Relocation stress or brumation?

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apndi

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On Monday I moved my bearded dragon to a new cage that is a lot bigger than his old one. His old one was also a glass cage and this one is wooden (so it's solid on three sides as opposed to open on all 4 sides). I included some of his old cage decor and added in some more things since this cage is a lot bigger. The new cage is in the exact same spot as his old one. He has been acting weird since then. He has picked at his veggies but suddenly refuses to touch crickets. He was basking and being fairly active until last night. I came home from work and his lights were already off. He usually sleeps on his hammock but last night he had crammed himself into a tiny cave that he's had since he was a baby and has never slept in there before. I thought it was kind of weird but shrugged it off. His lights came on at 7:30 and for the next three hours he remained crammed inside the cave, completely still but awake and alert. I started worrying that maybe he was stuck in there so I lifted it up off of him. Two hours later he is still sitting in that corner where the cave was, sitting up and awake and alert but refusing to move. Since he hasn't eaten crickets in several days I tried dropping one in there; he showed interest by staring at it and tilting his head to watch it but didn't try to go after it. Visibly he looks fine, he doesn't have stress marks either.

Is he really this stressed by being moved to a new cage? He has acted somewhat normally for the past few days but suddenly he is acting really weird. Or is he trying to stay inside the cave because he's going into brumation? He is just over a year old; I got him last winter as a baby so no signs of brumation then, and he's been active and normal all during this winter. Should I put him on his basking spot, or should I just leave him alone and keep offering crickets?
 

apndi

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He has not budged an inch all day. I made a bowl of fresh veggies and reached my arm in there to put it right next to him. He flared his beard and opened his mouth and edged away a few inches as if he was freaked out by my hand and really didn’t want me to touch him (I wasn’t planning to at that moment). I have not seen his beard turn black. He is now staring at me warily and won’t take his eyes off of me and is showing no interest in the veggies. He is still not basking and sitting on his cool side. The cave is still right next to him and he hasn’t tried to get back in it yet. What is causing this 180 in behavior?

The position he has been in in the past 4 hours since I've moved the cave (the edge if it is on the right side of the pic):

93478-6765483552.jpg
 

CooperDragon

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My guess is a bit of stress from the new enclosure. I'd leave him be for a while and let him settle in. He looks pretty healthy so give him a few more days and see if he calms down and gets used to it.
 

Gormagon

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What happens is, he has been put into a new place and, hrs unsure of his surroundings. In the wild, they are used to the world they live in, they know every smell, rock and, stick and, they know where danger lurks in their territory! He will soon figure all of this out on his own, just give him time.
If he had a favorite piece of furniture, be sure to place it in the same general location in his new world, this will help a lot.
 

apndi

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Thank you for the replies. I was confused because for the first 2 days he acted weird but still relatively normal (basking, picking at veggies) and suddenly after 2 days he is not eating at all and refuses to move from certain spots. It’s just the delayed response. Since 3 pm yesterday he has been clinging to the cactus on the left side of the pic. He slept there and is still there as of 8:30 this morning. I have no clue how he is suspending himself in the air like that but yeah he is definitely freaked out by something. I feel bad that I removed the cave but I was legitimately worried that he was stuck and that’s why he wasn’t getting out.
 

apndi

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So he’s been clinging to his cactus for almost 3 days now. He has not moved. I did manage to get him to eat 3 crickets but at this point he hasn’t eaten crickets in almost a week. How long should this be lasting and when should I start worrying?
 

CooperDragon

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I wish I could say for sure. It's an individual thing though. Is there something about the cactus that would make him feel secure or is it closer to a light source? What is the temperature of his back or the cactus surface when he's on it?
 

apndi

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When he was a baby and he would get freaked out about his weekly baths, he would climb onto the cactus and cling to it for the rest of the night (i always gave him baths in the evening). I’m not sure what it is about it, maybe it’s the highest location in the tank? He is acting kind of freaked out about walking around. His old substrate was tile and the new substrate is sheet linoleum (not adhesive) that is a similar color, texture, and general appearance to the old tile. It is on the cool side of the tank, as far away as he can get from the basking light. He will eat bits of squash and a few crickets from my hand now but he will not get down to eat. He ate 7 crickets yesterday so out of concern for his health I’m physically moving him to his basking spot. His color looks good, the usual reddish sandy color that he is when he basking so he’s not dark, there are no stress marks so his belly is nice and white, and he has not black bearded at all. According to the temp gun, the temp on his back is 73 degrees. He is moving onto day 4 of clinging to the cactus.

Edit: so I moved him underneath his basking spot. There was no freak out or anything, he felt cool to the touch. I put him on his hammock (im changing that soon) and he’s gradually edging closer and closer to the light. He’s pancaking to get more heat too. Hopefully this will be the end of it!
 

apndi

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So he acted normal for a few days and then returned to his cave. Sometimes he was sleeping and sometimes he was awake in there. He did not get out. He was in there for 3 days until I took the cave off of him. No stress marks, no black bearding, his color looked good. I put a salad in there and I offered 10 crickets which he gladly snatched up out of the feeding tongs. Since he returned to the cave, does this mean he is trying to brumate ? The next time he returns to his cave, should I just leave him alone until he comes out on his own? I don’t want to cause him further stress. I’ve never dealt with a brumating dragon before so I’m not sure how to handle it.

Edit: after I gave him the crickets he ate a bunch of his salad on his own. Then he went to his basking spot. If he was brumating he wouldn’t do this would he?
 

CooperDragon

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Since you aren't seeing a black beard and he is still eating some and relatively alert it sounds like he is OK and just feeling a bit sluggish. It could be some level of brumation (some brumate much lighter than others). Since you aren't seeing any other signs of distress I'd just keep doing what you're doing and keep a close eye on him for now.
 

apndi

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He spent the afternoon basking and taking walks around his tank. He nibbled on his salad a bit more. I gave him a second cricket meal and he ate 12, so a total of 22 for today. Directly after his second cricket meal, he went back into his cave. Should I be leaving him in there till he wants to come out, or should I pull the cave off of him once every few days? I’m concerned at the moment because he just ate 12 crickets and now he’s not basking, he’s hiding in his cave which is on the cool side. And if he sticks to his pattern he will stay in that cave for a while. Should I be worrying about digestion or will he figure that out on his own? He has only pooped once in the past week or so (the day before yesterday) and that was just some water and some urates. I suppose it makes sense since he has barely eaten anything in the past week, but he did also have about 10 crickets 4 days ago so I’m starting to get a little concerned about that too. Right after eating that cricket meal, he stayed in the cave for about 3 days. Should I stop feeding crickets?

And just because i thought it looked funny:

93478-2113472452.jpg
 

CooperDragon

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I would err on the side of letting him do what he wants for now. If he's eating that's a good sign. If he doesn't want to bask and would rather hide for a while, maybe he knows best. As long as he can easily move to the basking zone if he wishes to do so, I'd let him be for now.
 

Drache613

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Hello,

That is a very cute picture! LOL
He does look pretty happy in there. It sounds like he is up & down but if he is healthy, it's
ok to let him slow down some. :D

Tracie
 

apndi

Member
Original Poster
Hi everyone, I thought I would update this as I'm still a little bit worried about him.

I am now convinced that he is in a partial state of brumation. He alternates between hiding in one of his caves (I have another one near his basking spot) and basking. When he is hiding, he alternates between short naps and being awake and alert but not moving much. He switches between these two states, so basically he is basking about every other day and hiding about every other day. I have not been giving him many salads as for the most part now he doesn't touch them much. I have been giving him small cricket meals once daily to once every other day (no more than 10 crickets at a time). He acts like he has a voracious appetite and snatches them from my feeding tongs very quickly. I am not feeding him as many crickets as I used to because of his current basking habits. I'm getting worried because he has not had a full bowel movement in almost 3 weeks. Almost 2 weeks ago he pooped out some urates, and a few days before that he had a very small bowel movement. Should I not be worrying about this since his metabolism has probably slowed down a lot anyway, or should I be freaking out at this point? Like I said, he still has quite the appetite and he is acting basically normal except for increased hiding. He is not bloated or anything and he has not lost weight; he looks the same as always. He does want to bask after eating but he's just not pooping. He does not act like he needs to poop either. He ate 10 crickets yesterday, hid for the rest of the evening, but he has been basking all afternoon today. I won't be feeding him crickets tonight. Does anyone have some insight? Thanks.
 
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Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

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