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How long can corns hibernate?

J

Jsandy

New member
It has been suggested to me that I may better care for Amber the corn snake I recently rescued by keeping her in brumation temps of around 50F and let her go dormant. Now I'm wondering how long can she be dormant? And also what care will she need during this time?
 
I don't believe there is any value in brumating a pet only (non breeder) corn snake except for giving the caretaker a break or if you are having an issue keeping proper digestive temps during the winter.


I would not do it :)
 
It was not my first choice either. In fact it was not even a consideration until it was suggested to me. If there is no benefit to it then it makes no real sense thanks. It will at times in the winter be difficult to keep a constant temp in my house let alone in her tank but I believe I have already figured a solution. That is to say if I'm unable to find her a permanent home and family.
 
If you have to do it in the winter, if that is safer, (in terms of being able to feed and maintain heat for digestion- if you can't do that, it's safer to brumate her than to starve her or to have her digest in too cold temps) then it would be okay. You don't just put her away for a few months, though. She gets a last meal, digests it, you wait two weeks, then turn off her heat (or stop supplying it). You put her in a smaller container, with a water bowl, and put her in the cool dark place. You have to check her weekly, though, to make sure she is all right, and hasn't spilled her water. Snakes, while brumating in captivity, aren't out cold- they are still a little active. When you bring her out of brumation, you remove her from her small bin and put her back in her viv, and let her gradually warm up, turn on/provide heat, and then feed her in a couple weeks after she is warm and back to normal.
 
Brumating is not necessary, but has advantages for people who want to breed snakes and be able to predict when a female will be receptive (and time it so males are ready at the same time) the time period used by most who brumate is for 2-3 months. As Nanci says it's not true hibernation and- especially if you can't get the temps cool enough- the snake will still be somewhat active. The other thing sometimes brumation is used for is if you have a snake that absolutely won't eat and you have exhausted every resource, some say brumating can kick start a feeding response in the snake by simulating spring when a feeding response would naturally be strong after winter.
 
Thank you

Thanks Nanci and ghosthouse that was easy and concise information but as I said before I have worked out a pretty good solution for now and have been able to keep her viv at a nice temp with only a variant of 5 degrees and also as I don't intend to breed her I see no reason to brumate. Everyone has helped me tremendously. I just love seeing her grow and she is more active she has grown a noticeable amount she is hard to measure but I put her at about 22 inches now and thicker as well we have gotten more used to each other. Truly an interesting experience.
 
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