Brumation questions---I'm a bit nervous!

[aggiegirl]

Pele' (06 Northern) is eating alot less than usual. He is hiding much more than usual. I have been gradually reducing his lighting/heat from 12 hours on to currently 8 hours on. Can I keep taking him outside on warm days or should I stop? When do I stop feeding altogether? Do I really need to brumate him outside or can I leave him at room temperature (70s in my house.) This is kinda scary for me as he was a baby last year and never stopped eating/coming out. Any advice welcome. I just want to make sure I'm doing things right.

[Marie]

I think we need to start a support group for first time brumators. I am also cooling for the first time. There is a nice section on the caresheet about cooling down skinks, but it's still a little scary (and kinda sad).

[NomadOfTheHills]

You don't have to cool him, you also don't have to stop feeding. If wants to eat, you can keep fedding him.

[Tattoo]

Aggiegirl,
I am facing the same with Tattoo. I am not going to cool him as there would be no one to breed with. I will reduce his time under lights and leave him at regular room temps. He is now eating about every four days and stays burried much of the time. He does not seem to mind a 4 pm wake up call and some cuddle and poop time. I am trusting in that he knows what he is doing. Had a nice chat with Deadeye about the process. He suggested a weekly weigh in to ease my mind and I am going to follow his advice. Deadeye said he sees gravid females brunate and they pull thru just fine. That put things into perspective for me.

[Lisa]

Don't be nervous, they know what they're doing! It's just hard for us because we can't grasp the concept of not eating and going to sleep for 3 months (wish I could but, in winter!).

You could still leave all your heat and light settings the same, but if your bluey wants to sleep then he will anyway. Or, you might reduce them all but he just doesn't want to sleep.

Or, if like my Jubby this year, he was active active active .... and then the next day he was gone. So after a week of not seeing him I just turned all his lights off. Didn't even get a chance to reduce them.

I would stop taking him out, and I'd brumate him indoors.
As a rough idea, my daytime winter house temp fluctuates between 64-71, but can get as low as 54. Nightime, my house temp is somewhere between 50-60.


To give you an idea of what I generally do:
If after offering food for about a week but he's not eating, that's my indicator that he wants to sleep. I'll start reducing his lights by half hour in the morning and half in the evening, keeping reducing over the next couple of weeks until they're down to about 10am to 3pm, and eventually when there's no sign of them then I turn them off alltogether.. For mine that are in a high traffic area, I either put a blanket over the tank or move them to a quieter room.

Relax! It's not a definate science! You may well get all the lights down and then, surprise!, you wake up one morning and there's a skink sitting there in the dark! No dramas, just pop a light on for as long as he's up and then off they go again when he goes back to sleep. No need to offer food, they will be TOTALLY fine without it for many months.

It's all play by ear stuff. Take hints from your skink. Turn him off, if he gets back up again, turn him on again. They're all different!

I understand your fear! We've all had it first time.
But seriously, you won't harm your skink if you give it a go and skinka decides not to.

Two things, always let them have access to fresh water, and don't brumate a skink on super full tummy. Like, reduce your heat gradually, but don't go the complete turn off if he ate a plateful yesterday.

You really do have to take cues from your skink, such as reduced appetite and lots of sleeping. Generally a sign that they want to go to sleep.

Oh and finally, some sleep for 3 months and some sleep for one. Some go out like a light and some do the sleep for 5 days, wake up for two.

Brumation is a natural thing for them. I think they need the down time. As much as I miss mine whilst they're kipping, it's what they do. It's their way of coping with cooler temperatures.

P.S. If you're really worried about missing them, do what I do and just get a new baby each year
I'm gonna get killed for that last comment.

[Blotch]

Are you going to breed him? if so, brumation is essential, if not, why are you brumating him? As Nomad said - you don't have to.

[Leigh]

I've put the basking light on for four hours a day but the UV is on all day still, that way he can bask in the morning if he wants but he gets the benefit of uv to scales if he burried(but his back is still showing dont tell him)

[Brigget]

Do they have to brumate. Can i keep my temps up so blue will keep active cause last year i never faultered he stayed same temp but is it good for him?

[aggiegirl]

I'm such a wreck. I've taken notes on everything you've said. I have notes from the caresheet, Kyle, Jenn, and Zach but I still worry. I agree with the need for a support group as this is a huge change---kinda like pregnancy, motherhood, but not so life-changing! I am definitely not breeding my guys as they are both still too young but I might do this in the future so I want some experience under my belt. I will have to talk to Ray about true brumation temps (Southern US style) if I ever go that route. Right now, I'm just worrying about food rotting in his gut, etc. As little as he seems to be eating, I guess I shouldn't worry. Also, the lowest our house gets is low 70's or rarely highest 60's. By the time I phase out his heat lamp (which I will leave on shortly daily per the caresheet), I doubt he will be coming out at all. In the meantime, I need to do more yoga so I stress less. I may also bug some of you with PMs!!! I will try to be less rigid and follow his lead a little more. (I'm the type who needs a recipe for everything and have difficulty winging it.) I am a little paranoid to start with but he is so special to our family that I don't want to hurt him. Ya'll have eased my mind---as I knew you would!

[aggiegirl]

Lisa, your advice was just what I needed to hear. I definitely agree with the need for a new baby each year. My hubby would also kill me if he saw this comment. Poor Charlotte, she is getting extra smoochies already. I swear she has the "aww Mom" look down to a tee. Her pictures from Penny's portrait studio "drum roll!!!!" SHOW TONGUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am sending pictures to reptileking so that he can scan and post! I will have to start carrying billfold pix of all the kids now!

[kvega92]

Eventually I want to find a mate for Tink. Aggie I feel your pain. I am not doing anything different then I normally do but Tink has become less active. For a couple of weeks he really did not want to eat and I was a wreck. I can not imagine how I will be when I do decide to mate him. I don't have any children so Tink really is our baby. Good luck.

[Jenn]

The first year is the hardest. After that you not only know what to expect but you start to realize their routines. This year things have been so crazy with school that I actually was releaved when all my guys started snoozing. It makes things a little bit easier for a few months.

[aggiegirl]

Ms. Charlotte (my '07) is enjoying her brother's Rip Van Winkle routine. Since it is so cold out, we haven't been going out. That means her alotted lap nap time (aka mommy computer time) has doubled. She snoozes in a polar fleece hat for now but Santa is bringing her a sleeping bag from Jenn! (Don't tell her!)
I miss Pele' but I'm grateful for my other critters---esp. Charlotte. I'm actually glad Pele' isn't stirring. Having him not eat is more disturbing when I am so accustomed to his begging! Besides, I went to lizard expo and I just realized that a little weight loss wouldn't hurt him!

[Fatal_S]

Having my little tanny go into brumation when I got him was terrifying for me. I kept doing all I could to keep him awake and try to make him eat. Trikks has been trying to brumate almost since I got him, so I only see him about once a week.

Amazingly, today I actually got him to eat a tiny bit!!! Wow, talk about making me feel good. And his weight increased from 34g to 37g!!! That's his first weight gain since I got my scale, more than a month ago! So I'm now hoping that maybe he'll be willing to wake up again.

After Trikks's winter behavior, I've gotten better with the whole brumating idea. I think that once these guys are bigger, I wont have too much trouble with letting em snooze the winter away. I'll just keep getting new babies to keep me occupied while the old folks nap.