mrspoodie
Member
Well guys I have spent the past few days using the forum search to read everything possible about brumation, including the article (I've read that about four times now to make sure I'm not missing anything!). I'm feeling OK about it for the most part, other than worrying about how much I am going to miss Beans! He's three, but we just got him in September so this is our first time seeing him go into brumation, I hate it!!
A couple questions:
1) he's chosen to lie on the floor of his viv, halfway under a shelf/ledge. His head and upper body are still out, but somewhat covered by a log climb. I guess I can post a photo instead of explaining it! :lol:
I covered him with a tank top I'd been wearing; the thought of him lying on the tiles with nothing cozy really bothered me. Is this enough of a 'hide' for brumation? Obviously he knows what he likes but I wondered if I should make it darker for him somehow. If the shirt wasn't on him, he'd be about halfway in the light. I guess I'll see where he decides to go after his next bath. [The temp right there is 77 during the day and 65 at night.]
2) when we got him in September I took him to a herp vet right away to get a full check up. I wasn't able to bring in a fecal sample because he was not pooping regularly when we first got him, and once he WAS pooping regularly, I called the vet to ask about bringing in a sample and found out they'd closed down. So needless to say I've never had a fecal done on him. He is small for his age but very healthy, his poops don't smell too terribly awful, they're solid and look normal (he always had diarrhea with his previous owners). But I'm paranoid about him doing down for brumation with parasites! Would it be worth it to disturb his rest to take him to the vet? I guess I could bring some poop to a vet and have them check it without disturbing Beans (fish the poop out of the bath ... IF he poops in his next bath, which I doubt; he hasn't eaten in probably a week and he had a small poop in his last bath a few days ago).
*siiiiiigh* My gut tells me he is perfectly healthy and that he doesn't have parasites. But I would just DIE if he did and he got super sick while brumating. I will weigh him at each bath and monitor his weight. I guess that's all I can do right?
3) I'm wondering about leaving on his UVB. As you can see from the above photo, he's got the Reptisun 10.0. Its 17" above where he's lying. Is it doing him any good? I don't want to 'waste' the bulb if he doesn't need it, but obviously if he does I will totally leave it on! Our house gets cold so I will leave on his basking light for sure, but probably just reduce the number of hours its on (from 14 hours to 8-10ish).
I hate to be an annoying person asking questions that have probably been asked (and answered) a thousand times before but I just love Beans so much and want to make sure I'm doing everything right for him. I am really going to miss holding him and playing with him! Thanks in advance for any advice you all can offer!
A couple questions:
1) he's chosen to lie on the floor of his viv, halfway under a shelf/ledge. His head and upper body are still out, but somewhat covered by a log climb. I guess I can post a photo instead of explaining it! :lol:
I covered him with a tank top I'd been wearing; the thought of him lying on the tiles with nothing cozy really bothered me. Is this enough of a 'hide' for brumation? Obviously he knows what he likes but I wondered if I should make it darker for him somehow. If the shirt wasn't on him, he'd be about halfway in the light. I guess I'll see where he decides to go after his next bath. [The temp right there is 77 during the day and 65 at night.]
2) when we got him in September I took him to a herp vet right away to get a full check up. I wasn't able to bring in a fecal sample because he was not pooping regularly when we first got him, and once he WAS pooping regularly, I called the vet to ask about bringing in a sample and found out they'd closed down. So needless to say I've never had a fecal done on him. He is small for his age but very healthy, his poops don't smell too terribly awful, they're solid and look normal (he always had diarrhea with his previous owners). But I'm paranoid about him doing down for brumation with parasites! Would it be worth it to disturb his rest to take him to the vet? I guess I could bring some poop to a vet and have them check it without disturbing Beans (fish the poop out of the bath ... IF he poops in his next bath, which I doubt; he hasn't eaten in probably a week and he had a small poop in his last bath a few days ago).
*siiiiiigh* My gut tells me he is perfectly healthy and that he doesn't have parasites. But I would just DIE if he did and he got super sick while brumating. I will weigh him at each bath and monitor his weight. I guess that's all I can do right?
3) I'm wondering about leaving on his UVB. As you can see from the above photo, he's got the Reptisun 10.0. Its 17" above where he's lying. Is it doing him any good? I don't want to 'waste' the bulb if he doesn't need it, but obviously if he does I will totally leave it on! Our house gets cold so I will leave on his basking light for sure, but probably just reduce the number of hours its on (from 14 hours to 8-10ish).
I hate to be an annoying person asking questions that have probably been asked (and answered) a thousand times before but I just love Beans so much and want to make sure I'm doing everything right for him. I am really going to miss holding him and playing with him! Thanks in advance for any advice you all can offer!