Learn from my mistake.
I brought home MrJaws on 1/07/16. I got him from a big box store which is still my favorite. He was pretty healthy and I followed the advice on this site so he stayed healthy. My MISTAKE was in thinking he was only 5 weeks old when he came home. I kept a growth chart on him and he appeared to bigger than normal. OK what does this have to do with anything. Well there are certain things that happen at certain ages:
1: Brumation: This site , as well as others, indicate that beardies go into brumation after they reach 1 year old. My MISTAKE was underestimating his age. Even though he was beginning to show signs of Brumation , I ignored them. Imagine my surprise . He is now going into the 4th day without moving in the slightest.(His bowels made a huge movement which I cleaned up and he was oblivious) An excellent
suggestion is to have a vet check for paracites before Brumation to prevent disease. I was not able to do this and am now concerned for his health. Plus there are certain things regarding food that should be done prior to Brumation so that the food will not rot in his stomach. Again I was not able to do this. More worry about more health problems.
TAKEAWAY FROM THIS IS GET AN ACCURATE AGE FOR YOUR DRAGON. ASK THE BREEDER, OR COMPARE GROWTH CHARTS OF OTHER DRAGONS. IF HE APPEARS BIGGER THAN OTHER DRAGONS IN HIS AGE GROUP, HE IS PROBABLY OLDER THAN YOU THINK. AVOID THE PROBLEMS, GET AN ACCURATE AGE AND FOLLOW THE ADVICE IN THIS SITE. PLEASE.
Glad he woke up OK! I'm so glad now I know exactly how old Randall is as I was fortunate that he came with a hatch certificate.
Thankyou for the warning & the reminder for me to get Randall his vet check .
Thank you mrjaws, this would have been helpful if I read this before this occurred to me. Sadly, I don't know if my beardie is really 7 mo, but he did exhibit the same symptoms as yours did.
It can be difficult sometimes to determine age. I agree, it's always a good idea to have a fecal sample done before brumation and to be sure they have adequately cleared out their systems.
I'm glad your dragon is OK now!
Size is not always are good indicator of age, if a hatchling is kept with other hatchling and not as aggressive a feeder or smaller than it's tankmates, it will not grow as fast and can be 50% the size of it's more aggressive / outgoing siblings, ie it hasn't thrived like it could.
You really rely on the breeder to advise it's hatch date (give or take a day or 2).
There is no other way to get an indication of the age of a hatchling.
Regarding brumation - I believe it's not a good idea to allow a dragon younger than 2 years old (full grown and developed adult) to go into brumation. In fact - brumation is not necessary unless you intend to breed the lizard.
In the wild brumation is a response to shorter days, cooler daytime and nighttime temperatures, decreased humidity, reduced availability of prey insects and animals and green leafy herbs and fruits in winter (also the DRY SEASON in beardies northern regions of their natural range).
Yes , you can discourage brumation very easily. NONE of my pet beardies and skinks have ever brumated.
I maintain a constant long light cycle (lights on 6am, off 9pm , year round).
I maintain basking and zone temperatures relatively constant year round (my house is a/con'ed 24/7 in summer and winter)
I keep the food coming.
Easy.
As to health issues due to not brumating, not seen any problems in over 8 yrs that would be attributeable to not brumating, 4 years with bearded dragons, but I recognise this is a subject that is regularly debated.
Sleeping for a few days is not brumation.
I'm of the mindset that brumation is actually healthy, I winter cool all my animals. I try to emulate nature in a captive environment. My gilas monsters and Mexican beaded lizards get a 4 month brumation period. I keep them in a 55°F room and just peek at them every few days. Without a winter cooling I wouldn't be able to get them to breed.
Obviously a bearded dragon wouldn't need a winter cooling for nearly as cold and long though.
Thank you all for your replys.
Shortly after I posted the first message, Mrjaws woke up for a short time, less than a day. I realized he was still not himself. I put him back under his blanket and he is working on his eight days. My point in all this was that I was wrong about his age and thought that I had another 3 months to prepare. I am convinced this is brumation. I was just not ready for it.