Neurergus overwintering

J

justin

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I was speaking to Nate earlier, and I am wondering what other experienced keepers think about temperatures for immature animals for winter. For example, if the animals are very close, but not quite sexually mature would cycling them in the temperature drop possibly encourage them to breed a bit prematurely?
j
 
Yes, that is possible. But, if they are not mature yet, but you can see sex differences already (especially males will develop a swollen cloaca in autumn) you can try dropping the temperature and see if they will breed. But females often take more time to mature than males. So your first breeding attempt can fail. But that should not be a problem. You can see it as a try out for the next year. But on the other hand, rearing them and not having them reproduce will let them grow bigger (energy can only be spend once...).
 
Thanks Serge, the animals in question are a bit over 9.5 cm. I didn't expect them to breed, and the ones I've looked closely at are not showing sexual characteristics yet. I will go look at the rest a bit more closely, and then decide. I also need to take temps for other places in the basement. Thanks for the help.
j
 
I can't really say what is best, only what I've done. Mine that are not ready for breeding are kept cool, but I don't worry about getting them as cold as the ones that are breeding age. I keep juveniles/subadults at 15-16C in winter.
 
Good call Jen, I'll take some temps between the two unfinished basement rooms and see which is a cool temperature I am comfortable with and move them there. They'll be there about a month or so before I have to move them to Ed's (when I move back to South America), so then we'll see what he has temperature-wise. I'm sure I'll keep you all posted.

My other option is to split the group in half and try some cooler and some warmer and see what results I have (like Jen's terrestrial vs. aquatic groupings) by spring.
j
 
9,5 cm is a bit small for breeding, i would try to keep them growing through the winter. Perhaps just a month or so cooling down a bit.
 
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