Do snakes hibernate in winter12/2/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() So where do snakes go when they disappear for the winter?īefore snakes enter brumation in the wild, they will look for a nice hideout, often getting below the frostline. Snake brumation can begin anytime from September to December and last until March or April, depending on weather patterns. This allows them to save the energy from their stored fats and gives them a head start on reproduction come spring. Additionally, they rely on a type of sugar stored in their bodies that can also be used as energy. Snakes usually eat more leading up to the winter months so they can use the stored energy to survive the cold season. If they continue to eat until brumation, that food in their system will rot inside of them, and they will not survive due to poisoning. When a snake decides to bed down for winter, it prepares by clearing out its entire digestive system. Their metabolism slows down so much that they barely use any energy over the entire winter. Being ectothermic, they also do not need fat reserves. Their bodies don’t completely shut down to sleep the winter away. Brumation is not a complete hibernation whereas bears will sleep for months during their hibernation, snakes are awake but more lethargic. This means that the energy they need from food also decreases. ![]() Snakes also enter a state of winter dormancy called brumation.ĭuring brumation, a snake’s metabolism and heart rate slows down as its body temperature lowers with the weather. Bears gorge on food to store in their bodies and then go into a deep sleep to survive the long winter. Many animals hibernate or migrate during this time. As the days become shorter and the weather gets colder, snakes must be free from frost to survive the winter. That’s because snakes are ectothermic, or cold-blooded, and rely on the surrounding environment to regulate their body temperature. Snakes prefer more “wild” spaces, of course, such as tree hollows and stumps, new and growing trees, in fallen logs, caves, and other similar, dark and secluded spots, but will venture into human territories if needed.While we finally have some snow sticking to the ground, you may (or may not) have noticed that the snakes have vanished from sight. (Excuse the pun.) All the while it’s too cold for them, they’ll be sleeping in dens, and this can be in human basements if the opportunity arises. This means that they can survive without food during this period of prolonged sleep, but if the temperature warms up enough that food may just be running, scampering, or hopping around, the snake will warm up to snap up the opportunity. When snakes go into this state of ‘hibernation’ they slow their metabolism right down. If they didn't do this, it wouldn't take long for them to die during the winter. Many of them know that the colder days are coming, of course, and that's why they slither into their dens to go into this state of brumation. If cold weather happens very suddenly and without warning, it is not unusual for snakes to get caught unawares, so to speak, and essentially freeze to death out in the cold. In colder temperatures, such as during winter, snakes would soon run into difficulty because they are cold-blooded animals and they don't have a way to regulate their own body temperature. That's because it isn’t exactly the same process as a bear hibernating, for example, but a similar one. In a sense, most snakes do go into a state of hibernation, but it is called “brumation” when you're talking about these slithering serpents. ![]()
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