Brumating Beardies..

[lloydy]

hey guys,
So recently my CBD, Chace who is just short of a year old went into brumation.
This came about after i took him to the vet just to make sure he was ok, as he wasnt eating nor being as active as usual.
i did suspect him turning in for the winter but i really just wanted to make sure.

The vet game him a clean bill of health, said he was infact a little overweight, and joked that he would be fine for 3 months without eating, lol
- spoilt he is!

So i guess i have a couple questions as this is my first brumation with a beardie.

I guess my first one is how long do they brumate for? Is that up to me decide, with uping the temps etc? or will he know when enough is enough.

My second, do they always sleep?
i find sometimes when i walk past,( i do try to be quite lol) and look into where he is sleeping, sometimes he is alseep, and other times he kinda has a "stoned" look on his face.

From my understanding i thought the just pretty much shut off completly?

Think thats about it for now, lol

Cheers guys

 

[JAS101]

diffrent beardies do diffrent things , i think the dragon will know when enough is enough .
one of my beardies sleep most of the time , but the other 2 [ all in same enclosure] are still active .

 

[lloydy]

So on and off sleeping in his hide i guess is his thing?

He seems to sleep moat the time.. Day and night but yeah just noticed him sometimes awake with eyes half open.

Should i ever wake him for a bath to keep him hydrated?
I normaly give him a bath about 3 times a week, should i minimize this to a bath a week?

Ill add though im yet to disturb him of his slumber and its been just on a week.

 

[JAS101]

my one will sleep for a few days in the hay , then come out and bask for a while . then go back to the hay for a few more days . where the other 2 are basking every day before retiring for the day .
i havnt changed the temps in the enclosure since jan this year - but i do have a fair graident in there [ of about 15c]

 

[adz83]

mine hav been down since april...my girl has come out of her hide to bask twice but apart from that i havent seen her..and my male sometimes has his eyes open but is asleep most of the time

 

[Wally]

Just leave him be. No need to bath them or anything like that. Offer some food and water if you see them active but that's about it.

 

[Lovemydragons]

Yeah all 3 of mine have been down since April, and haven't seen them since. I peep in every now and then to check on them but other than a slightly open eyed greazy they don't move a muscle!

 

[Profanicus]

Mine is spending most of her time zonked out in the corner near the light, eyes half open during the day and fully asleep at night.
Every couple of days she will get up for a bit of a bask, a roam around the enclosure, and a nibble on some salad.

 

[gregcranston]

All 4 of mine have been down since April too, one has got up a couple of times, but the rest I haven't seen since. I check on them weekly and monitor their weight fortnightly, but they seem totally fine. No need to do anything to them.

 

[lloydy]

Ok kool.
Well his been down for 2 weeks and a half now.
I weighed him before he went to sleep, 500grams, which the vet said for his age (11 months) that he was a bit overweight..
He is a big boy though, in length i mean so im not entirley to worried about that.

How much should i expect him to loose in weight?

So he will just come out of his slumber when he is ready? Or do i need to up the night time temps in the next week or 2 weeks to bring him out?

Daytime temps have stayed the same.

Cheers guys,

 

[J-A-X]

, sometimes he is alseep, and other times he kinda has a "stoned" look on his face.

From my understanding i thought the just pretty much shut off completly?

stoned is probably the best description i've ever heard of Brumating beardies, and that is what they do, Brumate, as opposed to Hibernate, Hibernation is a total switch off, whereas a Brumation is more of a slow idle... and they can run it they have to...

I haven't changed a thing as far as temps go and they put them selves to sleep and wake themselves up again, no input needed from me, i don't know if they sense atmospheric pressure or something, they seem to know what they are doing !
Stoned ! i really do like that description, it fits my pygmy beardies to a tee

 

[babba007]

Stoned sounds pretty right. I bet when they wake up they'll have the munchies....big time!
I was told to have night heating, but this made no difference, they still went down. Should I turn it off? There is so much conflicting advice, I'm not sure what to do.

 

[J-A-X]

Stoned sounds pretty right. I bet when they wake up they'll have the munchies....big time!
I was told to have night heating, but this made no difference, they still went down. Should I turn it off? There is so much conflicting advice, I'm not sure what to do.

I haven't changed a thing as far as temps go and they put themselves to sleep and wake themselves up again, my heating and lighting are on timers that are changed according to the seasons, i mimic natural daylight

 

[lloydy]

stoned is probably the best description i've ever heard of Brumating beardies,

Haha

 

[ModnaR]

My beardie has barely changed, everything as normal, but maybe a little wasted looking at night.
Should I not be feeding her so much over winter? cus she's still got an appetite...

 

[lizardjasper]

simple. check on him every day, keep temps and lights normal, and just let him do the rest! My beardie did brumation from 6 months old until this year, when she broke her jaw, and I am keeping the temps high so she doesn't decide to slumber, so the jaw can heal properly. I freaked when it happed too, but I learnt over the years to just keep em the same, and check if they've woken up, and say hello if they have but otherwise leave them. Sayves on food for a while! lol

 

[babba007]

Why do some brumate, and others dont, even when temps remain high? Or do they just know?

 

[J-A-X]

mine just seem to know, i've heard all sorts of theorys, ... atmospheric / barometric pressure, that even a slight temp drop will 'set them off' ... who knows, its not like they can tell us, and i gave up trying to figure out mother nature years ago, i just let her do what she does so well