Bearded dragon hiding and not basking

Hi guys,

Reaching out for some advise about our bearded dragon, Tigerlily. The last couple of weeks she keeps staying in the cold side of her viv, mostly hiding. She won't come out by herself, and when I put her under the basking spot, she moves within a few minutes back into the dark.

She eats a few crickets a day, so I'm worried she won't digest them properly, but she doesn't seem to be losing any weight. She is about 1 and a half years old, not sure if I'm being overly worried, or if there is something wrong with her setup, and don't won't to underestimate anything.

Her tank is 115x50x50cm, temps under the basking spot are around 42 degrees, ambient 30 degrees and 26 on the cold side. The UVB is Arcadia D3+ T5 going across most of the viv, and basking lamp Arcadia 75W solar basking spot light. There are rocks around the basking spot so there's a gradient of temperatures as well.

She has a DIY platform on the cold side, where she now keeps hiding under, which was made with polystyrene and coated with ProRep sealing resin. And we use reptile carpet and the fake sand as substrate.

Any advise is much appreciated!

Judging from the pic she looks old enough to brumate. You could try covering the side of the hide on the far left to make a cave & see if she prefers that to the open areas. One of mine has recently retreated to a similar place in his viv, and we think he might be preparing to nap as well. As long as there's no black-bearding and nothing has changed recently, that would fit what you're describing. Sometimes mine also check out for a few days for no apparent reason, so it'll probably be wait & see.

Taking her measurements now is a good idea so if she does go under for a bit you can monitor her progress. They shouldn't lose much weight while brumating, and if the change is significant between measurements, that could mean parasites & be dangerous to her. Otherwise, brumation is harmless, at least to them. For their humans.... Dragon withdrawl is rough! :lol:

Thanks for the response. I suppose it really might be just brumation, it's just difficult to say what's normal behaviour and at which point I should start to worry. There's definitely no black beard and we weigh her every week - she stays the same.

Is there anything I should be doing if she's brumating? She eats crickets from time to time, so I'm scared she won't digest her properly. Should I keep trying to feed her, or better not while she doesn't bask?

I agree on the dragon withdrawl - I find it extremely stressful! :?

KarinK":1762qaqd said:

Is there anything I should be doing if she's brumating?

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Let's put it this way, BDs have been brumating for millions of years without human intervention.
If she wakes up a bit and looks like she's hunting/looking for a snack, sure--offer her one.
Other than that, I think it's safe to assume that Nature knows what it's doing. :wink:

YMMV