Zeusophobia
New Member
For the animals that need to brumate to breed.... Where do you buy one or how do you make one?
Anyone know anything about brumation chambers?
- Thread starter Zeusophobia
- Start date
Zeusophobia
New Member
Leopard geckos.
fluxlizard
Avid Member
Those are easy. In December you can just stop feeding them, move them to the floor turn off any heat sources and light sources in the terrarium and make sure they always have water available. Give them a couple of months and then move them back to normal location and conditions and begin feeding again and they are ready for breeding.
If you want to go deeper and longer with brumation you can fast them for 3 weeks (offer only water), move them to a cold room in basement or wherever where it stays about 55 degrees and keep lights and heat sources off for up to a few months (4 should be safe- longer probably would be fine too if you are watching them carefully- maybe as long as 5 or 6 months). Continue to offer water- they will get up and drink if thirsty sometimes. You should already be providing a humidity shelter in the enclosure of some sort - I use a tupperware style container with a hole cut in the lid. I bury this in sand substrate with hole even with substrate and put something over it- reptile cave or coconut with door cut in it or rough piece of wood to provide privacy to the hole. Inside the tubberware it is half filled with slightly damp sand/peat moss. They hide here when they want humidity (most of the time that is what they want) and lay eggs here. I provide 1 per gecko so they can avoid each other when they want, and usually they will all hide in one or two and all lay eggs in another one.
Anyway this humidity shelter should be present and kept slightly damp as normal throughout brumation so they can use it to avoid dehydrating when they want.
When you want to end brumation just return conditions to normal and the geckos will be up and about within a day or two.
For first time- go with the shorter/lighter brumation. It will be enough if breeding is all you are trying to accomplish.
If you want to go deeper and longer with brumation you can fast them for 3 weeks (offer only water), move them to a cold room in basement or wherever where it stays about 55 degrees and keep lights and heat sources off for up to a few months (4 should be safe- longer probably would be fine too if you are watching them carefully- maybe as long as 5 or 6 months). Continue to offer water- they will get up and drink if thirsty sometimes. You should already be providing a humidity shelter in the enclosure of some sort - I use a tupperware style container with a hole cut in the lid. I bury this in sand substrate with hole even with substrate and put something over it- reptile cave or coconut with door cut in it or rough piece of wood to provide privacy to the hole. Inside the tubberware it is half filled with slightly damp sand/peat moss. They hide here when they want humidity (most of the time that is what they want) and lay eggs here. I provide 1 per gecko so they can avoid each other when they want, and usually they will all hide in one or two and all lay eggs in another one.
Anyway this humidity shelter should be present and kept slightly damp as normal throughout brumation so they can use it to avoid dehydrating when they want.
When you want to end brumation just return conditions to normal and the geckos will be up and about within a day or two.
For first time- go with the shorter/lighter brumation. It will be enough if breeding is all you are trying to accomplish.
I've had one trio for over 17 years now and I never shut the lights off. The room naturally is cooler during the winter months so the cage is cooler even with the light on. They do eat less because they are cooler...but I continue to feed them. They have produced many healthy babies during those years...the last ones produced were about 3 years ago though...so I guess they have finally retired. I kept three sisters and added an unrelated male...I keep them the same way and they have been with me for over 10 years now.
