The dragon doesn't want to get warm

[Rocky2022]

You're strong! I handled this like a baby. Their body is going through changes and they know what they need. I think because they are in captivity, they are fighting their natural instints at the same time. Rocky came out earlier and was in the window but now he is with me hiding under the curtain asleep. Rocky has been semi brumating for weeks but if I leave him, he gets nervous and I am fearful that it's interrupting his cycle. As hard as it is and believe me know I know, I cried and cried and cried- it's best for them. Rocky came out of it like he never left.
Plus you save money on food. Unless you are like me and get another dragon.

 

[NickAVD]

You're strong! I handled this like a baby. Their body is going through changes and they know what they need. I think because they are in captivity, they are fighting their natural instints at the same time. Rocky came out earlier and was in the window but now he is with me hiding under the curtain asleep. Rocky has been semi brumating for weeks but if I leave him, he gets nervous and I am fearful that it's interrupting his cycle. As hard as it is and believe me know I know, I cried and cried and cried- it's best for them. Rocky came out of it like he never left.
Plus you save money on food. Unless you are like me and get another dragon.

Thank you! But I don't think I'm strong. It probably seems that way. I'm worried as hell. I always feel like I'm doing something wrong. Why did he stop eating greens? Why did he stop warming up and doze all the time? It seems to me that I did something or, on the contrary, did not do something. I check its light all the time. Sometimes I think he is hot, sometimes I think he is not warm enough. Or maybe he doesn’t have enough light and thinks it’s twilight and time to sleep? This is all constantly in my head... I work remotely and I'm used to being with Foxy all day long, and now he sleeps... I'm trying really hard to do everything right, I hope that this brumation will end soon.

 

[xp29]

Your on top of stuff, the trick is to be vigilant without being worried or stressed. (I know I should practice what I preach better) as long as you monitor the important stuff and keep it right, beardies are very hardy lil guys and will do just fine .
The biggies are lights and sanitation, and I know your on top of that. Try to relax and enjoy the experience of having such a wonderfully exotic pet.

 

[NickAVD]

Your on top of stuff, the trick is to be vigilant without being worried or stressed. (I know I should practice what I preach better) as long as you monitor the important stuff and keep it right, beardies are very hardy lil guys and will do just fine .
The biggies are lights and sanitation, and I know your on top of that. Try to relax and enjoy the experience of having such a wonderfully exotic pet.

Thanks for your support! You said everything correctly. I need to relax a little.

 

[NickAVD]

Yesterday Foxy woke up and looked out of his hide. I gave him to drink water and he drank 5 pipettes. He fell asleep in the same place. Today he woke up in the same position. I offered him a hornworm and he opened his mouth wide. It means, "Okay, put it there." Yes, I know he's spoiled After that, he crawled out of his hiding place and walked towards the warm side, he was sleepy and slow, so I helped him sit on his hammock. Now he is warming himself in this position.

 

[Hazel_Basil10]

Yesterday Foxy woke up and looked out of his hide. I gave him to drink water and he drank 5 pipettes. He fell asleep in the same place. Today he woke up in the same position. I offered him a hornworm and he opened his mouth wide. It means, "Okay, put it there." Yes, I know he's spoiled After that, he crawled out of his hiding place and walked towards the warm side, he was sleepy and slow, so I helped him sit on his hammock. Now he is warming himself in this position.

Sorry late to the party. My beardie Almost three weeks ago was doing the same thing and now she's fully in brumation. That's great he wanted to eat!

 

[NickAVD]

Sorry late to the party. My beardie Almost three weeks ago was doing the same thing and now she's fully in brumation. That's great he wanted to eat!

Thank you! But now he has gone back to his hide and is dozing there.

 

[Chris.]

My boy Luis is doing a similar thing and I've been following your story for a while to compare
They are all different but I can share a little of what he is doing.
Luis will sleep two days in a row without moving at all (not even in his hide, btw).
Next day he takes a mouth full of salad, then goes back to sleep.
Next day he climbed every branch in his tank probably 10x, ran around like he lost his car keys or something. Then back to sleep at 2 pm.
Then he basked all day, ate five adult dubias, basked some more and sleept for two days again.
Sounds like you are doing the important things right and while there is no telling what Foxy is gonna do (or not do), I'm sure he will be fine and happy once he's done with it.

 

[NickAVD]

My boy Luis is doing a similar thing and I've been following your story for a while to compare
They are all different but I can share a little of what he is doing.
Luis will sleep two days in a row without moving at all (not even in his hide, btw).
Next day he takes a mouth full of salad, then goes back to sleep.
Next day he climbed every branch in his tank probably 10x, ran around like he lost his car keys or something. Then back to sleep at 2 pm.
Then he basked all day, ate five adult dubias, basked some more and sleept for two days again.
Sounds like you are doing the important things right and while there is no telling what Foxy is gonna do (or not do), I'm sure he will be fine and happy once he's done with it.

I try to periodically make notes on this topic. My notes about Foxy are a "diary" of his behavior. And I hope that many will be interested in comparing the behavior of their children and Foxy.
It's cool that Luis wakes up and eats salads, I would give a lot for Foxy to love his greens so much. Foxy now only wakes up to drink. I hope when he finally wakes up he will attack the vegetables.

 

[Chris.]

Don't paint this picture of him, he ignores his salads six days of the week
That diary is a really good idea, especially in times of brumation or shedding, when they seem to do just random things all the time.

 

[NickAVD]

Foxy spent all these days in his hide, but he did not sleep, he dozed with his eyes slightly open. At 8:00 he had all the lights on (UV + heat lamp) and at 12:00-13:00 I turned off the UV for him so it wouldn't disturb him.
Yesterday Foxy awoke a little and looked interestedly from his hide, I took advantage of this situation to weigh him and give him a little bath. The weight has increased a little, now he weighs 508g, perhaps this is due to the water he drank this week. He did not go to the toilet while bathing. After the bath, wrapped in a towel and wearing a burrito uniform, he watched his channel on YouTube, he was very interested, so he watched it a little longer, about an hour. After watching the video, I placed him on a hammock in the terrarium and he warmed himself there until the evening; in the evening I took him so that he could sleep next to me. He fell asleep almost immediately, lying on my chest, and I carried him into the terrarium.
Today he woke up cheerful and began to explore his terrarium in "search of car keys"
I offered him mint leaf, hornworm, but he refused.
As a result, he took a comfortable place on the towel and is now there.

PS: He recently received a package in the mail - Arcadia Jungle Dawn (in fact, a new his light ThermalZooPro has arrived), but I have not yet figured out how to install it correctly, so I took out the LED Jungle Dawn lamp from it. I turned on the LED light and he seemed to like it, now his basking area feels like sunlight. It’s raining here now, and when I stood with my back to the terrarium, with my peripheral vision I felt that the sun had come out from behind the clouds and was shining through the window, then I remembered that the windows faced the north side and looked back - the sunlight was coming from the terrarium! I don't know how they did it, but the lamp surprised me.

 

[Chris.]

Nice to know he's doing good and even gaining weight

 

[NickAVD]

Four days ago, Foxy came out of his hide and never went there again.
He tries to stay in an area with a temperature of 80-85 degrees. In the morning, he goes to the place where the heating lamp shines at the bottom of the terrarium, he stops halfway under the beam of light(head only) and remains there for a couple of hours, then goes to rest under a hammock, where it is also relatively warm. But he doesn’t want to bask on a hammock or on a piece of wood under a heating lamp. I tried putting him there and he goes away within 10-15 minutes.
One morning I noticed that he was stretching his beard, I haven’t seen this for a long time, maybe he started to wake up...
He hasn't started eating properly and doesn't want salads or hornworms, but he drinks water when I offer it to him.
I'm a little worried that he hasn't gone to the toilet for almost 3 weeks, but he hasn't eaten much in that time (there were two or three hornworms and two dubias)
To somehow diversify his leisure time, yesterday he spent a couple of hours near the window. He likes to bask under the lamp on the windowsill, but he still doesn't eat.

 

[AHBD]

If you don't feed him anymore for now [ he'll be fine ] while he's still in this in + out stage he may sleep a little more solid. You can try having the lights on for just 7-8 hrs. a day so the cooler " weather " phase in his tank lasts longer. He doesn't need protein or really any food for a while so don't offer any until at least another month goes by or he is actually out + basking full on for a week or more. It sounds like he's doing fine , he doesn't need a bath or T..V time , that's more for you, but let him really stay down in a more natural way. When they go without food and have more of a down/sleep mode for a while they will usually eat greens with no fuss when they come back around.

 

[NickAVD]

If you don't feed him anymore for now [ he'll be fine ] while he's still in this in + out stage he may sleep a little more solid. You can try having the lights on for just 7-8 hrs. a day so the cooler " weather " phase in his tank lasts longer. He doesn't need protein or really any food for a while so don't offer any until at least another month goes by or he is actually out + basking full on for a week or more. It sounds like he's doing fine , he doesn't need a bath or T..V time , that's more for you, but let him really stay down in a more natural way. When they go without food and have more of a down/sleep mode for a while they will usually eat greens with no fuss when they come back around.

Okay, I've gradually reduced his lighting to 10 hours, then I'll try to reduce it some more.
Now I don't offer him dubia or crickets, I just put greens in his terrarium every day, but I don't force him to eat them. This way he has a choice and doesn't eat yet.
Thanks for the advice about switching to protein, now I understand when I can continue giving bugs again - a week after he starts to warm up on his own. This is important information for me!