Brumating or not?!?

[bunnyrut]

This is my first season dealing with brumation.

Mr Dargon looks tired all the time and won't eat.

he also won't stay in his box to sleep!

i'll wrap him up and put him in the box and keep the lights off, but he still wakes up and comes out. and he looks cranky like he wants to sleep, he falls asleep on his log during the day then wakes up again.

i don't know what to do, he is driving me crazy. is this normal? he is starting to lose weight.

is there something else i am supposed to do? as long as he is awake and refusing to eat i am feeding him carnivore care, which he is not happy about.

 

[Lurhstaap]

They don't always sleep constantly while brumating. It is common for them to wake up for brief periods, or to nap on and off rather than just falling asleep and staying asleep. It is also not uncommon for them to lose some weight during the beginning of brumation. But others with more expertise should probably add as well.

 

[snazzyglasses]

Napping on & off and refusing to eat are two of the major signs, I believe. At least they were with my big guy. He napped in his basking spot/cool side/warm side/everywhere except his hide for about a month before finally crawling in there to sleep. I was like "seriously dragon, make up your mind!" It drove me crazy too. :shock:
I had already been talking to Tracie about something else when my big guy started napping and not eating, so I asked her about it. She said sometimes it takes them a while to slow down enough to fully brumate. She also said that sometimes they can't seem to decide what they want to do! Like their instincts are telling them to brumate, but they want to stay awake and keep an eye on everything. So maybe Mr Dargon is just being indecisive too? Sounds to me like indecisiveness is pretty normal
Hopefully that made sense, and helped a little! <3

 

[bunnyrut]

That actually help

s a lot.

He is napping a lot. Should I keep his lights on all day anyway?

We just moved so he is probably fighting it off then. He still wants to explore,
and he'll fully wake up if we take him out to see the new place.

 

[snazzyglasses]

Yay! I'm glad my exasperating experience could help someone else lol
I wasn't sure about the lights, so I left them on their regular schedule. I'm not sure if it helped or hindered, but he's finally sleeping in his hide!
And Brick would wake up and explore when I took him out of his viv too. I really do think he was just trying to fight it, and it sounds to me like Mr. Dargon is doing the same thing!

 

[Dracosbuddy]

Draco has been doing this for about 2 months, is this a normal length of time?

 

[Lurhstaap]

Yes. Brumation can last for months on end. I read someone remark here that theirs went down in August or September and woke up at the end of November or something like that?

 

[snazzyglasses]

bunnyrut, I think I found something that helps! :idea:
A couple of weeks ago I noticed my big guy didn't seem to be sleeping very soundly when he had his head sticking out of his hide. So I covered part of the cool side of the viv with a towel, so that when his nosy little self looked out of the hide he couldn't see what was going on and maybe get distracted. I'm not super sure if it helps, but he doesn't sleep half-awake with his head out of his hide lately and seems to be sleeping deeper in general.
Regardless though, brumation sucks. Is Mr. Dargon starting to make up his mind at all?

 

[bunnyrut]

bunnyrut, I think I found something that helps! :idea:
A couple of weeks ago I noticed my big guy didn't seem to be sleeping very soundly when he had his head sticking out of his hide. So I covered part of the cool side of the viv with a towel, so that when his nosy little self looked out of the hide he couldn't see what was going on and maybe get distracted. I'm not super sure if it helps, but he doesn't sleep half-awake with his head out of his hide lately and seems to be sleeping deeper in general.
Regardless though, brumation sucks. Is Mr. Dargon starting to make up his mind at all?

Yes, he finally made up his mind. He climbed into hos box finally and has been asleep since.

we did cover the opening to keep it dark for him, once in a while he turns around and has his head sticking out.

is it normal for them to constantly move in their hide?

he doesn't seem too happy when i wake him up to give him a bath. but he does drink the water and bask for a little while before heading back to bed.

 

[StaceysBuddy]

I enjoyed reading this topic. It sounds just like Buddy and how she brumates. Gave me a little peace of mind.
She's always moving in her cave, sometimes poking her head out. She's sleeping on and off. When I bathe her, she will bask a bit before going back to sleep, not always back in her cave. Right now she is sleeping on her warm side, but I'm sure she will be in her cave by tomorrow. She's eating rarely and pooping maybe once every 2 weeks. I tend to keep her out on the bath days to cuddle and whatnot but other than that she's been "sleeping" since October? Last year she slept all winter long!

 

[bunnyrut]

I enjoyed reading this topic. It sounds just like Buddy and how she brumates. Gave me a little peace of mind.
She's always moving in her cave, sometimes poking her head out. She's sleeping on and off. When I bathe her, she will bask a bit before going back to sleep, not always back in her cave. Right now she is sleeping on her warm side, but I'm sure she will be in her cave by tomorrow. She's eating rarely and pooping maybe once every 2 weeks. I tend to keep her out on the bath days to cuddle and whatnot but other than that she's been "sleeping" since October? Last year she slept all winter long!

it's good to know there is another beardie out there like him.
this is my first time dealing with this so i have no idea what i am doing. imagine how i would be with a human baby, lol.

 

[StaceysBuddy]

Haha! I don't have any kids and everyone I know says that Buddy is my baby because I'm always showing pictures, freaking out about her poop schedule, need to leave work because she's laying eggs, etc. On Easter I made a big deal at my work that I needed to get off early to get a sandbox ready and everything was going to be closed by the time I left. I was freaking out because I thought Buddy was a boy until she laid an egg, then I had to go to work. I wasn't focused on work at all that day, only thinking about Buddy.
They always joke saying I will be favoring Buddy over my baby whenever I have one lol.

Buddy brumated like this last year and she was only 6-7 months old. Freaked me out. It didn't help that I moved from Iowa to Arizona while she was doing it. Probably stressed her out even more!