Brumation Discussion

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Tokkay
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Brumation Discussion

Postby Tokkay » Tue Nov 21, 2017 9:28 am

Hey everyone!

I'm really curious to learn about how everyone handles brumation when it comes to their skinks.

Right now I've got a 2.5 year old northern and an unknown age Kei Island BTS. I read before that skinks don't need to brumate in their first couple years, but my northern slowed his eating down on his own last year, so this year I'm planning on letting him brumate.

Do you let your skinks decide when its brumation time? As in, do you wait until your skinks slow/stop their eating before lowering temperatures? Or do you slowly begin to lower temperatures/shorten the photoperiod and the skink adjusts with it?

I've dropped my northern skink's temperatures slightly and have begun to shorten his photoperiod (right now, it's only half a hour shorter than the usual 12 hour period). Last year he slowed his eating down in December if I remember correctly, so I wanted to adjust temp early.

As for my Kei Island skink- I'm not quite sure where to start! Most resources I can find seem to pertain to northern BTS, and I'm not sure if there's a difference in brumation for the different species. He never slowed his eating down last year and so far hasn't slowed this year as well; do I need to worry about brumating him?

For the record: I don't have any plans to breed my Kei Island BTS in the future, as I don't know his age or background. But in a few years down the line I am hoping to breed my northern BTS. That's part of why I'd like to get used to brumation now.

If anyone has any advice I'd love to hear it! I've already read through the resources on brumation but I want to hear about it from other owners (especially if you've brumated a northern or Kei Island skink before).
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splashy07
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Re: Brumation Discussion

Postby splashy07 » Wed Nov 22, 2017 8:42 am

I let them decide. About two weeks after they stop eating (want to be sure no food in system before cool down) I'll shut down. Actually last week for my Northern breeding pair. Last year it was after Thanksgiving, the first week in December. They wake up in early to mid-February and immediately want to breed. One of my male Easterns has shut down but not the other. The females are still eating like stray dogs. I live in the Northeast. Wish I could brumate till April. I hate winter.
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Tokkay
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Re: Brumation Discussion

Postby Tokkay » Tue Dec 05, 2017 2:56 pm

Thanks for the info!

This is a pretty late reply, but another question came up. Is it best to turn off heat all at once, or slowly cool the cage down (like dropping 1-2 degrees every couple of days)?

My northern still ate his whole meal last week that I offered him, so I suppose I should wait until he stops eating on his own before cooling him down completely? And do you offer any food at all during brumation, or no? I would assume it would cause digestion problems, but it seems some other people do offer them food every couple of weeks during brumation.

Is the 60 degree range (F) cool enough for brumation?

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