Jade brumated for a couple of weeks last month, since then he doesn't eat as much and has gone from pooing regularly (every other day) to once a week (Usually on a saturday or sunday). I Bath him daily if not its every second day for 15-20mins. Today he pooed in his bath and his poo was soft and broke away in the water but his urates were hard and looked like chalk - I have read that this is a sign of dehydration. If jade isn't eating much and I am giving him baths and occaionlly misting his tank - what am I doing wrong? His temps are normal and he appears comfortable, except he occasionally licks his lips as if thirsty but he wont drink. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.
As long as you are bathing him he should be getting enough water. Just monitor his poop for awhile and see if it changes. When they brumate they tend to slow everything down and so they don't need as much water.
As said a bath does keep them plenty hydrated, as long as their vent, where they poop, is under the water the whole time. Or at least a
majority of it. You can always have her rest on your hand and you can make sure her vent is under. However, to get some liquid down into her mouth
I have to use a dropper for my'n. It can be an eyedropper, a medicine dropper, or whatever. I got my'n from a pharmacy in Kmart. Just fill it up
with cool fresh water, and drop it near the tip of her mouth. If she is interested she will lick it off.
However just like what has been said as far as not eating too much that comes with brumation. Just keep an eye on her, ans if she starts to lose an
excessive weight then you may have to resort to force feeding as a last measure. But that shouldn't happen.