Brumation Question

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BlizzardBest

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Hey my beardie has been acting quite tired lately as in trying to sleep during the day and hes slowed down on eating as to where he only sometimes has veg, hes trying to sleep beside the basking spot as you can see in the picture below so i was wondering should i leave the heat and uvb lights on or turn them off?

96889-4087715284.jpg
 

VenusAndSaturn

Sub-Adult Member
Lets go over the setup first, its never good to immediately jump straight to burmation as it could be life threatening to do so if it isn't.

Is it a compact/coil bulb, a tube light or a MVB?
What type of UVB does he have? (t5 14%, t5 12%, t5 10.0, t5 5.0, t8 10.0, t8 5.0, ec)
What brand is it?
How old is it?
Is it mounted inside or outside?
Is there anything blocking the UVB other than mesh if mounted outside? (plastic casing ect)

What is is basking temp, warm side temp, cool side temp?
How are you monitoring those temps, digital temp gauge, temp gun ect?


I recommend keeping the heat and uvb on, even if it is burmation just keep a normal 12-14 hour schedule. I'd say 12 if burmating, once it warms up/becomes summer i'd bump that up to 13-14 hours of light per day.

You'll want to remove that substrate, I cant exactly tell if its gravel or not but if it is that is a very huge impaction risk that can be fatal if untreated. Any particle substrate poses a big risk of impaction, calci-sand/vita sand being the most dangerous, ground walnut coming close to it as its very sharp and usually cuts up the insides of the animal when ingested. For the calci-sand/vita sand it actually turns to concrete in the stomach.

I'd put paper towels in there for now, especially in the hide to have something the beardie to dig at before going to sleep. You can also use tile, non adhesive shelf liner or news paper.
 

BlizzardBest

New member
Original Poster
VenusAndSaturn":14mux8mv said:
Lets go over the setup first, its never good to immediately jump straight to burmation as it could be life threatening to do so if it isn't.

Is it a compact/coil bulb, a tube light or a MVB?
What type of UVB does he have? (t5 14%, t5 12%, t5 10.0, t5 5.0, t8 10.0, t8 5.0, ec)
What brand is it?
How old is it?
Is it mounted inside or outside?
Is there anything blocking the UVB other than mesh if mounted outside? (plastic casing ect)

What is is basking temp, warm side temp, cool side temp?
How are you monitoring those temps, digital temp gauge, temp gun ect?


I recommend keeping the heat and uvb on, even if it is burmation just keep a normal 12-14 hour schedule. I'd say 12 if burmating, once it warms up/becomes summer i'd bump that up to 13-14 hours of light per day.

You'll want to remove that substrate, I cant exactly tell if its gravel or not but if it is that is a very huge impaction risk that can be fatal if untreated. Any particle substrate poses a big risk of impaction, calci-sand/vita sand being the most dangerous, ground walnut coming close to it as its very sharp and usually cuts up the insides of the animal when ingested. For the calci-sand/vita sand it actually turns to concrete in the stomach.

I'd put paper towels in there for now, especially in the hide to have something the beardie to dig at before going to sleep. You can also use tile, non adhesive shelf liner or news paper.

My dragon is a year and like 4 months old. I have a coil bulb UVB 10.0 mounted with a plastic casing both a month old, both my lamps are above the mesh of the cage. The basking spot temp is 40 degrees celcius and the cool side temp is around 20 degrees celcius. Im using a dimmer to control the temperature plus using a temperature gun to double check. The substrate im using is a type of sweetcorn which ive heard they can digest easily but what substrates could i use if this is not good as my dragon likes to dig .etc
 

VenusAndSaturn

Sub-Adult Member
Uvb is probably the reason then along with too cold of temps. For the cool side and possibly night time temp. Most coil bulbs cause problems, and with that casing around it he’s getting zero uvb bulb currently. Which may be good depending on what brand it is and if it’s one of the ones that can cause eye damage.

For proper uvb you’ll need a Reptisun t5 Ho 10.0 22” or 34” uvb bulb with a fitting reflective fixture. Either that or one of Arcadia’s bulbs which can go up to 14%, guessing your tank is a 40-50 gallon if you went with that brand go for the 12% as the other is too strong most likely.

For temps try and get the cool side up to 75 or so. 70-85 is good for that. Make sure the night time temps don’t drop below 65 as well. Not entirely sure what that is in Celsius.


As for digging you could make a dig box in the corner or middle of the Viv. I’d say a good sized box that keeps the substrate in, eco earth would work well for a simple dig area. I wouldn’t use a particle substrate for the entire flooring. Just a small dig area.
 
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