sirenique
Hatchling Member
I am curious about the condition of my beardie, and would like some help: is this brumation, or a serious concern that warrants a vet visit?
For the last week and a half, my beardie Bones has been taking to sleeping in longer and going to bed earlier. He is a year old, and has never undergone brumation for as long as I've had him. Within the last month we moved apartments, and Bones took the change stressfully. He does not like being in his 50 gal vivarium (which surprises me because he loves his hammock, but I also am in the process of buying him a bigger viv), so I've been letting him "free-range" in the apartment -- his light system (UVB 10.0 and a regular heating bulb) hangs about 6-8" from his basking spot, and he can climb higher if he wants (he often does, and the temp here I measured at 95 deg at the highest he can climb). The rest of the apartment is heated to 75 deg regularly (and he is monitored daily, no worries about free-ranging! my boyfriend works from home).
Lately, he spends about 2-4 hours a day basking and hanging around his heat source, then he seeks out the dark areas. He will go for the coolest, darkest crevice he can find and just sleep there for hours. During his daily basking, he will regularly eat, although sometimes he'll only eat half-portions (his diet is a salad of healthy greens, a few mealworms, and squash dressing - occassionally a few kernels of cooked corn). Every week, there's like 1 out of 7 days where he acts completely normal -- awake, alert, eager to climb, to bask and eat. He is not going to the bathroom himself regularly, but I bathe him about every 2-3 days, and he will always poop in the bath. His fecal appears regular in color and consistency, for lack of TMI hehe :lol:
Nothing else about this makes me think he is legit sick, but at the same time I don't want to let something that should be "so obvious" slip past me untreated. His mouth, eyes and tongue look normal, his stomach feels soft and I don't feel any signs of impaction or anything, and he is still eating regularly so... got any ideas? If he is brumating, should I just let him come and go to bask as he pleases instead of putting him under the lamp when he wakes up? I'm clearly a n00b to brumation hehe. Thanks guys!
For the last week and a half, my beardie Bones has been taking to sleeping in longer and going to bed earlier. He is a year old, and has never undergone brumation for as long as I've had him. Within the last month we moved apartments, and Bones took the change stressfully. He does not like being in his 50 gal vivarium (which surprises me because he loves his hammock, but I also am in the process of buying him a bigger viv), so I've been letting him "free-range" in the apartment -- his light system (UVB 10.0 and a regular heating bulb) hangs about 6-8" from his basking spot, and he can climb higher if he wants (he often does, and the temp here I measured at 95 deg at the highest he can climb). The rest of the apartment is heated to 75 deg regularly (and he is monitored daily, no worries about free-ranging! my boyfriend works from home).
Lately, he spends about 2-4 hours a day basking and hanging around his heat source, then he seeks out the dark areas. He will go for the coolest, darkest crevice he can find and just sleep there for hours. During his daily basking, he will regularly eat, although sometimes he'll only eat half-portions (his diet is a salad of healthy greens, a few mealworms, and squash dressing - occassionally a few kernels of cooked corn). Every week, there's like 1 out of 7 days where he acts completely normal -- awake, alert, eager to climb, to bask and eat. He is not going to the bathroom himself regularly, but I bathe him about every 2-3 days, and he will always poop in the bath. His fecal appears regular in color and consistency, for lack of TMI hehe :lol:
Nothing else about this makes me think he is legit sick, but at the same time I don't want to let something that should be "so obvious" slip past me untreated. His mouth, eyes and tongue look normal, his stomach feels soft and I don't feel any signs of impaction or anything, and he is still eating regularly so... got any ideas? If he is brumating, should I just let him come and go to bask as he pleases instead of putting him under the lamp when he wakes up? I'm clearly a n00b to brumation hehe. Thanks guys!
