Brumation - How do I know he's ok?

[kaitquestions]

My 2 year old Beardie Borris recently reduced in activity a TON. He started chilling in his little hideaway more, sleeping during the day, and eating a ton less. I brought him to the vet for a check up, and had a clean fecal exam. A few days later he freaked out at me when I handled him, puffing up his entire body and flashing his black beard. A little scared, I put him back in the cage, and my brain started ticking.... OH he's starting to BRUMATE!

So cool. I offered him food and gave him baths nearly every day to try to get the last of the poop out of him, and finally on Tuesday, he pooped, burrowed under a blanket in his cage, and fell asleep.

My question is, how do I know he's... not dead while he's brumating? I plan on waking him up once a week for a bath and a dose of calcium supplement (I give him one every week), but inbetween... is it okay to check on him? Give him a pet or move his tail to see if he responds? Its hard to visually see him breathing, and I don't want to disrupt his sleep, but I get paranoid sometimes - kinda a lot haha!

And is there anything else I can do to ensure he is comfortable/healthy while he is brumating? I know baths are crutial to prevent dehydration, but should I worry about heat/cold, are there any signs/symptoms he's getting sick?

Thanks for your help
Kait+Borris

 

[Gail]

I know it can be stressful the first time a dragon goes down for brumation but I really believe you should leave him be if possible. You should be able to see him breath if you uncover him and just watch real close. If you are that worried it should be ok to check on him once in awhile but he really does need to be able to sleep uninterrupted.
Personal opinion next please don't consider it gospel, just another option. I absolutely don't believe in waking them up every week for a bath. I know may owners do but I never have understood why. During brumation a dragons body shuts down, its not using a excess of water and not going potty. I did wake my dragons maybe once a month to check them and give a drink if they wanted which none ever did.

As far as light go, that can be a hard choice. At first I left the heat light on, especially if the dragon was still partially awake. Once deep sleep set in I left all lights off but kept a close eye on them for any movement. If I saw open eyes or anyone woke up enough to start walking around, the heat would get turned back on.
I turned the UVB off as soon as the dragon went into a deep sleep and only would turn it back on if they crawled out from under the covers.