Brumation or sick?

[Bmac60]

So my beardie is probably around 2, and I’ve had him a year. I got him from Petco. On and off the past two months he’ll stop eating and hide all day. Today is Saturday. Monday was the last time he ate. I stopped the insects on Tuesday so he would eat the veggies. Today I tried to give him insects and he didn’t even eat them. He also pooped today. I’ve taken him to the vet multiple times. He tested negative for parasites and nothing came up in his blood work or X-ray that was out of the ordinary.
I asked my vet if brumation is a factor, but she said it’s early for that and there is no reason he would want to if I haven’t changed his temperatures. He is in a 48x18x18 enclosure. Tile is the substrate, t10 15 watt uvb strip light that was changed two months ago, a heat lamp to heat the tank, and 75 watt basking bulb. The cool side is 78 and the hot side is 95. The basking spot is about 103-105. I have thermometers in the cage, and I also use the reptitemp gun to check.
Today, as I mentioned, he refused insects and the last time he ate was Monday. He’s been hiding under his log, but today he is actually sleeping. What do you guys think? Is he going into brumation? Do you think there could be other factors that are going into this? If he is wanting to brumate, what do I do? I don’t know what to do here

 

[Lisafrueh]

I wanted to post here to maybe help ease the mind if anyone else who had a similar situation. My beardie, Dart, is about 11 months old. She could be more or less, we can’t be sure. She started acting weird in April/May, always wanting to be in her hide, sleeping all the time, and not wanting to eat. I searched desperately online for reasons, and basically came to the conclusion that she was brumating. It didn’t fit with almost everything I read, though, so I constantly second-guessed this. We took her to the vet 4 times — 2 different “lizard” vets. We got 4 different answers and 3 kinds of medicine for undefined “illnesses.” I tried giving her the medications—one of which was a shot every three days — but part of me just didn’t feel right doing it. I eventually stopped the meds and just let her be. In August, she just woke up one day, back to her old self, not going in the hide at all anymore, like she did before May. She is eating like a champ and running all over. Point is this: she brumated according to Australian seasons before she was a year old. She did it in her schedule and the vets just didn’t want to believe it. Do your due diligence, know your beardie, observe closely, and then make sure your beardie is healthy. When you have done all that — let your beardie take the lead.

 

[Bmac60]

Okay, I’m going to go for it. Ahh I’m scared! But I can’t think of anything else. He is just refusing food all together and just wants to sleep. I brought him outside to soak up some rays but he just went back to sleep once back in his cage. Thanks for the help

 

[AHBD]

I agree that it's just brumation, which is VERY likely to occur this time of year. I'm glad that Lisa posted her experience, it highlights how little most vets know about beardies and how much harm can be done by those that willingly see animals that they don't know much about, even giving them meds which wastes your money and can cause serious damage to a beardie in some cases.


Beardies can brumate any time of year but fall/winter in the U.S. is the most common.