Does AC and lighting in my house affect brumation?

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Does anyone have any knowledge or experience on their beardies being affected by AC in their house? I was wondering if the cold from an ac unit will affect their brumation even if their cage has proper temps/lighting.

My other question would be I like to keep a lot of lights off in my house, but have a lot of natural light during the day. Does having no lights on in the house affect the onset of a brumation?
 

CooperDragon

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I don't think so. As long as you have appropriate lighting in the enclosure it should be OK. I don't think that brumation is triggered by direct temps or lighting. It may be barometric or something like that, I'm not certain. My dragon started brumation when it was still in the 90s outside and woke up when it was subzero so I don't think it's directly weather related.
 

EllenD

Gray-bearded Member
Cooper is absolutely correct, the temperature in your house can effect the temperatures inside your Dragon's tank of course, but as long as you use the appropriate wattage of Basking Bulb inside his tank to keep his temperature zones/gradient within the correct ranges for a Bearded Dragon, this keeps him in the correct environment. However, even if his tank is within the correct temperature zones and your house temperature isn't effecting his tank temperatures at all, if you live in a place that has seasons, your dragon still knows that it's winter due to the change in Barometric Pressure outside. This is the only reason that reptiles kept in captivity and kept in proper temperature zones that are constant throughout the year STILL sometimes go into Brumation. They certainly don't HAVE to Brumate like they do in the wild, their tank temperatures/lighting are keeping them warm and able to properly digest their food and absorb the nutrition from the food, so unlike Dragons in the wild they don't need to go into Brumation to survive. However, since the change in Barometric Pressure outside is telling them that it's winter and since the instinct to Brumate is innate, no matter what the environment that they're living in is like or whether Bruamtion is necessary in that artificial environment to survive, some of them still do Brumate. So whether they Brumate or not has nothing to do with their artificial environment in captivity. That being said, there are obviously things you can do to knock them out of Brumation or to keep them in Brumation, but as far as them naturally wanting to Brumate, that is triggered by the Barometric Pressure outside.

As far as the lighting in your house goes, the actual lighting isn't going to effect anything as long as your Dragon is under the proper lighting inside his tank that he's under. However, if you have his tank/enclosure located near a window or door that allows a lot of sunlight to get through to him, especially if he's in a glass tank, then this can obviously cause serious issues for his tank environment, such as causing his temperature inside his tank to rise. Many Dragons and other reptiles/amphibians have died because their tanks were too close to a window or right in front of a window, and they basically were "cooked" by the sunlight and the rise in tank temperatures. So you always want to make sure that your Dragon's tank is not located in a spot where natural sunlight can get into his tank and effect his temperatures. If they are exposed to high temperatures for a long period of time, if it doesn't kill them and they recover from the acute dehydration and heat exhaustion/stroke, it can actually permanently effect their ability to thermoregulate. But as far as the lighting in your house or the lighting from outside coming through the windows effecting whether he brumates or not, again, they already know what time of year it is, or rather what the "season" and temps are outside due to the changes in Barometric Pressure, so the lighting inside the house isn't a factor.
 

amandamaghirang

Member
Original Poster
Thank you, that was a lot of useful information!
His tank is not directly in a window and he has proper lighting/temps so I suppose he’s fine. I live in FLorida so there usually isn’t much change in season. Although, this winter, we have had several weeks of colder than normal temps and even less humidity. I’m assuming from the info you gave me that this could trigger him to brumate. He has been acting rather sluggish but seems healthy and alert other times of normal Florida temps/weather.
 

EllenD

Gray-bearded Member
Yes, it could, this winter in particular has been rough on everyone's dragons I think, myself included, though I'm in central Pennsylvania and it's 25 degrees, lol.

It probably will not trigger him to go into brumation down in Florida, but a normal, winter "slow-down" period where they eat less and are a bit lethargic is a more likely possibility, and is probably what is going on. That's what my year-old girl is going through right now, she's gobbling down tons of salad and actually drinking water out of a bowl, which she never does, but she is only eating 1-2 superworms every other day or so, she's refusing her normal BSFL and she's not even begging for extra superworms like she usually does. My 7 month old boy, who is a garbage disposal, is also eating a bunch of greens and veggies, he can't get enough, but he's only eating maybe 5-10 large BSFL per live insect feeding session (he gets 2 sessions a day and usually eats between 15-20 per session, plus a superworm, plus his salad, lol). And my year old girl is also glass-surfing a lot, she never does this, but she's been actually looking at me through the glass, scratching, jumping, and literally tossing her tank around several times a day (I fix it, she throws it all over the place, I fix it again, she trashes it again, etc.). So I think the "Winter Blues" is amidst us...
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Well my skinks and dragons have never brumated , my home is climate controlled and we keep it nice and warm 24/7 in winter, never under 22 degC in the dining / living area where the lizards' rearing tubs and tanks all are , and I keep the photoperiod at 16 hrs year round.

Will do no harm at all for your dragon/s to stay active year round. They might slow down a wee bit in winter if the weather outside is bleak and nasty but that's all.
Mostly local breeders here (Australia) encourage their breeding
My gang bask everyday , even in winter , and are looking for food every day and want to have floor time every day too even over winter. My winters are very warm , never see a frost over night here (coldest we've had in my lifetime is about 6 degC.)
 
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