1st time/problem Brumation. looking for advise/help

Hi guys thanks for taking the time to look at my post, it might be quite a wall of text so I can give as much info as possible.

Husbandry: 5x2x2 wooden vivarium, 54watt arcadia 12% t5 with reflector (changed in november), basking surface temps ranging between 103-108 taken with ir gun and controlled by microclimate evo, cool end never above 26 degrees, extractor fan at cool end running for 5 min every 2 hours to exchange air, tile floor over 2 thirds with 1 third dig box soil mix, arcadia earth pro/calcium for vitamins (using their supplement guide) and arcadia insect fuel on top of fresh veg for feeders.

I have an around a year and a half old male dragon who in October started to eat less going from around 3 locusts, 3 dubia, and a morio worm daily intake to eating the same amount over 3 days (he rarely been interested in salads since i got him but a variety is offered daily), I had expected him to start eating less as he was getting to full grown size (over 500g) and the temps in my area were dropping to around 5 degrees.

I took him to the vet and had a fecal test which came back clear from parasites but showed salmonela was present. his weight was 540g at that time.

This eating pattern continued to slow a little into December eating every 4 days or so but he never showed any signs of wanting to brumate, every morning he would be up basking and active till around mid day at which point he would retreat to the cold end but never really sleep or go into the hide area.

Still concerned i took him back on the 20th December and was surprised to find out he had actually put on weight and was up to 580g at this point. I was advised due to the lack of food intake to keep monitoring him and if nothing changed to take him back in after a few weeks to have some blood samples just to rule out any issues. It was explained that the seasonal weather and slow down in food intake wasn't out of the ordinary but it was best if it continued to have some tests.

From boxing day he stopped eating altogether but would still take daily droplets of water which I started to supplement with a little critical care as he still wasn't showing signs of brumation.

On tuesday i took him back to the vets to have the blood tests taken at which point he had actually lost 30g and was weighing 550g.

For the first time ever on Thursday night (early) he went to the cold end of the viv under the hide area on the floor curled up and went to sleep where he hasn't moved since. I put a blanket under him and covered up the hide to block light but kept the lights/temps as normal. Just to add his color is normal and he is not showing any blackbeard or signs of stress/illness.

This morning my vet rang me with the results and said that they are not showing any indication of kidney/liver issues but were showing he was a little dehydrated (note:his eyes are not sunken and his skin goes back quickly when pinched) and that his protein levels were low which makes sense due to the lack of food intake.

I explained the recent change and how he looks to now be starting brumation. I was told that since he has started and that I have allowed him to do so for the past 2 days that we should allow him to do so, but I must not let him go into a deep brumation as he has already used some of his fat stores and that allowing him now to brumate for a month or two could very well lead to problems when he comes out of it. (He has showed no signs of impaction and had a bowel movement on monday although due to lack of food was mostly urate but looked fairly normal)

I have been advised to allow it to go on for a week or two at the most, to leave the lights running but drop the photo period to 11 hours, and can allow the temps to drop by a few degrees, but to avoid turning them off completely or allowing the temps to drop to much to avoid him going into a deep brumation. And after a few weeks to reverse this if he hasn't decided to come out and start basking within that time.
I was also advised to offer him water daily, and that its ok to bathe him as the lights will be kept on in the viv but only if he drinks from the bath water but he never does anyway so i don't plan on doing so.

this is how iv stopped the majority of light from bothering him whilst he sleeps

and how he looks underneath it all

Thanks for reading this far and if you can add any input or direct me if i am doing something wrong I would really appreciate it as its my first time going through this and really just want the best for my little guy and want him around for years to come.

Hi there, you may get different opinions from some who have experience with beardies brumating and others who have not but still want to add their advice. I have had over 20 years worth of brumating beardies and have had no problems whether they've been in the " light brumation " [ intermittent sleepiness over weeks or a month or two ] or heavy brumation, sleeping solid for 3 months with no lights on. Losing 30 grams is no big deal for adult dragons. They can lose nearly that much with one large bowel movement. Just take him out + weigh him every 2 weeks but don't be too concerned. Avoid the bathing, this can chill them + cause stress. Can you imagine them in the wild waking up every week to wander out + look for a big puddle ? If you want to offer water, just tuck a wadded paper towel under his chin + very slowly drip water on his snout. You can let him be for a few weeks or month, he may decide to come out on his ownbefore that. After a month if he seems to be losing too much weight you can offer his fave bugs once he's warmed up for a few days. If he's not losing much, don't worry about it. Either way, he should be fine and this all sounds normal + nothing to be too concerned about.

Thanks for the reply that's good to hear.

I have read a number of topics/guides but it's the lack of food he's had before starting to sleep that gave me the most concern. Had the transition time between eating less and actually starting to sleep been shorter I'd of not been so worried.

I'm going to have to find some bigger scales as he's outgrown the ones I bought a year ago and are not accurate.

Thanks for the advice.

I agree, this is not a big deal at all, the vet is making it a big deal in my opinion. He's nice a big, and as AHBD said, they can lose 30 grams in one bowel movement. His "fat pad being depleted" isn't likely at all if he's over 500 grams, that doesn't make much sense to me at all.

I agree that you should leave his lights on as you always do, I wouldn't drop the photoperiod or the temps at all, I'd keep everything status-quo, and once a week take him out for a nice warm bath and a long drink (NO FOOD), then weigh him, and put him back. Do this each week, and as long as he's not losing a large amount of weight, which he shouldn't, he'll be fine. Only when a dragon is either sick or has some type of health issue, or is underweight already is brumation a problem. At over 500 grams your dragon is perfectly fine and fit to brumate for a month or longer if he wants to. That being said, they don't "have" to brumate in captivity, so some people purposely keep them out of it, but if they want to brumate and they are healthy and of a good weight then let them brumate. But I wouldn't change anything regarding his lights, photoperiod, or temperatures, all you have to do is check on him daily to make sure everything is okay, and take him out once a week for a bath, and drink, and a weight check. He'll come out of it when he's ready.

Thanks Ellen , his lights are on from 7 till 7 and I kept the temps the same.

When I checked yesterday he opened his eyes so I offered him some water via dropper as I didn't want to bother him to much but he happily licked it off his nose for a minute before closing his eyes again

And he had moved slightly this morning but seems ok.

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, he's fine. He's a nice big, healthy boy that is totally able to safely brumate for as long as he feels like he wants to.

Thought I'd update on this post, my boy was awake this morning after sleeping since the 11th of January.

He's also eaten a few dubia had a drink and seems in decent condition.


Thanks for the advice.

Good to hear...he'll most likely be sleepy for a while, but if he's eating then he's probably done with the deep sleeping. I'd give him a nice warm bath and let him bask a while.