Still some questions!

[beardieluv]

I've read through the brumation article on here and manyyyyy thread posts about it. However, I still have some questions.

1) Charlie's been acting like he wants to brumate for over a month now. I made him a hidey thing and after a final poop, I put him in there and turned his lights off. I checked on him yesterday afternoon and he was half laying/half standing regularly with his eyes halfway open. I checked on him this morning and he is laying down but is holding his head up slightly and his eyes are open. Should I put him back under his lights and let him go in his hidey on his own? :dontknow:

2) I asked this before but didn't really get many answers: Am I supposed to give him calcium and vitamins still? If so, how?

3) Should I leave him alone as much as possible? I want to keep checking on him in his box to see what he's doing but I don't know if that's bad or not :x

4) Does he need to stay warm still in his hut, or just normal room temp?

 

[jjh1]

I've read through the brumation article on here and manyyyyy thread posts about it. However, I still have some questions.

1) Charlie's been acting like he wants to brumate for over a month now. I made him a hidey thing and after a final poop, I put him in there and turned his lights off. I checked on him yesterday afternoon and he was half laying/half standing regularly with his eyes halfway open. I checked on him this morning and he is laying down but is holding his head up slightly and his eyes are open. Should I put him back under his lights and let him go in his hidey on his own? :dontknow: This is called semi brumation meaning that he wants to brumate, sometimes they dont go into hids all the way, Is he wanting to eat still?
2) I asked this before but didn't really get many answers: Am I supposed to give him calcium and vitamins still? If so, how? No not if he is brumating But if your worried I usually once a week give mine liquid calcium because my female is semi brumating, I also do give baby food squash through a syringe as its mostly water . When your beardie is in full brumation they will not wake up at all until they are ready then they will come out with outragious hunger.
3) Should I leave him alone as much as possible? I want to keep checking on him in his box to see what he's doing but I don't know if that's bad or not :x I do leave mine alone but yes even I check on mine at least once a day or every 2 days usually I can hear them scratching or moving to get more comfortable. I did make a hid put my female in there and turned of the basking light I do have the UVB on just in the morning for a short period of time.
4) Does he need to stay warm still in his hut, or just normal room temp? Nope not at all in my hid box for my adults I put in a small blanket over top of a thin foam beardie in side the hid and a light blanket or even facecloth to block out any light since mine are in the livingroom.Hope that helps and answers some question
Joanne

 

[Luthien]

Don't turn off his lights, you need to keep your dragon warm for 10 hours a day. He also needs the UVB rays to stay healthy. You've created a place for him to get out of the lights and that's all he needs. Beardies can sense the temp drop outside their tanks even if the temp inside their tanks stay the same.

Keep dusting his food with the vitamins and calcium as always, if he eats he'll still get what he needs. If not then it's fine, beardies mostly take care of themselves in this. He knows what his body needs.

Mostly try to leave him alone, if you want to check on him a couple of times a day that's fine

Just keep your temps normal, 100-110F in the basking spot and 75-85F for the rest of the tank.

 

[beardieluv]

Hi! Charlie is 2 1/2 years old and weighs around 555 grams. He isn't losing weight. He's been trying to sleep/hide from his basking light for about a month or two now. He always goes beneath his blanket and closes his eyes as if he were trying to sleep. I'm using repti-sun uvb 10.0 tube and it's maybe 3 or 4 months old, if that. He's slept for almost a full day, then yesterday it was off and on again. I made a hidey for him with a cardboard box and a blanket and placed him in there, and he didn't come out for 5 days, even though he was awake and everything. He's in the bath now, wide awake and swimming. Should I just put him under his lights and if he chooses to go back in the hidey then let him be until bath day again? He's not eating anymore, and is constantly trying to sleep. He's been semi-brumating for the past 5 days.

 

[Luthien]

Yup the best thing is to defiantly keep him hydrated but let him sleep it off. Keep his temps normal and steady and keep offering food, don't be discouraged or worried if he doesn't eat it. Some beardies have been known to stay off food for 4 months while brumating so it's fine.

 

[jjh1]

Actually from the breeders that I have talked to when I bearded dragon goes into brumation and they are in a hide box you turn the lights off this includes the basking lights.

When a tank stays hot through out the day this actually will cause a bearded dragon to loose more grams of weight. My beardie has been sleeping for 10 weeks now he has only lost 1.5 grams in the 10 weeks he has been sleeping and that when the lights and basking have been turned off completely.

This is the 2nd year that my beardie has brumated .

My female the same thing she is in a hid with a towel over the hold because light will disturb a sleep pattern the lights are all turned off and same thing she has lost 2 grams and now has been sleeping for 7 weeks.

I do check on the every 2 days and if they decide to get up which they have 2 times in all the weeks that they have been sleeping, they get some baby food squash since its mostly water to keep hydrated some liquid calcium, a good soak in the tub... some basking and then they themselves will go back to their hids and go back to sleep. then the lights go out again until they wake on their own again.

As for feeding when a bearded dragon is in a brumation like mine and many others are they usually will not eat food until they have totally finished they will wake up fully and be super hungry.

If your bearded dragon though eats veggies and protein they will also need to have a soak and be soaked until they poop, before they can go back to brumating as having a full tummy and brumating will cause the food to rot in their stomachs and cause a bad bacterial problem.

This is what I have learnt from the breeders that are friends of mine and I apply this to my own beardies which are healthy happy and loved.

Joanne

 

[my1stBD]

It sounds like Charlie is semi brumating or "slowing down"

Mine does this, never goes into full brumation.
She is more sleepy during the day, hides from her basking bulb and hangs out in the cool side, eats less and is basically just lazy.
I keep all her lights on and shorten her days from a 14/10 day to 12/12
I offer salads daily still, but she rarely eats them during this time, i also offer bugs, she will maybe eat 1 or 2 every 2-3 days (Maybe)
It usually lasts about 3 months and then she starts eating like someone who has never been fed ever.