Misting During Hibernation?

[rmzsuzuki89]

So I'm pretty sure Apophis is down for the winter, haven't seen him/her out of the hide for maybe a week give or take. I've started cutting back on the lighting, and about to turn them off in a few weeks. And I'm also gonna keep fresh water in for the next 6ish weeks like Bobby said in his outline on hibernation, then not worry about it until he starts to wake up. Well, probably a little before he "should" be waking up so that he'll have something to drink when he wakes up.

But I wasn't sure if I should keep misting every day, or maybe once a week for the winter, or not at all until he starts to wake up. Which of these options should I go for now that he's down?

 

[Toby_H]

Short answer: I think you should mist occasionally, but not every other day...


It is important that you do not allow the hide to get too dry as this could dehydrate the Tegu. On the other hand being too moist could cause issues itself.

If the hibernation enclosure is a sealed box, you will not need to mist nearly as often... if it has ample air flow you will need to mist more often...

The higher the temperature during hibernation the faster water will evaporate and need to be replaced by misting...

Like with most things in life, it's a matter of balancing the details to acheive just that right balance... On the down side there is no exact formula to acheive this balance, but on the up side there is a fairly wide range of "good enough"...

 

[Orion]

I do not mist mine at all. I was able to observe inside my Tegus hide during hibernation and after some time I thought I would mist him. Mold started to build immediately. I stopped and never misted again. I have also noticed from seeing pictures of Tegus burrows in the wild that they seem pretty dry during hibernation period.

 

[rmzsuzuki89]

Thanks for the reply's, I like knowing that there is a wide range of good enough.