Bravo's Big Brumation Adventure

[Alioop]

IMG_8492.JPG

A photo of the main character (Aka- the guilty party)

So all good little Easterns are supposed to be brumating right now. Whiskey buried herself the day I turned the heat off and hasn't been heard from since. Tango comes out for a "bask" under the lights every so often, or to dump his water bowl, then retreats back 'underground' to sleep. Bravo, on the other hand, has been sitting under his basking lamp (whether its on or off) in quiet protest, ever since the heat went off a few weeks ago. Every time I go down there he glares up at me, trying to force me with his willpower to turn the lights and heat back on, and give him a big tasty meal. I stare right back and tell him to go to sleep. Neither of us has given in yet.

A few days ago when I went down to check temps I noticed that he wasn't out in his usual protest spot, nor was he hiding in the half-cereal box or large cardboard cylinder hides that he has. I felt the joy of success! I won, Bravo finally tucked himself in and went to sleep. So for a couple days, Bravo remained hidden, buried under the 3 inches of carefresh and aspen... or so I thought. Yesterday as I performing my usual check, I noted the tiny little burrow hole that Whiskey had created, and the multiple holes and fluffed up bedding from Tango's burrowing activity, and realized that Bravo's bedding was very flat and undisturbed. Slowly, my concern started to grow as I noted the distance between the top of the cereal-box-hide and the top of Bravo's plastic-tub-enclosure, and then remembered how much Bravo always like to climb the sides. I quickly dove into the bin with both hands and tore the bedding up... Bravo was definitely NOT sleeping soundly in his cage! Their whole lives, the Easterns have only ever gotten about an inch of bedding, but for brumation I wanted to give them 3-4 inches to burrow into. Bravo apparently decided to take advantage of the extra few inches, and since his "occupy basking spot" protest wasn't working, he chose to run away from home!

Our basement has two sections: finished, and unfinished, separated by doors. Fortunately, the Easterns live in the finished section, with no nooks or krannys to escape into to be lost forever in the drains, walls or ducts of the house. Unfortunately, yours truly sometimes neglects to shut the door to the unfinished section. First thing I did was shut the door, it was only open an inch or so but if Bravo was still in the finished section I wanted him to stay there. I quickly ripped through the assorted piles of junk, and checked behind all the tank stands. It soon became apparent that Bravo was no longer in the finished section. At this point my heart sank a bit- the unfinished section is full of little holes into the walls, an open drain, pipes, the furnace, water heater, loads of boxes, and possibly mice (although I think we finally eradicated all those little pests). Its also closed off from the rest of the house, so its at least 5 degrees colder in there.

I threw open the door, ready to spend the rest of my days down there searching frantically for the little rebel, and there he was: Just sitting in the middle of the concrete floor! I greeted him with some words which I cannot repeat here, and quickly scooped him up. He was quite cold, and seemed more than a little relieved to have been captured. I returned Bravo to his home, and took away the hides that he had been using as step stools. Despite a valiant attempt to avoid brumation, he is now burrowed down (I know because I've checked on him about a gazillion times since yesterday, reaching my hand down into the bedding to make sure he's actually there), and is the proud new owner of a make-shift lid just incase he gets anymore wild ideas. The End.

[Fatal_S]

Lol! I was waiting for this post Great tale, and so glad he was quickly found. Hope he spends the rest of the winter sleeping soundly. I should probably go check on all my sleepers now...

[Katrina]

Great story! Loved it! So glad he is safe and sound. My Northerns are in a similar sounding spot in the basement, I'd hate for one of them to get out into the unfinished part of the basement. Very scary thought!!

Stewy is also doing the "occupy basking spot" protest. He was not happy on missing out on Christmas.

[Roheryn]

Bravo for Bravo And for you, for finding him so quickly.

[Linnea]

xD thats such an adorable story, im glad it ended well.

[Bird_Brain]

Ohh wow! I have had a couple escape due to the cat getting down in the basement and jumping up on the screen tops causing them to cave in. Thankfully they were all found. Now I just close the reptile room door, otherwise the cat would be able to jump right in the cage with the skinks!

[realis88]

so cute

[StaceyLeigh]

Oh MY! So glad you found him! The further I read into this post the more anxious I got! I have very tight lids on both our cages for this reason, I am just too anxious a pet mommy, and too old to be worrying that much! Hope he got a good scolding for worrying you!

[Coomassie]

Wow, that is quite a story. Looks like you have a little trouble maker on your hands...

[Alioop]

Glad you guys liked my story! I can't tell you the relief I felt when I saw him just sitting there on the floor. I really have no idea how long he was loose for, which is still a very scary thought for me. It had been a few days since he allegedly "buried" himself, so who knows if he was buried or running free through the basement!

[Fatal_S]

My kingsnake prefers to brumate outside of her tank every winter. She always manages to get loose, disappears for 3 months, then shows up again hungry in the Spring. It's always terrifying to not know where she is or if she's safe.

[Richard.C]

thats what my male kimberley northern was doing,even minus anything to climb he would still get out of an 18 inch high enclosure,tried a wire mesh top to,but he just forced it off,he kept getting into the stumpy enclosure,so i left him in there,he will go else where soon,a glass front enclosure,lol,glad u found your guy,and that hes finally settled,they can be buggers when u start brumating