How do I prepare for parsonii brumation

OldChamKeeper said:
I never cooled down any of my Parson's. Living in Southern California the goal usually was to make sure they never got too hot.

The few times I did have animal mate and lay eggs, none were put through a cooling period. Honestly I'm a believer in nature adapts.

For example, when conditions are right a given species will see its population explode. When those conditions don't exist breeding will not happen.

As humans, we can sometimes control those factors in captivity. Is slowing down the animal's biology needed? I haven't seen that. If anything I think they adapted to deal with the natural weather cycles from their home. Even their egg incubation is closely tied to those weather cycles.

A Parson in a stable temperature controlled environment will not know what time it is nor need a hibernation like period. They will just continue to need what they always do, food, light, water and all the other things we keepers give them. In the case of a female, they will produce eggs with or without a male. Keeping them cooler slows this cycle down obviously but if you make sure they have the extra calcium they need and laying sites then like an iguana, they'll just lay their eggs and go back to being a Parson in a tree afterwards.

Anyway, my .02 from the experiences I had back then. Currently with Atlas his indoor cage stays the same 79-88F year around with a night temp of about 72F
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That good infor @OldChamKeeper but what the long term effects of the big boy? We learn the tricks of the trade for our predecessor all used cooled periods for the animal. I could be wrong but I read out in Europe that a keeper that Had one for close to 15 years and he used cooled period. We learn as we go I myself have the luxury of the four seasons here in NY so I be able try to mimic their natural environment and play mother nature to my little guy.
 
:)Thanks everyone that's commented so far, it's been a fascinating topic to read about, I am going to start a notebook and write down everything I can about parsons, the theories, temps mentioned here etc, it's been really great to read what people do.
I felt a little nervous asking this question as a 'parsoner ' - that I didn't know about brumation but it looks like it's not an exact science and there's a lot to learn and lots of great info to swap. I couldn't do this without you.
Thank you all.:)
 
Hi all I know I'm the new parsonii owner but I have been told that brumation is very important, the way I understand it is it helps there immune system build up and become stronger at fighting infections of any kind. I honestly do not know if it is true or not but it makes sense. I will be attempting to brumate Paul jr this year. As far as my lighting schedule I try to do what the sun does. It has to have something to do with it. Well I think....
 
savage13 said:
That good infor @OldChamKeeper but what the long term effects of the big boy? We learn the tricks of the trade for our predecessor all used cooled periods for the animal. I could be wrong but I read out in Europe that a keeper that Had one for close to 15 years and he used cooled period. We learn as we go I myself have the luxury of the four seasons here in NY so I be able try to mimic their natural environment and play mother nature to my little guy.
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Its a good question, the only way I can respond is that my old beast, Hormone, was an import that I rescued. The old man was already huge when I got him in 88' and over 900 grams or so. he was underweight too. So how old was he when I got him? Not sure but I'd hazard a guess at over ten years old.

Fast forward to 96' when he passed away at 1049 grams. He was old when I got him and barely grew anymore but he regained his proper body weight over that time. So in my care he lived another eight years and none of that was with a cooling period. All that means is that for eight years an old lizard didn't seem to have any issues by being kept in a stable environment for that time.
 
Wow! That's pretty cool. He must of been a giant! Ok so I saw that you keep your night time temps at 72 degrees I keep Paul jr at 67 degrees at night. Please tell me this is ok.
 
deerhunter said:
Wow! That's pretty cool. He must of been a giant! Ok so I saw that you keep your night time temps at 72 degrees I keep Paul jr at 67 degrees at night. Please tell me this is ok.
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You got Paul from Todnedo and he's the expert in burmation, maybe you can ask him about it and share here.
 
I will give him a call tomorrow. We have talked so much it is hard to remember all of that knowledge he has, I actually started to write things down. but again helps build there immune system and helps them fight infections such as mouth infections,I will get a recap from him and post what he shares. I like this thread. So much experience here and a lot of different techniques for caring for these amazing creatures.(y)
 
http://www.bion.com.ua/index.php?op...ry&layout=blog&id=12&Itemid=144&limitstart=10
Second last link reads THE BREEDING & RAISING C.PARSONII IN UKRAINE, this is where my pair came from and it has information on the care that they use, under lighting it talks about summer/winter lighting and hours, just figured I would post this information as it is what I was provided for their Parsons which is where mine came from. I too feel the more information we share can only benefit these beautiful animals.
 
AaronK said:
http://www.bion.com.ua/index.php?op...ry&layout=blog&id=12&Itemid=144&limitstart=10
Second last link reads THE BREEDING & RAISING C.PARSONII IN UKRAINE, this is where my pair came from and it has information on the care that they use, under lighting it talks about summer/winter lighting and hours, just figured I would post this information as it is what I was provided for their Parsons which is where mine came from. I too feel the more information we share can only benefit these beautiful animals.
Click to expand...
Wow...Just realized my little one actually comes from the distributor out of Miami....:)
 
NYC.. bro...I'm thinking early next year after the holidays I be picking up a female for my little guy...:D
 
Here's my take on brumation. First I'll say that where I live, year round outside temps are similar to temps in Madagascar where Parsonii are found. My Parson'ii experience our ambient temperatures the majority of the year. These temps range from the high 40's to the high 90's. My young adults and adults see Winter temps in the mid 50's to mid 60's. Typically when temperatures start dropping as they do during the month of October my Parson's will slow down on food consumption and stop taking food altogether usually by November. I will occasionally offer food but for the most part they won't take food until March-May when they start coming out of Brumation.

When we talk about brumation it's a little different for the breeding females. If you're lucky enough to to have Parson's born in the U.S. or bought when young and have acclimated to seasons in the Northern Hemisphere they will typically mate July-Sept and lay Nov-Jan in my limited experience, females with go into brumation and lay during the Brumation period, start taking food for a bit and then continue brumation.

The question of brumating babies the first year is a good one. Although mine saw low ambient temps the first Winter they were provided a low watt spot light and fed throughout their first Winter. I believe Todnedo kept his cooler the first Winter and his first year weights were quite a bit lower than mine. I don't know if this will make any difference in their overall size as adults.

In my opinion adult male Parsonii are very hardy and once basic needs are met they will do well with a variety of different living situations. I do agree the Brumation can help with their overall health long term especially concerning stomatitis or infections in the mouth. Females IMO are a bit more difficult. I believe, as do others that Parsonii take their cues for breeding and egg laying based on the changes of the seasons. Not brumating females may cause difficulties in these areas.

Anyway these are my opinions. I always say it's a good thing that people are trying different things in raising and housing their Parson's, with so many new keepers we should get a better idea of what works and what doesn't.
 
I agree action Jackson!! A lot of what you said is exactly what Todnedo said. He is in Ohio and you are in California if I'm not mistaken, we talked on the phone about this. Not trying to stray from topic but wouldn't a slower grow be good for there skeletal structures or does it make a difference?
 
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