ok, this can't be normal...

[jay76]

I've had my king since march, so this is my first winter with the little guy. His enclosure is still 79-81 on the warm end, but lately he's been burrowed under the aspen on the cool side. I had a look at him last night and he looks like he's going into a shed but he's never hidden like this before. Is there a chance he could be brumating himself, or trying to? He's just over a year now, if age matters for brumation.

Thanks,
Jay

[Joe]

maybe just crank the heat up a bit on the warm side, to about 85f and Im sure he should be fine!

[Andy_G]

My yearling female Cali is always on the cool side and not eating the way she usually does. Temps are perfect, food size and size of enclosure is perfect, no changes, I think theyre all starting to slow down and feed weird.

[Will]

Sometimes, no matter what you do to try to convince them otherwise, they will want to brumate anyways. I 'fought' my older male Cali for 2 months last year before I just gave in and let him brumate. It was his second winter too, he was normal through his first, just like your's. This is the time of year when they start to shut down too, so it sounds normal to me.

Leave the temps for 2 weeks to clear their digestive systems(if they haven't eaten in 2 weeks, never mind that), and start to cool them to 60 over a couple weeks span. Let them brumate for a month or so and start to raise the temps again.

[jay76]

OK, I'll give it a shot. I fed him last on sunday night so two weeks from then I'll turn the heat down. Is 60 a hard and fast rule though, or is maybe anything below 72 going to do the same job? Just asking because I've never brumated any snakes before.

[MouseKilla]

I didn't think this ever happened if you kept the temperature up all year...

[jay76]

What a clown! This morning he was out and about, I come home and find a fresh shed and he's hiding again. Sheesh.

That's pretty much what I thought too Mousekilla... Although since my temps haven't gone down very much (I've been compensating for the colder weather) and he's acting like this anyways, I've had to re-evaluate my position on the subject. Ha, it's a good thing I never told myself I know everything about these guys.

[vanderkm]

We have had colubrids go off feed and act as if searching for a cooler hiding place when we didn't brumate, even though we kept temperatures high and regulated light (dark basement room with controlled lighting to keep the day length from dropping). I think they must go by other signals as well. Was most pronounced with bullsnakes but also corns and kings. We now cool all adults.

The potential problem with temps above 60 degrees is that the animal's metabolism does not slow down the way it does at 55 degrees, so there will be weight loss over the winter when it is not feeding. We saw this when we tried to keep ours at summer temps or room temps, but it was never enough to be a problem - they were much less active so didn't burn much energy even when they were not as cool, so you could likely get away with temps above 60 if you are not planning to breed.

mary v.

[jay76]

I guess I'll wait till his gut's empty and then cool him down, since he's determined to do it anyways. Peculiar - even when in a climate and light controlled environment the shut down signal still kicks in. Must be an internal calendar or biological clock or something.

Well, he's my only king snake, so breeding's not an issue... and if the temps are going to be so low I won't feed so much as a pinkie. When I check in on him, what's the best way to make sure he's ok? Just find out where he is and see if he still moves, or take him right out? Should I maybe add more depth to his aspen layer? They still move during brumation right, for getting water?

[vanderkm]

We have ours in tubs with a thick layer of aspen and a water bowl. We open the tub once a week to clean the water dish and change water. The snake usually moves a bit, but we work with subdued light and try not to disturb them too much most of the time, though we do cheat and use this as a chance to take some photos when they are easier to get some closeup shots. We don't see much evidence of movement - no tunnels in the aspen, but they do move around if you touch them and will wake up completely if you pick them up.

good luck with your guy - a month will likely be enough to convince him he has had a rest if you don't want to keep him our for the usual couple months,

mary v.