Brumation or not?

[SevzLight]

So I'm very suspicious whether my dragon is sick, lazy, or just going through a phase. He's over a year old now, and for the past few months (winter months) he doesn't eat as much. I used to have two dragons, one was a female that he always black bearded with all the time, but she was too young and I ended up putting her up for adoption to a very very nice family. Ever since it started getting cold outside, he has been acting different. He has a previous history of coccedia and pin worms. I don't know if he has coccedia again.

Basically, his behavior went from completely normal, to completely weird. He doesn't eat as much. He gets the proper temps and lighting everyday, his substrate is ceramic tile, and he loves to scratch the **** out of it. He spends a lot of time in his rock cove now. He used to actually walk outside of his rock cove as soon as i switch the lights on, but now he doesn't. So I have to drag him out of his rock and place him on his basking spot, and he will be fine with it for a few hours. But now, I have even tested to see how long he could go without leaving his rock, there has been a time where he went two days without crawling out of his rock. I don't let him do that anymore and I force him to come out to eat, get bathed, and he might stick around for a few hours, but he will certainly go back in his rock. For a few months, I just figured it was brumation and it was normal. But now I'm not really so sure. I am willing to bring him to the vet again, but I would like to know more before doing so.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....it could be several things, and if you suspect parasites again it would be good to get a fecal test done. It is normal for adult dragons to go through phases like this, like a partial brumation where they are less active. Sometimes a male will sulk for a while [ but not usually ] if the female is taken away. What is his body condition ? Adult dragons don't eat anywhere near the amounts they did as juveniles and they can go for long periods without eating much. Can you post a full body picture of him, and of his set up ? What exact type + brand of lights do you have ? What exactly and how often is he eating ?

 

[SevzLight]

I'm definitely thinking about getting another fecal test done, even though where I am it costs a lot for a fecal on any exotic animal. The problem with these phases is that it makes me constantly worried, and I know me, I'm the type of person that brings a cat to the vet if he/she sneezes a single time, and if I can't find out why I immediately go. Is there any way I can sort of trick his mind out of partial brumation? Copper was definitely sulking for the first few days that my female beardie was gone, but there wasn't too much I could do about it, but he was acting up like this even before she left. His body condition seems normal, however, it seems like he has been a tad bit weaker, or maybe not active enough, if I take him out of his cage and place him on my chest like I did with my female, his claws aren't sharp enough to latch on to my clothing, he does scratch a lot when he goes in his rock cave. I'm not too sure why, but at least I don't need to cut his nails, knowing me, I could mess up! I can send a picture when I get home from work, I'm thinking of leaving early anyways because he had a small bm in his cage and I was running late to work.
Currently, I have a reptisun bulb, 100w, only heat. I also have a tube fixture that is very soon to be replaced, it's hit the 6 month mark. It's a 10.0 bulb. But it's only 18 inches long for the 36" long 40 gallon tank. So I'm thinking of getting a new fixture as well. Also, with my last dragon, I had a powersun UV UVB bulb, and I was wondering if it would be good enough so I can dismount the 18" fixture I have in there currently. I think the 18" tube light currently is a 10.0 repitsun and a generic heat bulb, which is 100w. Both are pretty much hitting the basking spot. If you have any suggestions for what I should add to my tank that may increase activity, let me know when I send the picture!. He is currently eating superworms and crickets, but he seems to avoid crickets now because he's way too lazy to hunt, and it's a pain in the butt to hand feed them to him. He will only eat if he is hand fed now. Or if his prey basically goes up to his mouth. I try to feed him everyday, but he doesn't always eat everyday, and it's a very small amount as well, around 3-8 a day. Sometimes he will eat one, then stop. I also feed him Collard greens, and he usually eats a few leaves and leaves the rest to dry out, then eats a few crispy leaves. He doesn't drink out of his bowl, so I regularly bathe him and I also have a spray bottle that I spray on his nose, so he drinks water off of that as well. His bowel movements have are much smaller than they used to be, but then again, he doesn't eat as much so it makes sense. The fecal doesn't smell at all either. Thank you for replying back to me, as I'm a worry bug. :shock: . I also dust his collard greens in calcium dust, dusting his live prey is hard considering how much he eats is a tough indication on how much I should dust. I don't really want to dust one at a time, and if he eats none, the dusted prey will probably suffocate.

 

[AHBD]

I think it would be good to just take the cave out. Replace it with another piece of climbing furniture. Your 18" tube Repstisun is fine, it doesn't need to cover the entire tank. Also, the Powersun MVB can be used as a back up when that one hits the 6 month mark. I think he may become more active once you take the cave out. And if it's warm outside you might take him out in the sun a few times a week. You'll have to watch him closely, either get a leash, a large kiddie pool or however you can to keep him from running off. If he's terrified outdoors though you can scrap that idea until he's acting better + eating more.