Should you disturb dragon during brumation?

Status
Not open for further replies.

bayoupig5

Sub-Adult Member
Emmalee is 27 months old. She went down for her first bruamtion around 9 moths old. Of course, the vet and I were not really sure if this was brumation, as she was a little young. But after several fecals, and other tests everything checked out as normal. We tried to up the temps to see if her lethargy would go away, but that did not work. I also tried to force bask her but she always jumped offof her spot, preferring the cool end. All of this really stressed her, she was going into her natural cycle and due to circumstances that were not understood by the vet and I and subsequently, finally figuring that this was a definate brumation she had lost 60 grams! Her first brumation was from about December to April. She likes to brumate in a cave in her enclosure with temps going as low as 63-65F. She is mostly a light brumater and can be seen with at least one eye open once a day, but she never leaves her cave, or even moves her toes!

The first time she cam out of brumation, she was not interested in food for close to two months. She would not eat live feeders, baby food, or my home made slurry. I was told not to foce feed so I let her be, she lost another 10 grams. She would bask on and off during this time as well, mostly sticking to the cool end (semi brumation?)

Finally, weather got warmer (June), I had her out in the sun daily, and her appettite improved. She gained all her weight back and then some.

So here we are going through the second brumation, but this time I knew what it was and let her decide when she wanted to go down. This was late October, she brumated right through until Mid March. Again upon waking, appettite is low, she was basking on and off, pretty lazy overall. Poops are far and few between, the same as last year...once every 2-4 weeks (but then again she's barely eating). Fecal was done beginning of May, and it was clear, but Emmy's appetite had not improved. Here we are in June now, the weather has been lousy, so outdoor sun time is not an option. She is quite active, glass dancing, jumping from one vine to the other etc, but not really eating, so she has lost some weight again. Incidentally, during her whole brumation she only lost 2-3 grams. Since waking it has been 20 grams!!

I just am not sure what to do, as I get conflicitng stories. Some say this is normal, others say this is abnormal. Some say to never disturb a sleeping dragon, some say to not leave her in brumation that long.

Any suggestions, tips?
 

Jess

Extreme Poster
Hmm, I remember you were having problems with her when I had Wink. :|

Dudley brumated for 5 months over the winter, and when he woke up he acted like Emmalee is acting now: Glass dancing, launching off of random objects, and in his case black bearding and head bobbing were MUCH more important than food. He lost more weight during his little rampage than he did during his whole brumation too (About 30-40 grams)... But he is kinda pudgy, so it wasn't a bad thing LOL. After about a month of that he started showing more interest in his bugs, and he is starting to get a little better about salads now and he has gained all his weight back.

About disturbing them, I've tried but I never managed to keep Dud awake. When he has his mind set on sleeping, nothing can get in his way. :roll: Sometimes you just have to trust that they know what is best for them, as far as brumating goes. I did wake him up once a week for a bath and to offer him a little food, but he always went back to sleep.
 

bayoupig5

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
Yeah, I remember Wink. Dudley is quite handsome.

I was kind of thinking it was best to leave her to her own devices, cause you are right it is impossible to get her to do anything else. I gather some of these wild dragons are heavy sleepers too.
 

FBradshaw

Juvie Member
You may want to try getting a daylight spectrum fluorescent bulb and adding it to her lighting in her viv since outside time is not really an option for you due to weather. The "natural" light has been known to increase appetite and normal every day behavior in dragons. The important thing to remember is that every dragon is different, they're going to do their own thing on their own schedule and all we can do is try to accommodate them as best as possible.
 

bayoupig5

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
I actaully have a daylight spectrum light running beside the UV, as I have a dual shop light running both T12's but maybe that should be replaced, it may be getting a little dull as it is as old as she is.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Members online

Still Needs Help

Latest resources

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

I miss you so much, Amaris 💔
What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
Pearl Girl wrote on moorelori1966's profile.
i feel so sad reading your about me 😢
Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

Forum statistics

Threads
155,897
Messages
1,255,656
Members
75,965
Latest member
williamyoung
Top Bottom