There is conflicting advice regarding if brumation is beneficial for your reptiles. If you do not know already about brumation and what it means, please have a look at the next section of this post.
Brumation - What is it?
Brumation is the process of which reptiles undergo during the winter months in the natural environment. It involves the reptile becoming more slow with their movements in order to conserve energy to survive. Reptiles, being cold blooded, require heat in order to be active, so if there is very little heat, they won't move about as much. Furthermore, they will go off their food in order to clear out their stomachs for the brumation period. This is logical as you do not want rotting food in their digestive system.
If brumating, you will want to gradually drop the temperature over around a month. Do NOT suddenly drop the temperatures as this can kill your animal. Please refer to the temperature section of this post to find out about what temperature should be at the end of this month. Same rule after brumation- gradually raise the temperature back up to what it normally is over the course of one month or so.
After the brumation period, reptiles such as royal pythons tend to go back on their food (quite heavily) before searching for a mate. Following mating, the female will form and lay the eggs which uses the animal's fat reserves. This is why they feed heavily after brumation. In captivity, some breeders lower the temperatures for their breeding reptiles in order to trigger the brumation response. The belief is that by brumating the reptiles, they will lay more eggs and are more fertile compared to the reptiles that breed and do not undergo brumation, although this is disputed by other breeders who do not brumate their reptiles and produce fertile, healthy animals.
Reptiles can undergo brumation by themselves, even if the temperature is not low enough in their enclosure. The most common signals are refusing feed and sleeping more/slowing down (becoming more lethargic). They also may spend more time on the cool end of the enclosure.
Brumation Temperature
The ambient temperature for brumation to be successful is generally around the 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit mark (4-10 degrees Celsius). When I first found this out, I was shocked that it was so low but don't forget- in the wild, reptiles would borrow underground to seek this heat as the ambients above ground may be in the minuses.
Pros of Brumating
It is commonly recognised that brumation increases the probability of fertility in breeding, although further scientific evidence is required to ultimately prove this theory.
By brumating your reptile, you are replicating their natural environment.
Brumation also helps by giving the reptile's digestive system a break.
It may contribute to fighting obesity in reptiles.
Cons of Brumating
If temperatures are not kept accurate, aka they fall too low, your reptile(s) may suffer health problems and even worse- die.
It may cause respiratory illness (RI) due to low ambient temperatures. This can lead to painful treatment and high vet bills.
Conclusion
I can see the benefits of brumation, however, I would not personally brumate my reptiles unless they undergo it naturally themselves. If you are keeping your reptiles as pets only and don't plan on breeding, my advice would be to refrain from brumating as it is not necessary. If you are breeding them and want a better success rate, I would suggest brumation but do more research on the process of brumating your particular reptile.
