New to brumation

[Sizzle]

Hey!

My beardie is 1 year 3 months old so this is all new to me. Just need some general information and also to ensure it is actually brumation and not signs of some sort of illness...

A couple weeks ago my beardie (Fred) started hiding a lot more in his house and stopped eating as much. I fought with this for a bit because I had recently changed his cage a bit to introduce a new larger hide and assumed it was acclimation of some sort. Fred has always been very sensitive to change since I obtained him last year and has always had some problems eating (very picky, just an overall butt).

My questions mostly are... Should I disturb him at all or allow him to do his thing and just sleep? He doesn't even pop his head out of his hide ever unless I take him out to see if he will eat/poop/bathe him etc. He also seems to have an issue with runny stools which makes me wonder about parasites as well.

If brumation, how long can I expect to not see him for? How long until I should be concerned? Should I keep record of his weight while brumating?

Any other information for first time brumation will be very useful. Thanks.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

A major sign of illness is rapid weight loss during brumation phases. If your dragon is healthy
& wanting to bromate then he/she wont lose hardly any weight at all.
If the beard is not dark in color but a normal light color then he is not distressed at all. Brumation
is a very natural phase for them.
They will often just lay & relax in a cave but not come out or bask & eat. There is no set time
frame for this phase because they all seem to do something different. Or, they may decide to
go into a deeper sleep & not come out at all & actually sleep without looking out of their cave,
etc. A lot of them will come in & out of their hides daily or several times per week.
If you are unsure, but your dragon is trying to brumate then as long as they are seemingly healthy
you can just let them sleep but check on them often to be sure all is well with them.
Brumation phases can last for a few weeks to a few months, normally.


Tracie