Possible Beginning of Brumation Cycle?

Hello, I am a new Bearded Dragon owner. I’ve had my Dragon since September 4th now. He will be 4 years old on October 21st. He has been hiding out in his rock cave for the last two days and before that was hiding beneath his hammock for a few days. I am concerned about him due to the fact that I am unsure of his usual behaviours being his new owner. He is still eating worms and crickets, I even got him to eat some kale, orange pepper and raspberry yesterday, but I am wondering, they need uvb to digest their food, no? Should I not be feeling him if he is hidden away? Will he become impacted? Is this normal behaviour for a Beardie? Any info or insight would be greatly appreciated.
Thx
Ashlee

It's possible that he is ready to go into brumation. If you've been feeding him then I'd interact with him a bit, take him out to roam around a bit etc. Keep a close eye on his weight. If that remains stable, then he is likely OK. If that is decreasing it could indicate a problem. When they brumate their weight tends to remain pretty stable over time so it's important to keep a log of that.

Mine is doing the same thing. Eating less and hiding more. I think it is the season. Def get a postal scale like Cooperdragon says so you can monitor his weight. It is hard...we adopted our 2 yo dragon last Thanksgiving so I am in same boat. Hoping it passes doing. Keep offering fresh greens try dandelion, collard, escarole and mine loves julienne butternut in there it looks like worms!!

CooperDragon":3jex83jw said:

It's possible that he is ready to go into brumation. If you've been feeding him then I'd interact with him a bit, take him out to roam around a bit etc. Keep a close eye on his weight. If that remains stable, then he is likely OK. If that is decreasing it could indicate a problem. When they brumate their weight tends to remain pretty stable over time so it's important to keep a log of that.

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Thank you for the info. I will purchase a digital scale to keep an eye on his weight.

Glamamama":2ihts5hq said:

Mine is doing the same thing. Eating less and hiding more. I think it is the season. Def get a postal scale like Cooperdragon says so you can monitor his weight. It is hard...we adopted our 2 yo dragon last Thanksgiving so I am in same boat. Hoping it passes doing. Keep offering fresh greens try dandelion, collard, escarole and mine loves julienne butternut in there it looks like worms!!

Click to expand...

I never thought of julienning vegetables! That’s genius as it will def look like worms (his fave) Thann you for the info.

I think I bought mine on Amazon or eBay they are not expensive. If you don’t have a digital thermometer that is also helpful to monitor temps since it fluctuates in the House as it gets colder. You may need to make the tank warmer with hotter bulbs. Reptile owners are probably the only people buying those scales for legit use I realized after I got it and thought about it. ?