Brumation or something else? Please advise

[BeardedBoroshlav]

Hi all!

I'm a bit concerned about one of my two dragons, Chloe. She's about five and a half years old now.
It's not unusual to find her lying on the cool side of the tank every so often (she seems to split her time evenly between the basking spot and the dark side), but lately she's been lying in the cool corner looking extremely lethargic.

She won't accept any food (even hand fed, which she prefers), and her eyes only open very slightly when I'm in the room or try to move her, if at all. Now, a lot of this sounds just like brumation as per the care sheet on this wonderful site, but how can I be sure that she's brumating and not physically languishing? Is there any way to tell? Despite the fact that this sounds like "textbook" brumation on paper, it's hard for me to see her so sluggish and do nothing about it.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Ryan

 

[CooperDragon]

Has she been losing any weight? I'd track her weight because if it remains stable it's more likely brumation. If she's losing weight, it could indicate illness. Is her beard black while she's acting lethargic? A black beard for an extended period of time can also indicate illness, especially when combined with lethargic behavior.

 

[BeardedBoroshlav]

Thanks for your reply! Her beard is normal colored while she's lying around, and she did eventually climb back on to her basking spot this afternoon. Big relief for me. I suppose her particular brumation pattern may be divided into short but frequent spurts around this time of year? I'll monitor her weight over the next few days to be sure.

 

[CooperDragon]

From what I've seen they can have different brumation patterns including just a general slowdown for a while. That's probably what's going on here.