Brumation?

[Qibli-Bib]

hello i think it might be that time of the year for qibli, he is not eating salad and not as much bugs.
he semes to be just laying in his favourite cave all day, im in Australia.
should i turn off his basking light and the rest? or see how he goes.

 

[Sue E.]

Qibli is 6 months old, or a year and a half? At 6 months, he should not be brumating yet, but I may have misread your profile post. At a year and a half, I would probably continue to keep his lights on the same 12 hrs for now. Sonetimes they go in and out of sleepiness and still bask when they feel the need. If you notice he is in full-on brumation, you can try reducing his light schedule to 8 or10 hrs and see how it goes. Kai gets more sleepy when we have a cold or cloudy day here, but perks back up when its sunny, so I keep his lights on as always. He does have a hide and some spots to get out of the light if he wishes. But he hasnt fully brumated yet (he is a year and 3 months). Some dragons dont. More experienced keepers can weigh in here..@xp29, @Claudiusx, @ChileanTaco, @AHBD.

 

[Sue E.]

His enclosure is fantastic by the way!

 

[mindlessmama]

hello i think it might be that time of the year for qibli, he is not eating salad and not as much bugs.
he semes to be just laying in his favourite cave all day, im in Australia.
should i turn off his basking light and the rest? or see how he goes.

So I’ve actually noticed this same type of behavior in Tails (8-9 months old). He’s significantly reduced what he eats in a day, down to one bug every other day or third day, and only a bite of greens here and there. I’ve been concerned enough to start giving him critical care omnivore via syringe. I came here to ask at what point should I be concerned enough to take him to the vet. He stays burrowed in hi cave most of the day and then he burrows in his bed (yes he has a ferret bed) and blanket until close to noonish. His last poop was almost a week ago and I’m starting to worry. Another coworkers dragon is also doing this same thing. We are in northern VA and the days are mild but not freezing.

 

[Qibli-Bib]

qib is one and a half years of age, since i only see him in the morning and afternoon i might be missing him basking but he dose not move from his spot much from what i can tell, on the weekend i will be able to get a better look at his behaviour

 

[Qibli-Bib]

His enclosure is fantastic by the way!

thanks! we made the walls ourselves out of carved expanding foam, some normal strong flat foam and hope

 

[xp29]

Light cycle alongside of temperature are triggers for brumation.
If you suspect they are trying to brumate, turn the lights on a bit later and off earlier. If they really are ready that should send them down.
If I'm thinking correctly Australia should be headed in the fall season? If so it would be perfectly normal for them to start winding down. In Virginia the mild temperatures and maybe the (friken, fracken, good for nothing) day light savings time (can you tell I hate it? Lol) may change the light cycle enough to be a trigger (I'm just speculating on that one).

 

[Qibli-Bib]

sure ill do that when i can! qibli has always been a sleepy bearded dragon (always heading of to bed way before the heat turns off) so i never know with him XD

 

[Qibli-Bib]

should i stop offering greens everyday? and only every second day

 

[xp29]

should i stop offering greens everyday? and only every second day

I put out greens every day even once mine go down, just in case they wake and want food. As long as Qibli is awake I'd offer salad

 

[Qibli-Bib]

sure! would i keep it simple?

 

[AHBD]

I don't offer any food to my guys unless they come out and stay out for a few days but people can vary the routine like xp. They do fine with no food for long periods during brumation, all my beardies did that way.

 

[xp29]

I don't offer any food to my guys unless they come out and stay out for a few days but people can vary the routine like xp. They do fine with no food for long periods during brumation, all my beardies did that way.

The biggest reason I offer food is because I've had a few like Zen that never fully brumated. They didn't eat much but did eat some.

 

[Claudiusx]

The biggest reason I offer food is because I've had a few like Zen that never fully brumated. They didn't eat much but did eat some.

But... What if they never fully brumated because they were offered food?

I follow AHBD's method more or less too.

However, I have also had dragons that don't do what I would consider a full brumation, and instead just slow down or hide out for a few days at a time.

-Brandon

 

[Qibli-Bib]

how long can he be in brumation for? and should i still handle him a bit since he's not fully in brumation for feeding roaches