Semi- Brumation?? 10 months old

[Ripley1015]

Hi everyone, Ripley is about 10 months old, since winter started here in NYC she seems to be less active, eating less, sleeping earlier around 5-6pm when it gets dark out, her lights don't shut off until 9pm... she refuses to drink any water not even from her baths or a syringe, she doesn't poop in her enclosure so every 2-3 days I take her out and let her walk around and I have to stimulate her vent area and rub her belly for her to go, some days it's formed (when she hasn't eaten much greens) sometimes it's loose when she has greens, her urates are white and sometimes on the harder side which is why I try to get her to drink more. I've read they only brumate after a year old but I wonder if this could be a partial Brumation? She wakes up everyday and basks for a little while, eats her dubias, although she doesn't go crazy for them like she used to, rarely touches her greens (never really liked her greens). When I take her out for playtime she perks up and is super active walks all around the apartment, but when she's in her enclosure she's sleepy eyed all day and rests on her little pillows behind her basking log. Has anyone experienced this with their 10 month old dragon? This is our first winter with her so I'm not sure if she's sick or if she's just slowed down for the winter?

Her warm side is between 85-90, basking log around 110, cool side low 80s , overnight she has a CHE on to keep the tank around 75-80, she has a reptisun 10.0 T5 mounted inside her tank. All Temps measured with an infrared gun and she has a hygrometer inside to measure humidity, humidity is usually around 25% in the winter. Here are a few pics of my little girl

 

[kingofnobbys]

Nah just a lazy teenager .... like human teenagers , they also love a sleepin and a siesta when they get about 10 months old , so perfectly normal.

BTW a beardie shouldn't be allowed to brumate in it's first winter.

 

[SHBailey]

You could try keeping the lights on a little longer and see if it makes a difference, at least 12-14 hours a day if you don't keep them on that long already, and some people say that up to 16 hours a day with lights on is still ok. That might help keep her from wanting to brumate if that's what it is, although Kingofnobbys may be right about "lazy teenager syndrome"

We keep our lights on a 12 hour on and 12 hour off cycle year round, and nobody (except maybe the human slaves :roll: ) goes completely comatose in the winter. We're up against a huge difference in the natural photoperiod from summer to winter here in Alaska, so I have to suppose that the reptiles have some awareness of the changes in the amount of light coming in through the windows outside their enclosures. Our snake shows a definite hyperactive period in the spring, but I haven't got a handle on the bearded dragon's biological clock yet. It seems to have been reset a number of times, so I don't know what to expect from year to year. Although he's old enough to brumate if he wanted to, I'd probably still be worried about him if he did.

 

[Varalidaine]

Not sure about the brumation part, as that can be so personal from dragon to dragon, but even if she is starting to brumate, you want to get a fecal test done to ensure they are parasite free. If a dragon brumates with parasites, they can wreak havock on your poor little one. Parasites can also cause these symptoms of lethargy, decreased appetite, and infrequent poos. I would get a fecal test just to be safe.

On a side note, I would recommend removing that green plastic hammock. Plenty of members on here have had their dragons been injured when their nails got stuck in the mesh and they wrenched their arm or wrist out of place, taking months to heal. They can be very dangerous for that reason, and yours looks like it is directly above her basking log? If so, it is blocking a lot of UV from getting to her while basking. You want the highest amount of UVB to be at the hottest spot, to more directly mimick a mini sun in the tank.