Is Beardie Too Young for Brumation?

[Morphius]

Age: 11 weeks + 4 days old
Weight: 56 grams
Length: 10.5 inches
Enclosure: 48x18x24
Lights: MegaRay SB 100watt + 60watt Flood Light + regular "cool white" fluorescent.
Basking Temp: 100F to 108F
Cool Side Temp: 78F to 82F
Nighttime Temp: 68F to 70F
Diet: Crickets (dusted with calcium daily + multivits 2x weekly) + Collard Greens 3x week
Bowel Movements: Daily
Warm Bathes: 2x weekly
Avrg Daily Weight Gain: 1.13 grams
Avrg Daily Length Gain: 2.61 mm

Moved "Steve" into his new enclosure 5 days ago (from a 20 gallon enclosure). Last night he refused to eat, this morning he refused to eat, tonight he refused to eat...and now he is hiding under the newspaper of his enclosure. Could this be relocation stress? Is he too young for brumation?

To date, he has NEVER made use of hiding holes. I took him out from under the newspaper to comfort him for a bit and made a proper hiding place...he is currently in his hiding place and literally "curled up" almost like a cat would sleep with his tail up at his head.

Any ideas?

 

[carmdac]

Hi Morphius! Steve is way too young for bromation. Of what i understand, this accurs in herps over one year of age. It most certainly could be relocation stress, which could last up to a couple of weeks. Just keep offering food to him and make sure to keep him hydrated. You can try to jump start his appetite w/ baby food on his nose as well. Is Steve pooping regularly?

 

[Morphius]

Hi Morphius! Steve is way too young for bromation. Of what i understand, this accurs in herps over one year of age. It most certainly could be relocation stress, which could last up to a couple of weeks. Just keep offering food to him and make sure to keep him hydrated. You can try to jump start his appetite w/ baby food on his nose as well. Is Steve pooping regularly?

Yup - he poops daily...occasionally twice in one day (but rarely). He eating habits are also quite regular...15-20 1/2 inch crickets between 8am-9am and 20-25 1/2 crickets between 630pm-730pm. I also make fresh Collard Greens available to him at least 3 times a week even though he still shows little interest in them (which ends up getting fed to the crickets if he doesn't touch them).

I also sent fecal samples with my wife to school (she's a university biology major) since one of her classes has been studying animal feces/parasites and they have access to electron microscopes (her professor appreciated the 'donations')...anyways...poop is clean.

It's just so odd because he has never attempted to hide before. We did see him go through relocation stress when we first got him at 6 weeks of age, but he never tried to hide...and has never the entire time since. But perhaps it is the new size of his enclosure? His old enclosure had a floor space of 24"x12" and his new one has a floor space of 48"x18"...so that's 3 times the size.

However, the hiding is not so much of a concern as is the not eating. At the moment, he has not eaten for 48 hours, though he hasn't lost any weight (the digital scale I have for him measures to the 1 gram) and he has not stopped pooping...nor is the poop and urate any different than what he normally produces in amount or consistency. I'll pick up some baby food and try it however.

I also read something about "stadium syndrome"....similar to relocation stress but different in that the furniture of the enclosure really has changed, but rather the volume different of the enclosure 'frightens' them for a while...i don't know.