod cycling. summer is 12 hours day 12 hours night with the daylight hours reducing to winter and slowly going back to 12/12 in summer. I use a similar temperature system thats hottest in summer days and nights gradually decreasing to winter with heat through the day but no heat at night in winter when Im cooling. I stop feeding around late may and resume when the females lay etc. I think it represents a more natural yearly season this way.
 
i believe its a vital part of breeding them, if you want to breed reptiles a cooling/brumation process is needed.
thats in my experience,and what ive learnt over the years anyhow.
im not sure if you can or if anyone keeps "summer" temps all year round and still get matings and eggs.
its not necessary to do so when they are young, as many breeders keep all hatchlings/juveniles on day and night heat 24/7 all year round. this is so they can still feed them regularly to get the weight on the snakes as fast as possible.
 
ssssmithy, it may be so in the south with reptiles inhabiting temperate regions. In tropics, both sexes respond to dropping temperatures but the low temps don't have to last long to get them going.
What about Equatorial reptiles, where the temps, photo-periods, humidity remain more or less the same all year around.
Even here, mating is often triggered by changes in atmospheric pressure rather than low temps.
 
So could it be said that only reptiles from a locality that drops in temperature enough to instigate brumation would benefit? What about the same species but different locality? Would x breeds have different needs? Do they only go into brumation because the weather forces them or do they 'want' to?
 
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