how to go about brumation

[allaboutfish]

So my bearded dragon hasnt been eating for a while and stays under his rock most of the day. He doesnt poop either. I have taken him to the vet and he is healthy. How do I go about feeding? Do I still try and feed everyday? What about misting and baths?

 

[brittani299]

Could you post your tank setup please

And here is a good link on brumation. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=134129

 

[blue11]

hi

great link they gave you.

just from personal experience, i totally freaked out when my beardie Blue brumated. she was only 7.5 months, and not only did she just get lazy and stay on her cool side, she actually began to sleep, and sleep, until she was so asleep that to wake her was near impossible. she is one those beardies that goes TOTALLY down, she actually just woke up a little while ago after 4 months of 100% sleep.
Main thing with brumation, is that if you do feed them, you want to make that they bask for at least 2 hours so that food will get digested instead of sitting in their tummy.
Generally it would be instinct to get under the light and bask after a meal, but if they are really slowing down, then you just have to make sure they get it digested and then poop. that way you know its a green light to them go ahead and go back to sleep.
I have never dealt with a semi-brumation. like, when they sleep but are awake too sometimes, possibly shoeing signs of an appetite, being lazy etc etc etc
BUT, Blue starts off that way, so i just make sure anything she happens to eats get pooped out.

If your beardie does go completely down (this is what i do) ... i turn off the lights, keep them off, and just let her sleep. I check on her daily just to make sure shes not awake. The first year i didnt do this once she fell asleep, i kept the light cycle on for the first month, then i realized it was just a pointless thing to do, so i then shut everything down.
i think that is a personal choice, some people just keep everything running as normal, and some people make the light cycles shorter, and some people just shut it down.
They prepare themselves for this, the eating slows down, the body slows down, the begin to sleep, the breathing gets slow and not many times a minute, their body temperatures drop, and this is a normal, healthy thing for a healthy dragon to do. i call it her yearly coma. she literally just SLEEPS like a ROCK. And b/c the metabolism is so so so slowed down, there really isnt concern for weight loss, Blue has never lost any noteworthy amount of weight at all after being sleep. They use the fat stored in their body to keep a stable wieght.

its a totally weird thing i know! ha. its like ummmmmmm ok, odd. but, once you go through it once with them, ya get used to it
sometimes i when i checked on Blue, i would just stare until i saw her body take a breath. i was like *whew* ... the first year i was totally buggin OUT. i woke poke her belly gently just to make sure she was breathing, kind of hilarious when you think about it. Everyone that comes over is like "how do you know she alive?!?!?" im like "look, if you look long enough, she will breathe" ... teehee.

As far as baths, there are a few routes you can take.
you can do a soak and let them just absorb the water through the vent.
you can do the dropper system, so instead of taking them out, putting them in water, you drop water on their nose, and see if you can get them to lick any water off their nose OR you can get a syringe and see if you can get a very small amount of water in the mouth. just a little bit. Some beardies will realize they are in the bath and take a drink on their own. Blue has never done that, she has this aversion to drinking on her own. but when she does wake up after all that time, she is a very thirsty girl and take lots and lots a water from a little cup i pour over her nose, she just holds her mouth open for it. This year i didnt do as much as far as water with Blue as i did the year before.

When they wake up, you might want to think about giving your dragon a pro-biotic to help put some active cultures in their tummy. get things going a little, get an appetite going. I use BeneBac gel when Blue wakes up. Its the only substance other than water she will take off her nose and lick up. of all yummy things i offer her on her nose, she only licks up BeneBac like no tomorrow.
WHen they wake up, alot are hormonal, something all black-bearded b/c they are ready to get it ON! ready to mate!!!
Blue is a grump still, and its been i think 2 weeks. She is eating more and she is pooping, but she is still spastic and edgy. i would be too if slept that long. They will level out and go back to your normal happy beardie

I hope this helps some?
:shock:
sorry if that was info overload.
let me know how your beardie is doing!!!
~Em