Mr Leo entered my life this spring, and now we're cooling down for the year. We've just entered what the meteorologists are calling an "Arctic blast" (Man, I hate it when they think they're being cute...) Understandably, Leo is just not having it. (I'd honestly curl up with him on his basking platform and hide there all winter with him) He's been off his food, and has been hiding in the fake ivy on his basking spot. I've been reading all the posts about brumation I can find on this site (THANK GOD for Scincoides!!) and I'm pretty sure I just need to leave everything alone.... I have actually been turning on the heater in his corner occasionally because it just gets ICY back here.
His basking temps fluctuate anywhere from 75 to about 90 (Its 100 right now, but I've had the space heater on for a minute.) Is it ok to fluctuate so much while he's in winter mode?
Starting first brumation... Wish us luck!
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In this forum all are welcome to ask blue tongue skink-related questions, share information, ideas, tips, experiences, and pictures with fellow BTS enthusiasts.
If you are wondering if your BTS is acting normally or might be sick, this is where you can get help with that.
This is also where you can have some FUN while sharing the enjoyment you get from your blueys!
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Meeper
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Starting first brumation... Wish us luck!
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alichamp
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Re: Starting first brumation... Wish us luck!
Is this his first or second winter? Is he still feeding?
My advice is that you need to decide what you want to do over winter. If it is his first winter (ie he is less than 1 year old) then it may be wise not to have him brumate. In this case you leave all heating/temps as normal and continue feeding. He may slow down anyway, but hopefully should continue to eat a little bit if you continue to offer. This is one way to get through the winter - but to keep the temps up you would probably need to look into adding heat or a nighttime heat to make sure it doesn't dip too low.
If you do decide to brumate, then you cease feeding him at all and after about 2 weeks you shut off all heating and lights (give him this time to make sure there is no undigested food in his stomach that will rot without high enough temps) and leave him alone to curl up in his substrate. You can take everything out of his tank except his hide and some really deep substrate. You wouldn't turn heating on occasionally or lights and you would not offer food as the heating is off. For northerns, I'm not really sure about the lowest temp they can go to so you may need to have a ceramic heat emitter (no light) set up with temperature gauge just in case it dips below the lowest temp.
Seems like you are doing a little bit of both...? I wouldn't recommend it. Do one or the other.
EDIT: Keep fresh drinking water in the enclosure at all times during brumation.
My advice is that you need to decide what you want to do over winter. If it is his first winter (ie he is less than 1 year old) then it may be wise not to have him brumate. In this case you leave all heating/temps as normal and continue feeding. He may slow down anyway, but hopefully should continue to eat a little bit if you continue to offer. This is one way to get through the winter - but to keep the temps up you would probably need to look into adding heat or a nighttime heat to make sure it doesn't dip too low.
If you do decide to brumate, then you cease feeding him at all and after about 2 weeks you shut off all heating and lights (give him this time to make sure there is no undigested food in his stomach that will rot without high enough temps) and leave him alone to curl up in his substrate. You can take everything out of his tank except his hide and some really deep substrate. You wouldn't turn heating on occasionally or lights and you would not offer food as the heating is off. For northerns, I'm not really sure about the lowest temp they can go to so you may need to have a ceramic heat emitter (no light) set up with temperature gauge just in case it dips below the lowest temp.
Seems like you are doing a little bit of both...? I wouldn't recommend it. Do one or the other.
EDIT: Keep fresh drinking water in the enclosure at all times during brumation.
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