9-10 month old bearded dragon brumating

[pikachuomg]

Hi, my beardie is brumating and i havent found much info on this age group brumating except that it's unusual. She has been brumating for almost 3 weeks now. I have weighed her and she hasnt lost any weight and sent in a fecal, which came back negative.

She is not eating, is hiding in her cave and is always asleep. She wakes up when i get her out of the cave to give her a bath and stuff, though.

Im just wondering if anybody has any info on a younger beardie brumating

 

[PodunkKhaleesi]

That would be pretty young for brumation. Some info on the setup might help determine if there’s a husbandry issue that may need to be tweaked a little. What is her basking surface temperature/cool side temperature, and how are these temps being taken? What is her UV source (brand, model, tube/coil/or compact)? One member recently thought their beardie was brumating but after giving the specs on her setup she realized she had no idea what the basking temperature was. When she finally ordered a temp gun she realized the temps were much cooler than she’d assumed, and once she got those temps right the beardie she thought was entering brumation began basking/being very active. So it never hurts to double check the setup.

 

[pikachuomg]

t5 24inch bulb in reflective hood. covers 2/3rd's of the enclosure
2 heat bulbs on a dimmer.
all lights bought within 2 months ago.
100-108 basking spot
around 85-90 warms side
75 cool side
all measured with infrared temp gun at 2 inches away.
She has tile flooring.

 

[PodunkKhaleesi]

Wow, from the flooring to the UV to the basking temp and how you measure it your husbandry is spot on. And because she’s young but still close enough in age to when a typical beardie may start brumating, this situation isn’t unheard of. If a beardie hatches very early in the year and her growth dovetails with a year when especially cold weather is persistent, then it can happen. I live in Southern California, so while climate can be irrelevant to a beardie’s brumation instinct, living here hasn’t inspired any of my current beardies to brumate in the years since I moved from Oregon. But when I lived in Portland I did have a younger girl that entered brumation around 10 or 11 months of age.The timing of her birth corresponded with one of the coldest winters on record when she was around 10 and a half months old, so despite her perfect daytime temperatures and a CHE to keep her cage temps from dipping below 65 at night, the perfect husbandry couldn’t fool her body’s primal instincts. And many beardies brumate for reasons completely unrelated to climate (which is why some owners are shocked when it occurs in warmer seasons). Brumation can serve the purpose of allowing a dragon to recharge its hormone reserves in preparation for breeding season. I once spoke with a breeder who said the most entertaining time of the year was when her male beardies awoke from brumation and would immediately head bob and black beard nonstop like they were training for some kind of sexy beardie Olympics.
Most people will point out that it’s pretty rare for a dragon less than 12 months to brumate, and in many cases the issue turns out to be husbandry related, but given your perfect setup, you may indeed have an early brumater. If prior to the onset of the apparent brumation her appetite was healthy, she had normal bowel movements, and was active and alert (minus the immediate lead up to brumation) then she’s healthy and simply an ambitious little brumator. So it does look like you may be an official member of the “I miss my unconscious lizard” club. Here’s a link to an article that details a good protocol for a brumating beardie: https://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/brumation/?page=1
Sorry you may have a little brumater on your hands. When my young girl brumated I underestimated how much I’d miss our daily interactions. But when she emerged from her slumber she was very eager to make up for lost time, and like a recharged battery she had energy to spare.

 

[pikachuomg]

Hi, i too, live in socal. Winter this year has been so weird.. 30's in December. Now that its spring its only logical it would be 16 C. Haha but it's always pretty darn warm in my room because i hate being cold. i miss her so much!! I gave her a bath yesterday and held her afterwards cuz she was actually awake for the next couple of hours. I felt so happy :,) I had to go and i came back to find her tucked away, sleeping once again.

Before she started brumating she was a ravenous eater and pooped every 2 days like clockwork. I read that care sheet and many others online that just state they usually brumate after a year old. I did catch a glimpse at a different person's post and somebody commented a younger beardie shouldn't be allowed to brumate. I just wanted some clarity cuz there is so little info on younger beardies.

Thank you for responding. Also, i read a ton of posts and articles to make sure to get her husbandry up to par. tomorrow will be her 3rd week in brumation. When should i expect her to be finished? I seriously wake up everyday in hopes to find my baby out and about basking happily.

 

[PodunkKhaleesi]

Unfortunately, every beardie is different, so while I can say that my little girl brumated for a few weeks, it’s not unusual for a beardie to brumate for several months (I know...it sucks!).
The occasional baths you’re giving her can help a lot during this time. It’s important to ensure that a brumating beardie remains properly hydrated since the majority of their normal water intake comes from the foods that they eat. So when they’re off of food for the winter, a water bowl should always be available. Brumation was the only time my young female beardie ever drank from a water bowl. Once in a blue moon she’d rouse from slumber, waddle to her water bowl, take a few gulps, then back to brumating. Or you can give your beardie a 10-minute soak in warm water once or twice a week to give her an opportunity to drink, which it sounds like you’re doing.
When a beardie is particularly young, I’ve heard some reptile experts recommend taking him to a vet so that the fat/nutrition pad can be weighed, a fecal test can be done, and the vet can determine if the beardie has the nutritional reserves to get through brumation. This might simply be an extra precaution/peace of mind approach in most cases, but it’s always an option if you have specific concerns (ex: she’s on the skinnier side going into brumation, ate an enormous amount of food the day she went into brumation and now it’s sitting in her gut for an extended period, etc).
I agree that there’s very little information on beardies that are less than a year old when it comes to this subject. And as you’ve found out, some beardies don’t care whether there’s a snowstorm or a palm tree outside their window—they snooze where they want when they want. But because life is always more fun with a conscious beardie, here’s hoping your girl doesn’t have too much longer to go.

 

[pikachuomg]

Thank you for your reply, seriously. It made me feel a lot better. She has some good weight on her, so I think she will be fine. I really hope she wakes up soon though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss my best friend!!

 

[PodunkKhaleesi]

Hang in there! This is all part of their greater Machiavellian plan to drive us crazy. Definitely post in update if you luck out and she rouses soon.

 

[AHBD]

It's not really unusual for beardies to brumate at that age, it really depends on the size of the dragon more than the age. As for hydration, just drip some water on her snout once every 10-14 days. You can do this while she's in her cave even .,but tuck a wad of paper towel under her chin to catch extra water that may drip down. I'd not bathe her at all unless she actually drinks. The article here on brumation has a lot of good info but the part that is not practical is about them absorbing moisture through their vent while in the cool earth cave that they've dug down in to. This is 100% impossible because that would require their tail to be in contact with muddy soil and then for their rear end to act like a vacuum to suction up water and extract it from the soil. Nothing of the sort happens. So offer water no more than every 10 days and she'll be fine. Be careful about keeping her out after a bath, this actually chills them quite a bit because they can't generate their own body heat even wrapped i the thickest towel. After a bath they should be patted dry + quickly returned to the heat of the tank.