I live in Southwest Washington State, i have central air system so my house is a constant 72-74 degrees. Our winters are cold and wet, as of the past 10 years lots of snow and freezing mornings. So my house inside is too warm for proper burmation, but what is too cold? Could i put them in the garage with a space heater to just keep it from freezing? It would be cooler then 70 but warmer then the coldest outside temp.
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I wouldn’t put them in the garage with a space heater, not exactly a safe setup because you can’t control it well enough and unattended space heaters are a fire hazard. I’m guessing PNW homes don’t have basements due to quakes? What you could do is build an enclosed space out of insulating foam and perhaps use heat tape and a multi-probe thermostat inside and put that in your garage (though don’t do this if you idle cars in your garage, carbon monoxide issues).
Otherwise, I live in Minnesota and I don’t bother brumating my colubrids, I don’t find it has made a difference for my breeding pairs. I just keep a good eye on their shed cycles over winter and pair in spring, usually starting earlier than most would (February this year, I found, was perfect, though I considered January), and pairing until I’ve seen confirmed locks several times. Got a lovely clutch out of one of my girls. Would have been two for two had my second female not ended up egg bound.
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When I end up breeding my hogs next year I’ll be using a wine fridge to burmate them
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Some do have basements, mine does not. I have a crawlspace to under the house, but i worry about predation from wild animals. There is wire covering the holes, but a persistent racoon can eventually break it.
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Yeah, don’t do under the house, for sure.
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For sure don’t do that
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Corns are native to the Southeast and Scruggs much of their native range they are active all year. They do brumate in the more northern or mountainous reaches of their range, but it isn’t like they can’t skip it. I live on the Mississippi Coast and don’t bother with brumating mine. I have no problems with breeding as a result. It can be a nice break for the humans in terms of feeding less and working less on husbandry in general but it certainly isn’t necessary for the health of the snakes.
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