Brumation starting for 8 months old?

[BeardieSmaug]

Hello,

during the last week or two, my beardie was VERY hyper active. Running around everywhere in my room, BUT not eating. He would still eat once in a while some veggies or BSLF. All his life he has been a GREAT eater. But as of two days ago, he has very significantly slowed down. The last 2 days he was not as active outside his cage, still not eating, his poops were fine, he laid a massive (tmi) stool yesterday, surprisingly since he was not eating well. And the last two days he has not left his hide. Every morning he would wake up and walk to his basking spot, or stay in his hide for a while then move. But the last two days he has just been laying down on the cool side, in his hide.
I'ts just a bit odd to me, since he is almost 8 months old, i understand this is the age beardies might start brumating, but its august and hot as heck here in California.
So this morning he still stayed in his hide, laying down (most of the time when he chooses to relax in his hide during the day he has his head up and not really laying down), and appearing very tired. So I covered his hide with a shirt.
I uncover it every 2-3 hours and I see that he closes his eyes, and briefly wakes up when i uncover him. So If he continues like this, protocol is to turn off lights if he is completely asleep right? He is not completely asleep yet, every time i uncover his hide, he opens his eyes and looks up.

I took a pic with flash so we could see him, its dark in there.
I also made his hide bigger, like a tunnel-ish, covered with a shirt. His hide was kind of small in the first place so I wanted him to have a larger space to sleep.

Also forgot to mention that over the course of these last 2 weeks there was no significant weight change. Maybe a tiny bit a day or two, but gained it back with some BSLF or veggies. But he completely rejected his staple dubias. But no significant weight loss, stools seemed normal.

 

[christiepops22]

My beardie went into brumation at 6 months old, it was pretty scary especially cause if it’s your first time as an owner. I was advised to keep the lights on 12 hours on and off as I usually would and to take her out once every couple days for baths and check ups but besides from that, let nature run it’s course. They know what to do. If you start to notice that the top part of the tail has gotten thinner (this is where they have their fat reserves) you can try and wake them up, for Pip I just had her out, had loads of baths, basically annoyed her untill she woke up and started eating again. If you don’t notice any change and he still looks healthy then it might be best to leave him for now. Maybe once things are warmer he will wake up on his own. If you’re still concerned, you can take him to the vet (along with a stool sample) for a check up to make sure he is healthy and happy.

 

[christiepops22]

My beardie went into brumation at 6 months old, it was pretty scary especially cause if it’s your first time as an owner. I was advised to keep the lights on 12 hours on and off as I usually would and to take her out once every couple days for baths and check ups but besides from that, let nature run it’s course. They know what to do. If you start to notice that the top part of the tail has gotten thinner (this is where they have their fat reserves) you can try and wake them up, for Pip I just had her out, had loads of baths, basically annoyed her untill she woke up and started eating again. If you don’t notice any change and he still looks healthy then it might be best to leave him for now. Maybe once things are warmer he will wake up on his own. If you’re still concerned, you can take him to the vet (along with a stool sample) for a check up to make sure he is healthy and happy.

I forgot about one thing! Sometimes brumation isn’t always induced by the cold. When they live in a simulated environment Beardies kinda lose their way, my girl slept all September and was hyper right through winter! It’s hard to predict but yeah, a vet is a good call if you’re still unsure.