How did my beardie survive being lost in Maine

[LemonClout]

So in augest when I was extremely un experienced when it came to keeping bearded dragons, I thought it would be fine to take my like 1 month old outside for a few minutes. I had done it a few times before but this time he ended up jumping out of my hand into a bush and booking it. I ended up losing him and later that week the temperatures plummeted so I thought he would either be dead or completely gone. Anyway a few days ago my dad was working outside and found him sleeping next to some remay which is like a blanket for plants. So he was outside in Maine for about 3 months, it had gotten down to probably 15-20 at some point and it snowed pretty good a few weeks ago, plus it’s been in the 40s for basically that entire time. How did he survive that? He obviously is pretty skinny and didn’t grow at all, so it’s clear he had minimal food, but how did he survive the cold? Sure if he had been hiding in that remay this whole time it would have helped but not very much at all. And just to clarify he’s totally fine right now, he’s not sick, impacted, he’s eating and drinking fine and he’s grown in the past few days. He seems totally fine except for being hella small, I’m only slightly concerned if he has a respiratory infection because Maine has very high humidity all the time. My main question is, at what point do they freeze? The only article I had read that actually gave me an answer was saying they’d die at about 50 or something which I’m not sure about at all anymore. I just can’t find a straight answer anywhere, all that comes up is about husbandry.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Wow, what an amazing story, that is really something that he did survive outside all
of this time, in Maine!
Well, don't quote me on this as it's been awhile since I have read the information from a
friend, but they have been known to come out & bask in the sun even at temperatures
in the upper 30's to low 40's range. I would think that it was likely he found a hole or some
burrow in the ground to sleep in because it would insulate him enough to survive. Since he
has no fat on him being that young, I am pretty surprised he made it through but they are
pretty resilient & tough lizards.
I am so happy that he didn't go far & that he is back with you. I would highly recommend
getting a leash before taking him outdoors again.
Please post some pictures of him with his setup too. If you are a bit concerned about a
respiratory infection, you can keep him a little warmer overnight for awhile to help boost his
system.

Tracie

 

[LemonClout]

Here’s him and his set up, he’s only in a 20 gal right now but it’s probably fine since he’s still so small, I’m working on finding a bigger tank right now. I had a 90 gal but it’s being used by my other beardie that I got after I thought the first one was surly gone. But his basking spots around 100 and it’s on a controlled thermostat. I’m feeding him Dubia roaches, soldier fly larvae and he seems to like cilantro and sometimes dandelions. He’s also obviously got a ubv light and regularly getting calcium with d3 and without, as well as a multivitamin.

 

[Claudiusx]

He most likely either burrowed and slept or he found refuge under those bushes where the ground was a bit more insulated.

As long as the temp doesn't drop low enough to completely stop their hearts, it can drop so low that their metabolic functions come to a complete crawl, and they will just sleep until they notice the warmth of the ground changing or, until they are woken up.

I think its more likely that he just stayed burrowed away the whole time as apposed to coming out and ramping back up his metabolism, unless he was able to find food. But thats totally possible.

Dragons are survivors, and quite good ones at that.
Glad yours did.

-Brandon