Post Brumation Q

[Andy_G]

I braught my female cal king out of brumation on friday night. How long should I wait before I give her something to eat?

[marisa]

Sweet! How did she do? How long did you brumate her? I have my male cal king in brumation right now still. Been there since december 1st.

As for your question, I belive letting them warm up for a few days is sufficient. But I am not an expert on this and I will probably be giving my guys a week or so to warm up. This is my first year brumating so hopefully some seasoned herpers can help us both out! :D

Marisa

[Tim_Cranwill]

I take mine out of brumation and keep them at room temp for about 3 days, then I give them a hot spot for about three days. After they've had a chance to get their metabolism back up and running, I offer them one smaller food item. If the male was eating med-size adult mice, I'd offer a large hopper and etc.

I give them about 4-5 days to digest this first meal. The second meal I offer is one regular size food item and again, give them 4-5 days but play that by ear. After that, I start to offer regular size meals but I speed up the frequency and number of items offered. You’ll see how much they are willing/able to eat and how often but you basically want to offer as much as they will eat so they can produce fat stores.

You may have one that will eat 2 or 3 adult mice every 3 days and one that will eat 5 every 6 days. Let them decide how much and how often. :)

And that's what I do... :D

[vanderkm]

Our method is pretty much as Tim describes - back up to room temp with daylight for a week, then to normal temps and lighting - then offer smaller food item. Most have fed readily with that schedule and our females ate through their sheds last year. Several males were not so interested in food, but being in the same room with the girls may have had something to do with it.


mary v.

[Andy_G]

Thanks for the advice guys!

Marisa, I had her in brumation since November 3rd. She is in prime shape and lost no noticeable weight, so I guess she did ok. I had to change the aspen shavings though because they were a bit damp, but that gave me an opportunity to look her over.

[reverendsterlin]

once mine hit normal temps, I offer food immediately has usually worked fine, seems they know when they are ready despite human intervention

[Andy_G]

I actually tried offering a hoper tonight because she seemed very restless and she hit it harder than i've ever seen her nip anything in my life, even me! LOL

Once again, thanks for the tips guys.