9 m/o ready to brumate?

[spurlee01]

Lilly has very dramatically slowed down this week. She has cut her feeders from 100 daily to 20-25 daily, some days not eating at all. She is wanting to spend all of her time on the cool side of her tank or in her hide. I'm catching her sleeping sometimes during the day, which I never have before. If she is brumating, will she be okay doing it this young? She is 460 grams and 19.5", but I feel like she still needs her live feeders daily (she gets 2 feedings per day, but this week I've been lucky to get her to eat one. This has all happened since Tuesday, so it may be a bit early to worry, but she has never acted like this before. Also, I got her a fecal in June and it was clear, do I need to do another one before she brumates? I have read the article and it cleared up a lot for me, but I am still woried just because of her age....
Sara

 

[Gail]

I've seen younger beardies brumate before, my first one went down at 8 months or so but he never did go into deep brumation. He would sleep for a day or two then wake up for a few days but never would bask, just lay there staring at me.
When my last rescue brumated, he was around 5 years old and he slept for 4 months straight.

I doubt you need another fecal since she had one fairly recent.

 

[zebraflavencs]

I have two almost 9 mos and one over a year. One of the 8+ (Orion) is totally down. fecal clear. The year old is heading that way. The second 8+ ( Gemini) is still up and noshing down all the roaches, and worms he can... Though I expect he too will go down in the next month.
I would actually get a new fecal ran.. It's still been 3 months, more than enough time to be infected with parasites. Better safe than sorry, in my book.
I normally do every 6 months, and when one is showing signs of going down, they all got tested again. Even though the last test was not quite 30 days past, I would rather be certain, than take a chance of losing one of my precious babies.
Janie.

 

[spurlee01]

She actually at 36 roaches yesterday (still nowhere near her normal 100, but better). She hasn't pooped since Wednesday which is a bit worrisome for me. And I can't get a fecal to the vet until Monday. I'm glad to hear it's okay for her to brumate this young. I'm hoping she'll only semi-brumate, but we'll see. Thank you all for the help.
Sara

 

[spurlee01]

Just to update, Lilly did not eat at all today. This is the first day I havn't been able to get her to eat at least a little something. She spent all but about an hour today in her cave (and would have spent that hour in her cave if mommy didn't make her get out). I was able to get a fecal to the vet today (and still made it to work 3 minutes early lol) and she is clear, so I feel a lot better about that. She is still very alert, though. I'll keep everyone updated, like it or not :lol: .

 

[spurlee01]

Well, she ate 30-something roaches today. Does this sound like brumation or something else?

 

[zebraflavencs]

Sara... Orion went from like 72 medium roaches daily, to 50 odd, to 30 odd, and then 5 supers, then beddy bye. He hasn't been up since. That was 5 days past... so yes, this might be a partial, and it sounds fine. Once yours is in and down, just flip off the lights, and leave them off. Once a week, pull baby out, bathe and offer some basking time, and salad.
Janie.

 

[spurlee01]

Oh really? I thought the lights were suposed to stay on? I'll keep that in mind, I'm glad you mentioned that.
Sara

 

[spyder79]

some people turn off their lights but most (myself included) just severly shorten the amount of light that they receive. instead of a 14-10 or 12-12 rotation when mine start to go down i shorten the daylight to 8 hours. This warms up their tank and gives them a chance to bask if they arent totally down.

and to your original question this sounds like brumation. the first time around they dont normally go all the way down but more of a partial. my male was 20.5 inches at the 7 month mark and at the 8 month mark went into a partial brumation which freaked me out cause i thought it was something else. anyway long story short. it all depends on how fast their body grows. Your baby is at full adult size so his body needs a rest. Its all good.

 

[spurlee01]

I really am glad to hear of other dragons that brumate at this age. It's scary to see them go from 100 roaches a day down to almost nothing. And of course I'm worried about things like calcium and MBD and UVB, etc. Although I think I've figured her out. If I am running late, she will eat well, but if I have all the time I want to feed her, she won't eat. Oh well, shouldn't be hard for me to run late. Oh, and today she stayed out of her cave all day so far. I put her on her magnetic basking rock and she has moved about an inch since 9:15 this morning (3:00 now).
Sara

 

[spurlee01]

I'm going to drive you all nuts lol, but I have one more question... Lilly has now gone 2 days without eating and seems exhausted most of the day, rarely moving and never basking. So I'm more or less positive this is brumation. My question is she ate 10 roaches on Tuesday (unforced, she actually went after them) and has not pooped them back out. I know it's not good for them to go down with anything left in them so is there anything I should be doing for her? She is getting baths every day right now because I want her well hydrated before she goes to sleep. Thanks again, Sara.