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| Hibernation
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To
answer the question of many: Collared
lizards need undoubtfully a hibernation !!!
Even when you don’t want to breed them. Young
animals may have a shorter hibernation or can hibernate a bit later in the
seasonbut they certainly need it. It
is often thought:”they’re captive bred so it is not necessary” or
"they are not used ot it so they won’t miss it” WRONG!! All
animals are born with the instinct
and biorithme. This is something we must not forget. Hibernation
isn ot just for breeding purposes but also influences behaviour, condition
and health.
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You
can put them in hibernation for 2 months. In the wild it’s usually
longer. To do this they have to be in prime condition and if we are able
to get them in that state? Don’t
put sick animals in hibernation. On
the other hand a hibernation could help skinny animals and get them back
in shape again. Not just the body relaxes but it also reduces the stress. Hint: Give
extra attention to feeding and health of the animals. Beware
even if we try very hard, some animals might not make it. Reducing heat and food: To
prepare them for hibernation you have to start one month in advance. In
the first week you start too shorten the time the lights are one by a bit
every day. Perhaps you can use a lightbulb with a lower wattage. Don’t
provide food in the last 1,5 week. This way they can clean their bowels.
This is important because partly digested can rot during hibernation. The
last two days ( I call this the “transition”) I keep them at
roomtemperature and no lights. Make sure that, when reducing, you provide light and heat at least 4 hours a day in the last 3 days before transition. Because you don’t give them food there’s enough time for the food in the bowels to digest. In order to do this they do need heat. A place to sleep: As
soon as they found a place to sleep in the enclosure you can put them in a
curverbox or a smaller enclosure with a fresh layer of sand. Some animals
will not be fully asleep or will walk around for a bit. They will sleep as
soon as they are put in a cooler spot. Use
a dark box. Drill
a few holes under the upper edge for ventilation. They
like to lay under something. Half
a flowerpot or a cave give them a safe area. Don’t put anything else in
so they won’t get stuck will “sleepwalking”. What
ever you do don’t use a heatmat onder the sand or the box. This will dry
out the animals too. Check, the first few days, wether too move around a lot ( do this gently). It could be a sign that the temperature is too high or that there’s too much light. The
temperature: The temperature should be around 7 or 8 degrees celcius. Don’t allow it to drop under 5 degrees because of clogging of the blood. As soon as the temperature reaches 10 degrees or higher, there’s a very good chance that the animals don’t hibernate correctly or that they become too active. Allthough “active”may not look like much don’t forget it means extra energyconsumption. This will cause them to starf or dehydrate. Humidity an spraying: It is said that you could spray water once a while. Usually a basement or gardenshed has a humidity of 85%, wich is perfect. If you should spray there’s a good chance that they will catch a cold or an pneumonia. It is helpful to have a humiditymeter. Getting
out of hibernation: To
get them out of hibernation raise the temperature too approx. 15
degrees. Usually 2 days are enough. Don’t
leave them in the box for too long and put them in the normal enclosure as
soon as they start walking around. Leave
them at roomtemperature for 2 days with 4 hours of light a day and a low
wattage lamp. After that you can start adding more heat. In the 2nd week
you can raise thet temperature so that they really wake up. The hours of
light are again build up in approx. 1
month. Use
bigger steps then before when putting them into hibernation to prepare the
digestion. Somewhere in the 3rd month you can increase the last
step. That brings them
into the summer.
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