OK OK What is Brumation?

[jfm08]

What is brumation and do all Beardies do it?

 

[Goonie]

Brumation is the same thing as hibernation, but for cold blooded creatures.
Not all beardies will go through brumation. Some may exhibit semi-brumation signs, meaning they'll slow down their activities and eating habits and take frequent naps, but not go to sleep for months at a time.

 

[Dragonblade]

I think Draco is going through it now.

Very stressful to me as I am not sure if he is brumating or sick.

some days he is active and wants to eat

others he will not move for a day or two.

 

[Mistyck]

http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/brumation/

 

[Mommy of Sunny]

I know I have said it in several different posts, but it is a GREAT article on brumation. It explains alot and tells about several different ways that a beardie can go through brumation.

Sunny is in brumation now, but he is a "napper", so he is not sleeping soundly all the time. He is very aware of us around him and he usually opens up an eye to see what we are doing.

 

[whatamom]

Question for those of you with "napping" brumators... do you offer food once a day? only when they seem alert? what food do you offer? crickets or greens? both? Our Pete is a napper, he still watches us when we go in and out of the room, but he doesn't usually want to eat. His last meal was about 10-12 days ago. We've offered fresh greens periodically, and crickets twice since then but he just stares at them, and us, completely uninterested. So - when do we offer the food, and what type?

How will we know when he's ready to eat - will he be more active and agressive and prowl the enclosure or something like that? Yesterday he climbed up to his basking spot. I didn't offer food, because the last time he climbed up there he didn't want to eat. Should I have? He's back down sleeping in his corner today.

We've read and re-read the article on brumation, but it really doesn't seem to address how often to offer food, and what type of food to offer.... Thanks for any help!!!

 

[Goonie]

I still offer Pookie his normal bowl of escarole topped with supers/butters and occasional carrot chips. Even though I know he won't eat any of it and it'll all be thrown out, I still put it in there daily.
Recently, I'd been offering him sweet potato/turkey dinner baby food. Because he'd only eat ~3 supers/butters a week, there'd been not much in the potty department. I don't want him to end up being "constipated" by the lack of movement so I'd give him about 1.5 ml every other day (all he would stick around for).

 

[whatamom]

I guess we should get some supers or butters - we can't put crickets in there and leave them.... we've been leaving greens most days, and will be sure to leave greens every day. I'll look into getting some worms. Do they crawl all over the cage or generall stay in with the greens?

 

[Goonie]

Do they crawl all over the cage or generall stay in with the greens?

Unfortunately, yes, they do crawl out of the dish and burrow underneath the paper towel lining the tank. I had to switch two different bowls to avoid escapees.

 

[Mommy of Sunny]

I put greens in for Sunny every day. Seems like during the week while we are at work, he just stays in one spot all day. But on weekends, he is usually moving around and seems to want to eat a little bit. I feed him supers, so I put a few in his bowl and he usually eats a few. Then when he is done, he pushes himself back away from the bowl. If there are any worms left, I can easily throw them back in the bucket.

I give him that beardie food that looks like cheese puffs. He will eat that once in awhile too. He ate 2 this morning, then has not touched a thing since.

He does go a day or so without eating at all. I still give him a bath every few days just to make sure he expels what he has eaten. Yesterday, it was really nice in Vegas (mid 60's and sunny), so I took him outside with me and we sat for about 30 minutes. Just before we were going to come in, I could tell he was getting ready for a poo. So I put him down on the patio and he went. Perfect timing!

Today, now that we went back to work, he has not moved out of his corner that he was in when I left. But I see him checking us out! He is too curious to fall completely asleep!!