Hydration During Brumation

[burntotears]

I am hearing over at Facebook that hydration via the vent has been proven a myth and that bathing your dragon during brumation doesn't actually do anything unless they drink the bath water.

If that is true then how do you hydrate your dragon if they don't wake up during their weekly bath time? Supposedly it is also bad to syringe or pipette water into their mouths as well while they sleep, so what is the actual answer?

I want to be prepared when my beardie does go into brumation for the first time.

Here is where I heard it:
Reptile Apartment

The Reptile Doctor

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....during a true brumation where the temps are reduced to 60 -70 F , most beardies will sleep right through with no need for nutrition/hydration. The cool temps. slow the metabolism down greatly....that's how most of my dragons brumated in the past. I did not keep lights on and just checked every few days to see whether they opened their eyes, once they became awake for a day or more or began to move around I resumed their light schedule, offering hydration first, then food after a few days of warming up.

I also have dragons that sleep with the lights on but their being in a cool cellar [ around 62 F ] helps them to sleep pretty well but they are sometimes active during the day. I offer them water via spray bottle on their snout....a very light, gentle direct dripping on their nose in case they want a drink. It seems that under these circumstances they will drink every 2 weeks. You can do the same as long as your dragon is awake, and tuck a paper towel under their chin to catch excess water , leaving none that could chill the dragon or make them damp.

I agree with the conclusions of the 2 links you posted but was sad to read that the Reptile Doctor kept a poor old dragon in water for 18 hours for his experiment. Sounds cruel for that to be done in that old dragon's last hours.

 

[burntotears]

See, I didn't know that you turned their lights off during brumation either! That's also good information. I'm sure I'd check on my little guy every day just because I'm a worry-wart, but I am beginning to understand things more now!

I also was not too happy to read about the poor old dragon in her last hours. Apparently this is not the first time that experiment has been conducted though.