Another Brumation Question

[jsnsan]

My girl is 7-8 months old. 400g. Too young for brumation I thought. So, I wasn't expecting this.
Anyway. She is not "asleep". But, she will sit in her hide all day if I let her. She doesn't want to eat. She ate a few butters last week. A bite of salad yesterday...but only because I put her right next to her food dish. She's not dehydrated, gets her baths. Fecal is clear. Temps are fine. Poops are fine.

Is it normal for them to stay awake all day in their hide when they are brumating? I'm thinking not...
If I physically move her to her basking spot, she will stay there until bed time, when I put her in her hide. I didn't take her out of her hide this morning. She is still there. Eyes open...but looks lazy. I've been seeing how long she will stay in her hide these last few days...and I really don't think she has any interest in basking. But she's too lazy to go back to bed.

I know she is young...is this what semi brumation is? I just wish she'd either be awake and active or sleeping. :?

 

[StaceysBuddy]

I don't have an exact answer for you but my girl Buddy brumates like that. She started young too, got her from Petsmart as a baby in July and brumated that winter.
She does the same thing, doesn't eat (a little but not near enough) wont eat for days, still gets baths and the temps and bulbs are all fine. She just stays in her cave for a couple months. Off and on sleeping. I'm guessing it's "Semi-Brumating" but I don't know. Buddy has already started this year for almost a month. She has only pooped once in the last 2 weeks. Makes me nervous but this is what happened last year too...

 

[jsnsan]

Makes me so nervous to have a growing beardie do this...I don't want her health or growth compromised. But I don't want to stress her either by making her bask.

 

[AHBD]

Sabrina, try not to worry. It's just like Stacey said, they can go into that slow down stage even when they're young because they are large + healthy. Our beardies grow faster in captivity, they put on weight + mature more quickly because of a constant supply of good nutritious food and a much easier life. They are O.K. with decreased food + water, it's completely normal.

 

[jsnsan]

Ok ill try. I still haven't moved her from her cave. Eyes are open..just lazy. So I shouldn't worry about making her bask if she's not eating, correct?

 

[StaceysBuddy]

Yeah. When I give Buddy baths is when I try to feed her. When she does actually eat, I take her cave out of her tank so she has to be on the warm side, then a few hours later I put it back. Other than that I put some food in there for her but she won't come out of her cave unless I make her, so that food usually always goes to waste.
So no need to bask if she isn't eating.. just make sure the temps are fine and warm enough. If you want, if she is always sleeping, you can make her lights go off earlier and come on later.. "shorter days".

 

[jsnsan]

Is it a problem if she sleeps in the cave on the warm side..instead of the cool side? Probably not...just checking. She does have both options.

 

[snazzyglasses]

Is it a problem if she sleeps in the cave on the warm side..instead of the cool side? Probably not...just checking. She does have both options.

The warm side cave is fine, too! My adult napped on and off in various places alllllll over his viv (warm side, cool side, basking spot) for almost a month before he finally settled down and slept in his hide on the cool side. Even now I'm finding he'll occasionally wake up and grump around for a couple days before going back in his hide or falling asleep right next to it lol.
This is my first brumation too, and it's crazy! :shock: Hopefully next winter will be easier for all of us because we'll have a better idea of what to expect from our dragons, lol. <3

 

[jsnsan]

Oh good. I feel like such a goob worrying so much. I just was not expecting to go through this her first winter.

 

[snazzyglasses]

Oh good. I feel like such a goob worrying so much. I just was not expecting to go through this her first winter.

It's all good! I'm totally a total worrier lol. Especially during the few weeks when my big guy was acting like he couldn't decide whether he wanted to brumate or not. I swear I have a few more gray hairs now thanks to him, lol. :shock: