BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Winter's coming in NZ! Is it wise to let a baby brumate, or should I keep temps up for his first winter to let him keep gaining weight/growth? Titus is just under 2 months old, 20cm long and decently solid.

Also, how should I go about letting brumation happen? Currently I keep his heat lamp on for 14 hours a day, 8am to 10pm. He's gotten into the routine of waking up at around 11am and going into hiding for the rest of the night by 6pm. In the last 2 weeks the outside temps have been dropping, which has affected his average tank temps by a couple degrees, more at night with the heat lamp off. Currently ambient temps in his tank's hot side is at 33C, cool side 22-24C. Whole tank drops to 15C at night. When he's out he uses the whole tank but prefers the hot side.

What changes should I make if I should a) try to keep him warm all winter, or b) ease him into brumation?

Thank you

I wouldn't push to make It happen, but if he goes into brumation regardless of what you do then follow the guidelines in the FAQ section here.

I see! I was reading the main caresheet where it talked about lowering temps/light and another site said to "pack them away in a shoebox", so I thought that our manual changes would be the main factor in whether brumation in captivity happens or not. So I should just let him take the lead and just give his tank less heat lamp time if I notice he's hiding away more?

Keep everything as if he's not going to brumate, keep feeding him/offering him food. If he stops eating and stays hidden, then make sure a minimum of a week has gone by since he last ate before you start lowering temps.

i find it best to try and keep them warm the first winter,theres no real benefit in shutting them down fully,sonr of mine,even with heat available bugger off to cool end and shut down regardless,winters are cool here un southern australia and often ambients dropping is enough ,i must admit though i fo use large temp gradients so with the warm end,the cool end isnt really affected so usually no issue if they choose to stay down cool end

its the in between temps you want to try and avoid,warm but bot warm enough to stay fully active ir cool but not cool enough to fully shut down,juvies are at risk of developing infections under these types of conditions,sone still eat but its not warm enough for food to digest in time,which can also be a concern if animal spends some time active,and some times staying cool,what i refer to as in betweeners that cant decide what to do

with my tropical babies,northerns,i dont do anything and the ambient drop in there cage shuts them all down even with 24/7 heating,they go and curl up for around 5 months,the adulys stay reasonably active and bang in middle of that long 5 month period when babies are tucked away is actually when the adults do the majority of there mating

but yes,its often suggested to keep them warm and active over the first winter,just to help rule out any any risks with not being able to keep temps at a safe range

I use a 100 Watt globe during the day here, no night globe, when winter comes is it recommended to increase to a say 150 watt or to decrease to a 50-75 watt and should the heat be left on 24/7? will be a first Brumation for me aswell my little guy is 3 1/2 months old now.

The thing to watch out for with young Easterns is that they can be active and burning up energy with no desire to eat. I just make the decision these days to keep them on warmth year round 24/7 when young and I haven't had any problems since. I use what I call a normal "60 Watt" small beam spot during the day in conjunction with a 100W ceramic heat emitter (although a 60W in a lidded enclosure is generally enough) on a simple on/off probe thermostat and turn the light off via a switch at night - meaning the CHM stays on whist the thermostat lets it, which is most of the time in Winter.

Thanks everyone, that helped lots. I have decided to keep his heat on all winter for this year, unless he's resolutely going to brumate no matter what. His tank is 2ft high so I'm guessing as winter gets colder I may need to invest in a stronger heat bulb!

Richard and Scott: thanks so much for your input on this thread. A few more questions about what you've posted if you wouldnt mind.

What temperatures do you suggest for the warm and cool ends during the winter? If we keep those for our babies regardless of season, will that avoid the problems with the 'in between' temps for winter season?

If we keep these temps are we right to follow the skink's cues and leave it to do what it wants? I.e., offer food if interested and keep temps but don't freak out if they decide not to eat/ to sleep for days/ to be up and about? In other words, I guess I'm asking when should we freak out or do something different with season set up?

Bump for alichamp's question.

Thanks for the info guys it was a big help

warm end still needs to offer a basking spot temp higher than there preffered body temp,so high 30s,ideally if u want to prevent them risking brumation,or in between temps u may want to ideally keep back ground temps up as well,especially if cage gets a big temp gradient,as even with heat uo one end,cool end can be very low

what scott suggested is what i think is ideal,as it keeps ambients up to,as with a cool ambient but still with warmth up one end,some animals dont know what to do and that can lead to issues

You guys have been a great help to us lads and lasses that haven't been through a brumation with a Skink yet, i have a question i know infrared globes are fine to use at night but are they good for being used 24/7? would save me having to get a new fixtures to have both a normal day lamp a infrared lamp for night set up for easy switching between the two.

As long as there is a significant difference in the amount of non-red light during the day, sure, you can have the red light supplying the heat during the day too.
I don't think you do, but for example, if you kept your skink in a dark tub in a basement, then I would say he'd need more than just the red light during the day. But in a glass tank in a light, windowed room, no additional light may be necessary.

I keep mine in my bedroom they are in glass terrariums and i have UVB lights running during the day and have the window open, i will test to see how the lighting is and maybe take a picture thank you.

Been getting colder and colder here! Down to single figure overnight temps.

Heat/temp wise we have been running the purple moon light constantly and also turning the 100w clear heat light (and uv) on during the day. We now get day temps on hot area of 32-37, ambient warm 26-32 and ambient cool end 20-24. Night ambient cool about 18-20. Does maintain temp gradient, so there is a warm and cool end. BTS spends almost all time up warm end (and hiding under log up there).

Do these temps sound good for a happy BTS and to avoid brumation and the problem 'in between' temps?

those temps sound ideal ali

just remember they have a preffered body temp for being at full function which is in the low to mid 30s,around 33 to 34 degrees,so ideallu you want hot spot in the basking area above that so they can easily get up to those temps and maintain them

Thanks Richard, much appreciated. I'm guessing the problematic in-between temps would be in the 20s range across the whole tank then. Is this a fair statement?

Now i love how much Richard loves my coloured diagrams and here is another, this is a top view of my basic enclosure setups, now it's getting real chilly here now even during the day we have freezing winds so it's time for me to start to use night heating, my normal basking heating is 100Watt, should i get 100Watt night globes aswell? heres a link of the globes im looking at im also wondering if these night ones are any good i tried a different brand once and its light only went 10cm in each direction. http://www.petbarn.com.au/reptile/repti ... amp-1.html

Ok so i just bought one of those 100Watt night globes and its utterly useless its light it emits is only in about a 10-20cm radius so it doesn't even light anything up, will get some infrared ones instead.