Brumation

[mshaverly]

Hello,

My name is Marcia Haverly and I am a new member and new to bearded dragons. I rescued a 19 month old female on August 9th. I have upgraded her to a 120 gallon habitat with 150 watt basking bulb and a T5 HO 34 inch 39 watt UVB. She has furniture, hide, etc. and loves her habitat. I bathe her two times per week. I had to switch her to greens as she had never been introduced to anything other than crickets and super worms. She now eats collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, a little mango, dubia roaches, and hornworms. She gets her calcium, calcium with vitamin D, and multi-vitamin on designated days. All insects are gut-loaded. Her previous owners stated that at some point she had gone into brumation for 4.5 months but can't recall when. I took her to a vet to be checked out and vet stated she is very healthy now. Her name is Vhagara. Three days ago she ate a large meal but did not eliminate that day. In the afternoon she went to her hide and did not come out the next morning. I checked her and she seemed fine....just resting. She stayed in all day and still did not potty. The next day the same thing. I read here on this site that she should not be allowed to go into brumation without emptying her stomach and to get her up and soak her in warm water. So this morning I got her out of her hide, soaked her for 30 minutes and put her under her basking light. Once she was warm she came to the door and acted like she does when she wants food. So, I offered her food. She was very hungry. I had not prepared a salad but offered her a hornworm and 8 dubia roaches. She then went back to bask and stayed there until her lights went out and she went to sleep. She did not potty or go back into her hide out. I have backed off her lights to 11.5 hours per day now to mimic the fall sunlight. Can you tell me what I need to do now or if I am not doing things correctly? This whole brumation thing with her is more complicated than it is with my desert tortoise. (I live in Las Vegas). And I am not sure how long to have her lights on. Thank you so much.

 

[J4ckdaw-]

Hello,

My name is Marcia Haverly and I am a new member and new to bearded dragons. I rescued a 19 month old female on August 9th. I have upgraded her to a 120 gallon habitat with 150 watt basking bulb and a T5 HO 34 inch 39 watt UVB. She has furniture, hide, etc. and loves her habitat. I bathe her two times per week. I had to switch her to greens as she had never been introduced to anything other than crickets and super worms. She now eats collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, a little mango, dubia roaches, and hornworms. She gets her calcium, calcium with vitamin D, and multi-vitamin on designated days. All insects are gut-loaded. Her previous owners stated that at some point she had gone into brumation for 4.5 months but can't recall when. I took her to a vet to be checked out and vet stated she is very healthy now. Her name is Vhagara. Three days ago she ate a large meal but did not eliminate that day. In the afternoon she went to her hide and did not come out the next morning. I checked her and she seemed fine....just resting. She stayed in all day and still did not potty. The next day the same thing. I read here on this site that she should not be allowed to go into brumation without emptying her stomach and to get her up and soak her in warm water. So this morning I got her out of her hide, soaked her for 30 minutes and put her under her basking light. Once she was warm she came to the door and acted like she does when she wants food. So, I offered her food. She was very hungry. I had not prepared a salad but offered her a hornworm and 8 dubia roaches. She then went back to bask and stayed there until her lights went out and she went to sleep. She did not potty or go back into her hide out. I have backed off her lights to 11.5 hours per day now to mimic the fall sunlight. Can you tell me what I need to do now or if I am not doing things correctly? This whole brumation thing with her is more complicated than it is with my desert tortoise. (I live in Las Vegas). And I am not sure how long to have her lights on. Thank you so much.

Hi there

First of all, please stop bathing her that often. Bearded dragons ONLY need baths if they’ve soiled themselves. Unless there is some underlying issue that is the reason you’re bathing her so often, I implore you to stop.

My boy is 8 months old, he is too young to go into full brumation but he is starting to enter his semi-brumation stage. I’ve had bearded dragons in the past who have fully brumated, so I’ll try my best to help.

First thing, make sure she is healthy. A healthy bearded dragon is more likely to stay in good health whereas an ill bearded dragon may get steadily worse. Get a weight on her and check it every two weeks.

You can turn your basking bulb off if you’d like, lower temperatures help their digestive tract slow so they don’t have to get up to eat much during this period of time. I would keep your UVB fixture on, though.

Generally, they don’t eat much if at all during brumation. With lower temperatures as mentioned earlier their digestive tracts will slow so they can preserve the nutrients and fat they have already stored away.

Every week to two weeks gently wake her to offer water on the tip of her snout and check her weight, they shouldn’t be losing weight during brumation. If she is, that’s a sign that something is wrong.

Brumation usually only lasts 3-4 months depending on the dragon. Don’t worry about her not defecating, the idea that food rots in their belly during brumation is a myth. She’ll need the extra nutrients anyways.

Hope this helped, if you have questions feel free to ask.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hello,

My name is Marcia Haverly and I am a new member and new to bearded dragons. I rescued a 19 month old female on August 9th. I have upgraded her to a 120 gallon habitat with 150 watt basking bulb and a T5 HO 34 inch 39 watt UVB. She has furniture, hide, etc. and loves her habitat. I bathe her two times per week. I had to switch her to greens as she had never been introduced to anything other than crickets and super worms. She now eats collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, a little mango, dubia roaches, and hornworms. She gets her calcium, calcium with vitamin D, and multi-vitamin on designated days. All insects are gut-loaded. Her previous owners stated that at some point she had gone into brumation for 4.5 months but can't recall when. I took her to a vet to be checked out and vet stated she is very healthy now. Her name is Vhagara. Three days ago she ate a large meal but did not eliminate that day. In the afternoon she went to her hide and did not come out the next morning. I checked her and she seemed fine....just resting. She stayed in all day and still did not potty. The next day the same thing. I read here on this site that she should not be allowed to go into brumation without emptying her stomach and to get her up and soak her in warm water. So this morning I got her out of her hide, soaked her for 30 minutes and put her under her basking light. Once she was warm she came to the door and acted like she does when she wants food. So, I offered her food. She was very hungry. I had not prepared a salad but offered her a hornworm and 8 dubia roaches. She then went back to bask and stayed there until her lights went out and she went to sleep. She did not potty or go back into her hide out. I have backed off her lights to 11.5 hours per day now to mimic the fall sunlight. Can you tell me what I need to do now or if I am not doing things correctly? This whole brumation thing with her is more complicated than it is with my desert tortoise. (I live in Las Vegas). And I am not sure how long to have her lights on. Thank you so much.

Shes fine-- let her do her thing - it is not uncommon for them not to poop for weeks - she knows what she needs to do --- dragons do not needing bathing 2 times per week - she gets most of her moisture thru the salads she eats - rinse before serving-- shes got a great diet --- her lights can be left on the normal period unless she is going to bed early then you can shut them off -- incorrect info on the not pooping before brumation - food does not rot in their stomach and not sure where you read that - did you read the article on this website about brumation? Make sure your surface basking temps are 95-100 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer - this is how the digestion starts -- UVB is a good one - where do you have it placed? top of screen or inside the tank? The screen will determine placement and distance

 

[mshaverly]

Hi there

First of all, please stop bathing her that often. Bearded dragons ONLY need baths if they’ve soiled themselves. Unless there is some underlying issue that is the reason you’re bathing her so often, I implore you to stop.

My boy is 8 months old, he is too young to go into full brumation but he is starting to enter his semi-brumation stage. I’ve had bearded dragons in the past who have fully brumated, so I’ll try my best to help.

First thing, make sure she is healthy. A healthy bearded dragon is more likely to stay in good health whereas an ill bearded dragon may get steadily worse. Get a weight on her and check it every two weeks.

You can turn your basking bulb off if you’d like, lower temperatures help their digestive tract slow so they don’t have to get up to eat much during this period of time. I would keep your UVB fixture on, though.

Generally, they don’t eat much if at all during brumation. With lower temperatures as mentioned earlier their digestive tracts will slow so they can preserve the nutrients and fat they have already stored away.

Every week to two weeks gently wake her to offer water on the tip of her snout and check her weight, they shouldn’t be losing weight during brumation. If she is, that’s a sign that something is wrong.

Brumation usually only lasts 3-4 months depending on the dragon. Don’t worry about her not defecating, the idea that food rots in their belly during brumation is a myth. She’ll need the extra nutrients anyways.

Hope this helped, if you have questions feel free to ask.

Thank you!

 

[J4ckdaw-]

Thank you!

Any time!

 

[mshaverly]

 

[mshaverly]

Does my set up look correct?

 

[KarrieRee]

Does my set up look correct?

Looks good as long as those surface basking temps are where you need for them to be -- the UVB has a gradient what is the furthest distance -- should be 12-15 inches