Need help

[Bmac60]

So my beardie was refusing food and hiding all day. Took him the vet, nothing wrong with this blood work, xrays and he had no parasites. Any time I let him out of his tank he would just find a dark place to crawl under. This went on for a while. He is in a 55 gallon tank with tile, a uvb strip light t10, and a heat lamp. His hot side is 90 with a basking of 104. He cool side is 80 and I use a repti temp gun to measure. So I decided he must be wanting to brumate because I couldn’t think of any other explanation. He’s two and I have had him a year. So I shortened his light cycle for a week, then the second week I turned off the uvb. He never came out during those two weeks or ate. The third week I shut everything down and only left the heat lamp on. This is when I officially counted the brukation as starting, 9/27/18. I check on him and sometimes he’s asleep, but a lot of times he has his eyes open slightly, and he changes positions everyday. He shifts around underneath the hide but never comes out. He’s definitely not in a full sleep. I am worried, is this normal? He’s just supposed to come out one day and be normal again? This is my first brumation and I’m worried I’m not doing the right thing.

 

[CooperDragon]

That sounds like normal brumation behavior. I usually leave my lights on the same schedule during brumation. Take him out once or twice a week (or if he pops his head out of the hide) to offer some water and record his weight. His weight should stay pretty stable- no drastic weight loss. Otherwise I'd just let him be.