Hey there I’m new to the forums but I’m in need of help. Ive had my little dude “Reptar” for 7 months now Making him somewhere around 9-10 months old. His set up consists of a 50 gallon long with tile as substrate with a 28” reptisun 10.0, basking spot of 107 and cool side around 82. I check temps with IR temp gun and probe thermometer. He normally eats like a champ. His feedings consist of crickets, and the occasional Dubai roaches with his mixed greens. So the issue is over the last couple of days he’s been pretty lethargic but eating. He’s not making a whole lot of effort to eat though. He’s been laying on the cool side and not really basking at all during the day. Does this sound like the start of brumation or should I be concerned with an illness? He seems kind of small for his age in the terms out his body being slender even though I feed him very well. He seems to have good fat stores on his head and tail. Should I be concerned?
Hi there, yes it could be brumation or seasonal slow down which could only last a few days or weeks with a younger dragon. Can you post pics of her to show her body size ? Also a pic of her set up, including lights ? Here's how :
Oops, sorry I called him a her ! BTW, are you sure on the gender . But yes, looks very healthy and will probably just go through a sleepy/lazy phase but I doubt a full brumation. Tank set up looks nice, uvb is close to the dragon even if there is scree. I should mention that the tight weave screen does block more uvb that the looser weave. Looser weave shown here in the pic :
The vet said it was a he so I’m going off that. I have cut the screen out under the uvb so there is nothing obstructing the light at all. If its just a sleep/lazy phase and not full brumation how long should I expect it to last?
O.K sounds good. As for the sleepy phase, every dragon is different. You can cut the light schedule down to 10 hours a day if you like or just leave it as is. Give him some hydration about every 10 days but no food unless he's actually up + around. After a month he should LIKELY be more active and you'd increase the light period to 13 hours to keep him up + get him eating. That's a rough or general idea of what to do with a younger brumating dragon but he prob. will not sleep that long anyway.
I just wanted to comment also. He sure is long & slender right now but I bet he really fills out
in the next year or so as an adult.
I agree, he is most likely slowing down some as a lot of them do during this time of year but he
probably wont fully brumate. There is no telling really, how long it will last as they all seem to
do things a little different. As long as he doesn't lose weight, eating less & napping wont hurt
him at all.