#brumation

[nyaboshi]

I see a lot of headcanons that Danny can't handle high levels of heat because of his ice core, and the common consensus is that when he gets too hot he gets feverish and sickly

But have you considered the possibility of him being a reverse lizard?

Danny gets too hot and his core goes "Nope!" and forces him into hibernation/brumation/whatever the ghosts would call it so it can keep from destabilizing

Imagine summer rolling around and Danny being ridiculously more tired than normal. Maybe the temperatures in Amity don't push him into full brumation, but he gets more lethargic and sleeps way longer than normal

The other more docile ghosts noticing Danny struggling with the heat and, being more knowledgeable on ghost cores, trying to subtly push him to either give into the need to rest so his core can keep itself together until summer ends or find someplace cooler to go to regularly so his core can absorb more cool energy

Danny not taking them seriously until the hottest day of the summer comes and he finally wakes up after having been asleep for approximately 2 days straight

Fellow ice core-bearer Frostbite helping Danny find a way to keep him happy and healthy through the summer heat without going MIA because his core just decides to knock him out for an unprecedented amount of time again

[typhlonectes]

Time to kill off the term ‘brumation’ for hibernation in reptiles

Amateur herpetology circles and zoo keepers tend to obsess over using the term ‘brumation’ instead of hibernation for what reptiles and amphibians from temperate climes do in winter. In fact the internet is infested with those correcting others on what they see as an error of terminology. Brumation was a word coined in 1965 by Wilbur "Bill" Waldo Mayhew (1920-2014) of the University of California at Riverside as a result of his work on hibernation in the Flat-tailed Horned Lizard,  Phrynosoma mcallii (then known as P. m’calli). Mayhew was working in the heyday of research on thermoregulation and metabolism in lizards. Mayhew called his lizard an ‘obligatory’ hibernator because no matter what the outside temperature was, those kept in his laboratory ceased to eat and became torpid at the onset of winter. Other lizards—‘facultative’ hibernators could be kept active all winter by maintaining a high temperature. Mayhew recorded that metabolic rate (oxygen consumption) fell to an extent greater than that which would be expected from a fall in environmental temperature. For example, if the lizards were cooled during summer, metabolic rate fell but not to the extent seen in winter at the same body temperature. In other words, hibernation is some special physiological process that alters the normal relationship between body temperature and metabolic rate.

In the summary of his paper, Mayhew wrote:

The term brumation is proposed to indicate winter dormancy in ectothermic vertebrates that demonstrate physiological changes which are independent of body temperature... Mayhew did not know what happened in other reptiles—or amphibians—or fish. To apply ‘brumation’ to all would imply one adaptation for hibernation in all poikilotherms and that notion would need to be tested in a wide number of species. I have found nothing to suggest that Mayhew himself intended his term to apply to all reptiles or all poikilotherms...

Read more: https://zoologyweblog.blogspot.com/2018/04/time-to-kill-off-term-brumation-for.html

[side-shuffling-hyperfixations]

Splinter Week Day 6: Seasons

It was nowhere near as terrifying as it had been the first winter but Splinter could never quite stifle the flutter of nerves when the cold seemed to sap all the life out of his sons.

They picked listlessly at their food with little interest; even Michelangelo, with his commonly voracious appetite, couldn’t be bothered to finish a full meal. The characteristic, childish resistance at bath time vanished; they would sink and soak until their scales were pruny. With each new dawn they burrowed deeper and deeper into their meager bedding. That first year Splinter’s heart had jumped out of his chest when he woke to find no sign of Leonardo; it was only after he had torn most of the nest apart that he spotted him tucked far underneath the old newspapers and cardboard against a mossy corner of the wall.

One by one his brothers had joined him; one by one they awoke when the days rewarmed. Even if Splinter was now more familiarized with the interim weeks, it didn’t make them any easier.

When the boys were at their rowdiest, endlessly pestering, throwing tantrums, picking fights, he’d find himself longing for a scrap of solitude, a moment of peace. But this season of isolation, with little to do but watch over their sleep…the quiet was such a stark contrast, so much louder than they ever were.

What would he do, the distant, dripping echo of the sewers asked coolly, if they didn’t wake up this time? What would he be without them?

Hopefully he would never have to answer that question. In the meantime he would drown it out with the scrape of his nails tracing soothing circles into their shells, the faintest whisper of their sluggish breaths, and his own prayers for a short winter.

[charliettea]

Here's a peek at what I've been working on this month :3 Kira was helping me too hehe (last photo). You can join my patreon at patreon.com/charliettea for $2/month to get a digital version or $8/month to get a hard copy. Otherwise you'll have to wait till it hits my ko-fi!

Zines & Things

[lovelyladylavie]

"Brumation Woes"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43060002

When a coldsnap puts the turtles into a type of hibernation, April has to save New York on her own. But caring for her favorite turtle, whose unresponsiveness worries her, leads her to make a confession.

This was my first rottmnt fic from wayyyy back and was my first fic on Ao3!

[full-moon-lycanthrope]

When temperatures drop below freezing, alligators can enter a dormant state called brumation, similar to hibernation, and become frozen in ice. This adaptation is a survival technique that allows them to endure cold snaps. During brumation, alligators:

•Reduce activity: Slow down their metabolism and become lethargic

•Suspend themselves: Allow the water around them to freeze solid, suspending their bodies in ice

•Push snouts out: Keep their snouts and front teeth above the ice to breathe

•Drink water: Stay alive by occasionally drinking water

•Bask in the sun: Raise their body temperature on warmer days

Alligators can remain frozen for days and are safe during this process. Once the ice melts and temperatures rise, they become active again, though they may be sluggish for a couple of days.

[bullsharkz]

My monter finally awake after being in brumation

[thlpp]

Ohhh, if you don't mind me asking why did the vet recommended to wake her up? I thought this would be part of her regular behaviour?👀👀👀

I have very little knowledge of lizards, so I am genuinely curious 👀👀👀

With a giant disclaimer that I am new to tegu keeping and have only been exposed to a small subset of all the knowledge that's out there (and it's constantly changing and updating), so don't take any of the following as a true gospel please.

Here is my current understanding of the reasons why it's risky to allow tegus to brumate in captivity. Brumation is akin to hibernation, and in that state, the animal can dehydrate, get a fungal infection, or become afflicted by any other condition that stems from imperfect ambient environment (too cold, too dry, too hot, too moist, etc).

We humans haven't yet 100 percent figured out the exact ideal environmental parameters for a healthy tegu brumation, and many veterinarians prefer to err on the side of caution and recommend to wake the tegu up at least once a week to make sure they're hydrated and otherwise healthy.

In nature, too, I'm sure, plenty of hibernating animals don't pick out the ideal spot and never wake up in the spring, because their burrow flooded, or the frost got to them, or they dried out, etc. In captivity, we try to do better than that, and do our best to improve our pets' quality of life instead of just letting nature take its course. *)

With my new tegu friend being so new, there's an added risk that she may already have some sort of infection, parasite, or illness that could get worse if I don't pay really close attention to her on a daily basis.

In the future, given she is healthy and thriving, I plan to allow her to brumate with a check-in every week or ten days.

*) Same reasoning goes for not allowing Central Asian tortoises like Horsefield's Tortoise to hibernate. Forums have plenty of posts from heartbroken keepers who found out too late that their pet tort was long gone when they noticed the telltale smell of decomposition.