brumating in North America

[Spindown]

Hey guys, i tried to find the brumation 101 thread in the search, but it didnt come up. Can it be stickied?

I'd like to brumate my skinks this year, but am unsure of what months and temps to do it at. I know this varies from area to area, so i thought i should ask here. Currently its the middle of summer for us here in the US.
I have an indo, a northern, an I.J. and a New Merauke. Is it possible to brumate them all at the same temps and times despite the differences?

Thanks, and sorry for starting yet ANOTHER brumation thread...i did search X_X

[Jeff]

The problem was that it got to the point where there were too many stickys, and the forum started looking cluttered. Katrina did a great job of combining a lot of the stickys into one sticky that is still at the top of the general discussion forum under "Care sheet and other info for newbies". Many of the important threads are in that sticky.

Here is the brumation thread though: http://bluetongueskinks.net/forum/viewt ... mation+101

[Spindown]

oh ok that makes sense.

[James Wilson]

Most people agree that Blue-tongued Skinks reproductive cycles are directly connected to the seasonal changes they experience in the wild. However, many "experts" are under the impression that Blue-tongued skinks need to be subjected to some kind of cooling period in order for them to breed. This cooling period was believed to stimulate courtship behaviour, and many keepers try to duplicate the conditions that the particular species or subspecies would experience in the wild. All of this may be true at times, but I am finding out that "cooling" is not as necessary as it was once thought to be (see the bottom paragraph update note bleow), and that there are other seasonal changes (photo period, berametric preasure, and rain) that I feel have as large an impact on the Blue-tongued skink's reproductive behavior (if not larger). However, if you are going to cool your skinks, here are some guidelines that I have used in the past.

Before cooling your Blue-tongued Skinks, it is important to make sure that their digestive tracts are cleared of any undigested food that could putrefy in the skink's stomach. This can be accomplished simply by taking your skinks off of food 1-2 weeks prior to cooling. I usually start cooling my skinks in the beginning of November. In addition to cooling, I also shorten the photo-period to between 6-8 hours depending on the species. During the cooling period the skinks should not be offered food of any kind. However, water should be available at all times. These winter conditions should be continued for 2-3 months, and should cause the skinks to enter into a state of inactivity. It is important to monitor your skinks closely throughout the entire process, making sure that they display no signs of respiratory disease or any other abnormalities. Only healthy sexually mature skinks with plenty of fat reserves should be a considered for cooling and or breeding.

Blue-tongues from the colder southern regions such as the Eastern, Blotched, and Western Blue-tongued Skinks can be cooled to 65-75 degrees in the day and 60-65 degrees at night. Tropical species such as the Irian Jaya, Tanimbar, and Indonesian Blue-tongued Skinks should be given only the slightest reduction in temps if any at all. If you do cool the tropical species, I would recommend 75-80 degrees in the day and 70-75 degrees at night. I cool my sub-tropical Northern blue-tongues down to 75-80 in the day, and 65 to 70 at night. There are reports of breeding some of the tropical and sub-tropical species that have not been cooled or had their captive environments altered in any way. It is thought that the natural changes in the photo-period, temperature, and berametric pressure outside of the skinks enclosure may be all that is needed to stimulate these tropical species to breed (see the bottom paragraph update note bleow).

All Blue-tongued Skink species are found in the Southern Hemisphere where the seasons are the opposite of ours here in the Northern Hemisphere. This can pose a bit of a problem for newly imported blue-tongue species when it comes to breeding, because their reproductive cycles are still functioning in accordance with the southern hemisphere. These skinks may need to be cycled through two consecutive breeding seasons in order to switch their reproductive cycles over to the Northern Hemisphere's seasons. Captive born or bred skinks here in the U.S. do not have this problem.

Update note: I have personally bred Northern Blue-tongued Skinks, Whitewater Rosy Boas, and Common Boa Constrictors without any cooling at all. I am personally not a big fan of cooling tropical species. My Common Boa Constrictors (Boa constrictor imperator) produced 32 babies with no slugs while being kept at a constant 82 degrees throughout the entire year. Tropical reptile species breed inspite of cooling, not because of it. This is also true for sub-tropical species such as the Northern Blue-Tongue Skink (Tiliqua scincoides intermedia) and even some temperate species such as the Rosy Boa (Lichanura trivirgata) which experience scorching hot summers and freezing winters in their natural range.

[Spindown]

thank you so much for that detailed reply! I just want to cool them to see if i can put them together and behavior sex them, can you do this with 2 yo or should i wait another year?

[Jeff]

In my experience, MOST bts will exhibit mating behavior at 2 years old. It probably depends more on size than age though. I have had northerns willing to mate at 9 months old, and a couple that were not terribly interested in their second season.

I cool my northerns slightly for about 6 weeks. I accomplish this by simply setting their thermostats at 60f, so no heat comes on unless it gets that cold. My house doesn't generally get that cold, so they just get whatever the temperature is in the house for those 6 weeks. At the same time I manipulate the photo period down to 6-8 hours just like James suggests. Under these conditions, all of my northerns breed like crazy. I believe James 100% that the cooling may not even be necessary, but since I don't allow my northerns to get cold enough to put them in any danger, and what I have been doing works, I will continue to allow them to cool down in the winter.

It is VERY important to stop feeding them a couple weeks BEFORE cooling them if you decide to do it (again just like James says. I'm starting to think that guy knows what he is talking about ).

Also, before you put them together, decide 100% for sure what your intentions are. If you don't want to allow them to breed, you will need to separate them quickly. You won't have time to decide what you want to do at that point. You need to know ahead of time. You also need to be prepared to separate them quickly if they decide to fight instead of breed. This could be very intimidating when mouths are snapping and bodies are thrashing around.

Honestly, it might be hard to sex them based on behavior because you have different types of skinks. The northern and IJ will probably be easy (please don't allow them to breed though). Gigas have proven pretty tricky to breed, and there is not ONE way that has proven successful universally yet. I have trouble getting any two of my meraukes "in season" at the same time, let alone at the same time as my scincoides. You can try, but don't be discouraged if none of them show much interest in each other.

Have you tried posting some good birds-eye view pictures of your skinks with their bodies straight to get opinions on their genders?