Brumation at 9-10mo?

[Axil]

Looking around the forum it seems like this is the time of year for Brumation to start. I'm a little concerned about Beebz as I thought it was uncommon for Dragons to Brumate when they were under a year old but Beebz has stayed in his hide about a week now.

He is not fully asleep and will occasionally position himself so he can get a look out but he doesn't come out and doesn't show any interest in food.

At 9-10mo and 714g should I be concerned or just let him be? How often should I take him out to weigh him? Is there another reason he could be acting this way I need to be concerned about?

 

[xp29]

It's not unheard of to brumate at that age. He is a big boy for his age to. I would only wake him for hydration, just weight him then.

 

[AHBD]

It's no problem at all, a large dragon is fine sleeping for months even. At 10 months and 714 grams your dragon may be getting fed too much+ grown too fast and some adjustments should be made before he develops illness in the next few years. Can you post some pics of Beebz ? What is his length ?

 

[SkittlesK]

It's no problem at all, a large dragon is fine sleeping for months even. At 10 months and 714 grams your dragon may be getting fed too much+ grown too fast and some adjustments should be made before he develops illness in the next few years. Can you post some pics of Beebz ? What is his length ?

I had a Bearded Dragon that was doing that & she shut down for about 6 mos.
She could eat a lot though.

 

[Axil]

Thank you for the responses.

@xp29
As far as hydration goes he hasn't wanted water dripped on his snout since he was just a couple months old. His poop has always been moist so I've not been concerned about it. I'll try the dripping again now that he not eating to see if he accepts it now.

@AHBD
I have been concerned he may be growing too fast. I had cut his food back quite a bit the past two months. He is around 23" and never looked overweight to me but I'd love for you to look at these pictures and give your opinion. There are toons of pics in his introduction thread but I'll add a few here too.

These are from just before he started hiding. Actually he had started hanging out a lot in his hide even before then. I had been taking him out every couple days to check on him before deciding that might not be the best idea.

 

[AHBD]

Oh my, he looks great ! My apologies, he must have the big dragon gene. Although German Giant dragons are no longer really available it seems that their genes are still floating around.

 

[Axil]

Oh my, he looks great ! My apologies, he must have the big dragon gene. Although German Giant dragons are no longer really available it seems that their genes are still floating around.

No don't apologize, I really value your opinion. I wondered about the German giant thing as he blew away all the size estimates in resources I found. I'm glad he looks healthy.

He was fed a lot as a little guy but every time I thought he might be getting a little chubby he'd add a bunch of length and look lean again.

Do you think he should be on an adult diet when he wakes up? I had cut him down to every other day a week or two before he started hiding .

 

[Axil]

*facepalm* So I just checked on him and was greeted with this:

Is it still brumation-like behavior when they hide for a week then come out and bask? Before this last time he had taken to spending a day or two in his hide a couple times a week before coming out like this.

I'm even more confused now, why does he do this?

 

[xp29]

Oh my, he looks great ! My apologies, he must have the big dragon gene. Although German Giant dragons are no longer really available it seems that their genes are still floating around.

My first beardie was a female named Puff she was 25 plus inches. I never weighed her as an adult but she would have dwarfed Zen and he is around 1,300 grams. I always assumed she had the German giant gene. That was nearly 10 years ago though.

 

[xp29]

*facepalm* So I just checked on him and was greeted with this:
View attachment 84818

Is it still brumation-like behavior when they hide for a week then come out and bask? Before this last time he had taken to spending a day or two in his hide a couple times a week before coming out like this.

I'm even more confused now, why does he do this?

I'm always amazed with what a good looking dragon he is.
He may not do a full on brumation in the first year, he may just get lazy and nap alot, that's what Zen does. Even at 4 years old he refuses to use a hide. He lazys around for a couple months then snaps out of it and eats everything in sight.

 

[Axil]

Ok so when Beebz decides he wants to sit in his cave for a day or a week I should just let him be?

He has been pretty sluggish for around a month now (at least) and finicky about eating so it sounds like that tracks with how Zen behaves.

I guess I'll just offer food on days he's active and try not to worry so much when he is disinterested.

Jeez I was finally starting to feel like I had a handle on Beebz behavioral cues and now he's switched to pseudo-brumating-Beebz and I feel like I'm learning all over again!

 

[xp29]

I would still offer salads daily, but i wouldn't encourage him to eat, just let him decide. When Zen gets like that he hardly eats anything.

 

[AHBD]

It's better to keep them on the lean side, over feeding or feeding large amounts may contribute to things like gout , sluggishness and eventually heart, liver or kidney problems.

 

[Axil]

Thanks guys I'll keep up with his salads and offer bugs every other day when he's out and about and not pester him about eating them if he isn't interested.

 

[AHBD]

He's a good weight, some people power feed their large dragons and they end up really heavy and sluggish. If they stay more like your dragon they are always more agile as they would be in the wild.