Hello from the Great White North!

[Stephanie Montpetit]

Hi, I found this forum when researching Tegu behaviors in the northern hemisphere. I am curious to compare my 4 year old cupcakes brumation, eating, activity and other behaviors to others. Just to please my own curiosity. If you have a B&W in the norther hemisphere (with a cold climate) please reach out. I’d love to swap stories. Thanks!

 

[Walter1]

Well, O'm in SC PA, and mine sleep from Oct to mid March.

 

[Stephanie Montpetit]

Hi @Walter1 and OMG you must be so lonely When you say sleep - they burmate hard the entire time or do they wake up and move around daily? Cupcake wakes up for a hour everyday, sometimes twice a day. She's groggy and you can tell that she is fighting her natural instincts. Right now she looks for "food" a few times a week and is smart enough to bask after eating. She just snacks really - an egg or a strip of chicken. She won't bother with veggies/fruit in the winter. I soak her weekly but she does have a pool in her house if she wanted to soak herself. I often wonder if I should hold back food (even when she's looking for it) so she can get a more peaceful rest. Do you feed or soak your gus over the brumation?

 

[onnie0047]

My three, (two B/W fm and one Red male) went down early October as well, last year they were down till mid April and never woke up. I have a 8x4x4 enclosure in the garage I keep them in during the warm weather. When its time, I bring them in to my work room (old bedroom) where I have my office and they are put in to a 4x4x4 enclosure that I built years ago for my bearded dragon, and all 3 go under a half shelf that is there and lay longways next to each other and doze off. once in a while I find one in the hide. last year they all slept without out waking up, this year, all three slept until the end of January and since then all are up and down every day. They are not hungry, as the largest b/w would be climbing on the glass when she sees me, that is how she lets me know she wants food, all she is doing right now is giving me the evil eye, so I know she is not hungry. I forgot to mention I live in Michigan, half way between Toledo and Detroit

 

[Debita]

Interesting descriptions.... I live in the mountains where it's cold (recently moved to Prescott, AZ) and my 2 yr old male never brumates....the 10 month old tries and gives up. She only slept about 7 days straight (total) this winter. Now she's down 2-3 days at a time after eating. I wish there was a hard and fast rule!!! I've heard though that there's no science to this. Others say it's like clockwork...very dependable time frame like Walter1.

Good to have new people/new stories!

 

[Walter1]

Shows variation for sure. Yeah, I do miss'em during the winter. They're down for the count. No detectable movement pig piled in their slighly moistened hise at low to upper 60s.

Now I'm sad.

 

[Stephanie Montpetit]

Awwwe @Walter1 Chin up - it's almost spring Thanks to the three of you for the quick feedback.

 

[Walter1]

Glad to help.

Will do, just 2 weeks from their stirring for spring. Will be rejoicement!

 

[onnie0047]

I enjoy the winter time, because I can stock up on frozen rats and other goodies for them during their awake time.

 

[Tek]

My three, (two B/W fm and one Red male) went down early October as well, last year they were down till mid April and never woke up. I have a 8x4x4 enclosure in the garage I keep them in during the warm weather. When its time, I bring them in to my work room (old bedroom) where I have my office and they are put in to a 4x4x4 enclosure that I built years ago for my bearded dragon, and all 3 go under a half shelf that is there and lay longways next to each other and doze off. once in a while I find one in the hide. last year they all slept without out waking up, this year, all three slept until the end of January and since then all are up and down every day. They are not hungry, as the largest b/w would be climbing on the glass when she sees me, that is how she lets me know she wants food, all she is doing right now is giving me the evil eye, so I know she is not hungry. I forgot to mention I live in Michigan, half way between Toledo and Detroit

I’m in Minnesota, and have seen similar things... 7 year old female and 10 year old male B&W pair... he has never burmated well, always short periods of 1-5 days then wakes up. The female however, has been changing... when she was younger, she would go down in sep/oct and I wouldn’t see her again until April. Then she started going down and coming up a few times thru the winter... Last year she went down and came up in early March, and this past winter she went down, came back up in mid January, and that was the end of it. We didn’t feed them until mid February, and then all they wanted was only a little bit, like 1/4 - 1/3 of their normal summer voracious appetites. It’s been weird this year for some reason. As with so many species tho, they know what they want and they pick their times, so we don’t worry too much about it as their tendencies change. They’re healthy, have already shed once this year, and just this week are showing some of the mating activities already.... so whatever is happening, it seems to be on an accelerated pace this year.

 

[Debita]

I've read up a little more and am going to try to reduce my lighting more this fall. I've read that it isn't imperative that they brumate, but most seem to think it's healthy. Also, saw info that said Colombians don't brumate here in the U.S.

So glad we had this talk! Haha... I feel more normal now that mine do seem to go in and out at least, and their appetites are def reduced and sometimes non-existent. The female was out for about 10 days, but only once over the last 5 months.

I love the idea of hoarding frozen mice! Lol

 

[AlphaAlpha]

just for contrast........

Alphas (Colombian) winter routine is vastly different and I don't see him for a week then he'll come out to eat,bask and poop not always in that order though...... He's also very grumpy and flees from me if I reach to touch him or take him out..... Also remember I'm in the UK

The rest of the time he's out almost every day and wanting out his enclosure.

 

[Debita]

Interesting. I'm not sure how reputable the article was that I was reading about the Colombians here in the U.S., but they made the statement with the claim that so far they have not heard of any that brumate here. They also agreed with many on this forum that brumation takes on many shapes and sizes. From one animal to the next, could be totally different. Gave me some peace of mind...but I'm still determined to encourage it. I'm not breeding, I just think it's natural.