Trying to brumate?? Too Young??

[leann]

Hi everyone, I haven't been on in quite a while, have just been pretty busy around here, anyways my little boy "Brock" although the name just hasn't stuck.....I call him "the baby" well, he's just about 13 months old and I thought that I read on here awhile back that they usually don't brumate at 1 yr. old......but he has really really sloooooowed down....way down..he hasn't eaten live feed in about 4 weeks now....just picked at his salad for a bit....now he's nolonger even doing that but was moving around still. Now he hasn't basked in the past 2 days....It's like he's brumating but he has his eyes open and still looks around...At 3pm in the afternoon he's in his corner waiting for the lights to go out. Just in the past few weeks I've made his nights a little longer for him....it started out 12 on 12 off....now today its 8 on 16 off.....So today and yesterday...he stayed in his corner..on the cool side all day long, no basking.....eyes open...looking around at times..

Is there anything for me to be concerned about? Should I make any changes to anything... He has all the proper husbandry,uvb,substrate,temps, etc..... 75 gallon tank, megaray, tile, 78 cool & 105 basking...temps taken w/ digital probe.

The other thing that kinda worries me is him not getting the proper amount of calcium & vitamins since hes not eating?

Thanks!!
Leann

 

[leann]

any suggestions?? Do I have his lights off for too long at night?

 

[MissT]

I think it is possible for them to brumate from about 11 months onwards - I def remember reading that so it is possible that he is brumating.

 

[MissT]

I just checked out Denise's brumation article again as I thought it was there that I read it... heres a quote from pg 3

Its very rare for a Beardie that is under a year old to brumate, unless they were born extremely early in the year and are rapidly approaching a year old when cold weather sets in, however it is possible.

Hope this helps!

T

 

[fresnowitte]

I just checked out Denise's brumation article again as I thought it was there that I read it... heres a quote from pg 3

Its very rare for a Beardie that is under a year old to brumate, unless they were born extremely early in the year and are rapidly approaching a year old when cold weather sets in, however it is possible.

I believe that size also has something to do with it and this is why........Or maybe this guy is the rare one.
PVT Blaze was born on June 1st making him now 7 months old. He has been in full brumation for over a month now. I have never before owned a beardie that brumated at such an early age. But then again I have never owned a beardie that was 20 inches long at 7 months either.

I think that in the wild part of what may determine if it's time for them to brumate or not is if the beardie feels he is big enough to be safe to sleep. Just a thought! An even if they don't brumate they still slow down because of weather and lack of food in the wild. An even if our beardies are captive grown they still have their internal insticts.

 

[MissT]

think that in the wild part of what may determine if it's time for them to brumate or not is if the beardie feels he is big enough to be safe to sleep. Just a thought!

I totally agree with you there Barbara. I do think size def plays a big part in it - especially for those young ones who brumate.

 

[andras]

my first beardie was about 13-14 months when winter started to roll around. he started going through the brumating process. he did all of the trademark things that a beardie will do when they shut down. he was about 18 1/2 inches long at the time, and all that i read said that he was possibly too young to do this. however, my room was cold, as the house's heater was not working. i had trouble keeping his temps up and i think it signaled him to do this. it sounds like you are maintaining temps though, so maybe it's just a personal preference. this is the best guess i have. good luck.

 

[Jean]

Fluffy was only 9 months old when she first bruminated. It turned out fine. She became quite the little egg layer.

 

[augsburg1530]

Spike was born early last spring and has been brumating for a month now. I think each dragon is different as I've read about adult dragons who have never brumated and now reading these posts and my own experience there are dragons who brumate when very young. The mystery of these guys is part of the fun!!!

Eric

 

[leann]

Thanks Everyone...........I appreciate all the info....I'll just be glad when he's back to his normal self again :wink: