Bearded Dragons and brumation...

[herpluva]

I have been reading on brumation since my beardie has decided to go into it. I was wondering since he has been sleeping in his box on the cold side for 48 hours now then how long does a true brumation last? Some say to wake them once a week to soak them so they do not dehydrate and some say leave them alone. Some say keep the lights on during the day for only 8 hours and some say cut them off completely.. How do I know what to do or not to do?
I have shortened his lights to 8 hours and he stopped eating about a week before he went into full brumation. I soaked him the day before he went in his box and never came out. I am going to keep up with putting his salad in his tank but what exactly do I do about the lights and how to monitor him? Should I get a digital scale and weigh him weekly to make sure he is not losing wt?
Any advice will help...
I like to get as many opinions as possible.
Thanks

 

[booshified]

sorry no advice. just wanted to comment that i did not know they did this.

how long does it last?

 

[rob1468]

hi
here is some info i came across for you dont know if it helps

cheers rob

If your Bearded Dragon is sleeping seemingly all of the time and does not show interest in food then read on. Here you will find information on how to care for your Bearded Dragon during brumation.

Brumation
Brumation will often occur when a Bearded Dragon is around one year old and can happen during winter months when a Bearded Dragon will choose to slow down their metabolism. Because of their slowed metabolism, their lack of eating does not particulary affect their weight, they can go for several months without eating and only lose a few grams. Below is what to expect and what to do during brumation.

Early Signs
Your Bearded Dragon will spend it's time at the cold end of their vivarium and will rarely move, as well as not showing any interest in food. If your Bearded Dragon chooses to spend it's time at the cold end and not eat it is very likely that they are brumating.

Why?
Brumation occurs when a Bearded Dragon senses daylight and temperature changes causing their metabolism to slow, followed by a period of not eating and primarily sleeping. Bearded Dragons will eat little if anything during this period so do not be to alarmed.

Duration
Brumation can last weeks or even months. Spike's first brumation lasted one month when she was just over one year old, during this time she did eat a few greens on a couple of occassions but she basically slept all day.

Care of During
I recomend soaking your Bearded Dragon in a warm water for five or ten minutes once every other week to keep them hydrated. This is best done when they are awake rather than waking your sleeping Bearded Dragon.

It is also a good idea to weigh them at the beginning of brumation and intermittently. By doing this you can see if anything is wrong as your Beardie should not lose a significant amount of weight during brumation. Note if significant weight loss occurrs take your Bearded Dragon to your vet.

Food
Continue to offer small amounts of food every other day, placing crickets in a high sided dish for ease of removal if they are ignored and so not to unduly stress your Bearded Dragon - remember crickets can nibble.

Heat & Light
Once brumation begins the ambient temperature can be reduced down to as low as 65/70F, the light cycle can be shortened to 8 hours.

 

[herpluva]

Thanks!
He woke up today and came out to bask. He took in water but still not eating. I put his favorite food in there and he did not touch it. He licked the worm but did not eat it
I will play it by ear if he goes back down for a couple day then I will let him fully brumate and cut his lights down. Thanks

 

[brandaleon]

brumation

I own a beardie as well. I have done alot of research on this topic and what was written above is pretty accurate from what I have seen and trusted.

 

[RhettusMaximus]

brummation

my male hypo beardy went through a brumation earlier this year. It's good to just leave the guy alone. The fat stores in their tail will be enough to last them the length of the brumation period. Brumating reptiles will be very anxious to breed when they snap out of it! My guy's brumation period lasted about 7 weeks or so...

 

[Vegas Chad]

Check out the BD forum: http://www.beardeddragon.org/ it has tons of great info on burmation on it. Why, when, who, what, where, and what 100 different people think about it. I cycle half my dragons on and off burmation so I always have some awake and some sleeping. Just keep them cool, with a less than normal light, soak them every now and again its no big deal really…

 

[Chase]

I have been reading on brumation since my beardie has decided to go into it. I was wondering since he has been sleeping in his box on the cold side for 48 hours now then how long does a true brumation last? Some say to wake them once a week to soak them so they do not dehydrate and some say leave them alone. Some say keep the lights on during the day for only 8 hours and some say cut them off completely.. How do I know what to do or not to do?
I have shortened his lights to 8 hours and he stopped eating about a week before he went into full brumation. I soaked him the day before he went in his box and never came out. I am going to keep up with putting his salad in his tank but what exactly do I do about the lights and how to monitor him? Should I get a digital scale and weigh him weekly to make sure he is not losing wt?
Any advice will help...
I like to get as many opinions as possible.
Thanks

Now here is my thread. LOL, I breed Bearded Dragons as a Hobby and to get some money. So, to answer you question if it hasnt been answered is about a month and a half to two months. You should decrease the temp like an hour a week until you get to about 8 hours of light. Then, you feed them more Calcium & D3 to get them a boost for the breeding season. Also, when you feed them greens sprinkle some on there so they get more of it. But, acually you want to decrease the amount of food they get because they need to rest up to give some rest to the Sperm and Egg cells so they are all good and ready to be used. When you start raising te temp, you should increase the food to normal and then give them about 2-3 weeks to get back into the routine, after that you are good to go and this process should help your fertalitly rates. If you need anymore help PM me and I'll get back to you

 

[Zoey]

I never knew they did that

 

[Chase]

Yup, I have spent many many hours reading about these lizards. I have 7, I had too, I would have gone crazy by now if I hadn't.

 

[crazymum74]

thanks............

i am so glad i have read this forum, i have george who is about 15 months old and for the last couple of weeks he has been down and hiding in the cold sandy end of his viv, i have been so worried about him, i have had him out, checked him over lots and he has fed on locusts so i know hes eating and stuff but just hasnt looked the same for the last couple of weeks, having read the hibernation section of this forum i can now see why so thank you i loved reading this and feel so assured now.

thansk guys xxx

 

[ataraxia]

Do you have any substrate in with your dragon?

Typically unless the room you have them in changes with the seasons (temps, light duration and humidity). Most will not cycle into brumation.

If you do keep him in a substrate i would strongly recommend two things. 1. Make sure you bath him in warm water. I put mine in a sink or tub and let the water splash from one end while filling about 2 inches of water. The splashing on the face normally makes them drink. Keep him hydrated. 2. Take him to a vet asap for a xray to be sure he is not impacted.

About 2 months ago i had a male stop eating and go to the cool side of the tank. I didnt know how he went into brumation but showed the signs. I thought to myself hmmmm this is strange. So i treated him like he was going into brumation. Well come to find out last week he started defecating large amounts of english walnut. He is container fed so i dont know why he would have eaten any but for what ever reason he did (possible something got lose from the container) IDK. At any rate im extremely lucky he passed the amount of english walnut he has at this point. I kept a few of my dragons in this and have for years now with no problems till now. Since this they are all on newspaper

 

[Laropmet]

Can anyone confirm for me if my dragon is hibernating. From what I've read it's unusual for it to happen before the dragon is a year old. I've only had her for 6 months. She was about 12" and 150g when I first got her. She's now 17" and 350g, but I'm not sure if she's a year old yet. Otherwise all the other signs look like brumation. She's not eating as much, maybe 1-2 locust a day. She is pooping fine, ever other day. She has been sticking to the cold end of the tank for a few days and yesterday found a dark corner under her shelf behind a log. She hasn't come out since, although her eyes are still open. For about the last week she has been showing a lot of black around her beard area and permantently looks angry or stressed. I haven't changed the duration of her lights or temp yet but I'm in scotland and the temperature outside has dropped and the nights are getting shorter. I'm almost convinced that it's nothing to worry about. It's just her age that is making me doubt a little.