blotched brumation question

[kl]

This question is probably directed more to the australian breeders. What would be the highest minimum tmeperatures to successfully cool down Blotched and still have a chance for successful breeding?

[Blotch]

hmmm - I'd say optimal top temp would be 17oC - but then again - during winter we get some warm days above that and blotchies still seem to mate ok.

I reckon you'd be safe keeping them out in your garage over winter, just give them water. Doing this would be more natural in regards to temperature adjustments day to day than keeping them in the house. You have heaters etc.. in houses which raise the ambient temps. garages generally don't.

hope that helps.

[Scotts1au]

Hi KL

This is a really hard question to answer because those who breed blotchies over here generally don't have or need to keep them indoors. There are other issues too including that some females just don't seem to be attractive to males or never seem to come into season, even in their natural environment, others will breed every year. I suspect that this is worse in an unnatural setting.

In general I would think that the temp would need to be fairly low to simulate soil temperates rather than ambient temperatures that we would experience over winter. We are talking a constant 10-15 C (50-60F) or so. The lizards will choose to come out themselves when ambient temps are warmer and a sunning spot which has ambient temps of 20-25C would be sufficient (the 60W lightglobe is probably all that is needed for this). As blotch suggests 17 C or so might be a useful ambient temp in the tank but I would keep them slightly cooler than this under their shelter.

I doubt that the will get the impetous to breed if kept in an environment of normal household temperatures.

I've sucessfully bred White's Skinks in a fish tank which live in similar areas to blotchies simply using a 60 light globe constantly on at one end of the tank.
http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/wildlife/re ... gewhi.html

When ambient temperatures start to increase in early spring and the lizards start to emerge on a regular basis, then turn up the heat to normal levels. The males should be ready for action.

Of course if putting the lizards in a shed etc in the US you may need backup heating (ie. heat pad) to stop them hard freezing. It is a bit difficult for us Aus folks to get our heads around exactly how cold it gets in parts of the US.

There should be no need to expose them to anything below freezing. Blotchies are most prevalent in my experience in near coastal environments which are cool for much of the year but largely free of serious frost. Not sure about "alpines" but same probably goes for them, in terms of necessity. There are people who breed these in Melbourne etc I doubt they put them in the fridge to do it.

Regards

Scott

[Richard.C]

mine indoors with no heating vary from 6 degrees celcius up to maybe 16,thats my sheds av temp over winter,but yeah,u have to remember blotchies are very cold hardy,and if not cooled enough very likey will lose condition as there to cool to eat still but not cool enough to shut metabolisms down,i keep mine outdoors these days,and am amazed at how half of them will just curl up in the dirt out in the open and it gets bloody cold here on the mornington peninsula over winter,alot colder than melbourne as we get ocean breezes off bass straight,im in australia by the way

[tiliqua]

G'day kl

What form of nigrolutea are you asking about?

[kl]

Alpines.

[tiliqua]

In that case the temperature is probably lower than for most lowland specimens though this most likely depends upon the geographic origins of the bloodline.
Do you know the geographic origins of your bloodlines?

I doubt that anyone can give you the maximum minimum temperature required to breed.
My alpine's breed outside the natural range in outside pits where the temperature is milder but still cold. We occasionally have temps just on and slightly below freezing point. Minimum night-time lows are usually below 5oC and almost always below 10oC throughout mid-late winter.

It must be remembered that although they very rarely thermoregulate, their brumation sites eg. in or under hollow logs would be sitting in sunlight on most days. Winters are typically sunny in nigrolutea range so brumation sites would almost certainly be raised by a few degrees at least I would say. Although because daytime max air temps rarely go above 10oC and the ground would retain the cold during the day, I reckon that their body temps would rarely go above 5oC.

I recommend that you don't go too much below these temps, as in the wild they have access to ideal brumation sites.
I also wouldn't brumate too high either, as mentioned earlier they would use up more fat reserves and lose condition for the breeding season.
The cold may well be needed to ovulate and produce sperm, as in some other cold-climate specialized reptile species.

[kl]

Thank you for your replies. I don't know where the bloodlines originate from. They were captive bred in Europe. Does the coloration of the blotches suggest where they may originate from as some I've seen have yellowish blotches and others are very orange colored..

[Geoff Gates]

I don't know where the bloodlines originate from. They were captive bred in Europe. Does the coloration of the blotches suggest where they may originate from as some I've seen have yellowish blotches and others are very orange colored..

Often the very orange/salmon pink blotches turn yellow on specimens before they shed.

Some good advice you have received above.

If I was brumating my lowland blotches indoors I would keep the temp at circa 13 C. Allowing for the fact that you have specimens that originate from the inland higher areas of Australia I would probably do what Tiliqua reccommended and lower the temps to circa 10 C.

That being said I know of a specimens kept outdoors in Far North Queensland (the tropics) that have bred successfully.