Beardie stays in his hide

[wayneg77]

Hi my dragon rex wont come out from his new hide he seems just to want to lie there with his head popping out ive put veg outside to try and temp him and even tried his favourite worms but still nothing he doesnt even come out to bask at the moment and i was wondering if this is normal

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[mxw0rld]

Hi my dragon rex wont come out from his new hide he seems just to want to lie there with his head popping out ive put veg outside to try and temp him and even tried his favourite worms but still nothing he doesnt even come out to bask at the moment and i was wondering if this is normal

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Can I ask how old he is and what is are your temps?

 

[wayneg77]

He is 3 years old and normally very active its just been the last week he's not bothered coming out his temps are 26 cold side and 37 on hot side

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[mxw0rld]

Has anything changed in this last week?

I would say you could go down to 33-35C as adults they like it a bit cooler.

The cool side is fine.

 

[wayneg77]

Ive just moved his hide to the shelf thats all thats we've done apart from the annual light change

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[mxw0rld]

Do you know about brumation? This is the time of the year for that and you are the 3rd person today that had the exact same issues.

I can explain it if you want me to.

 

[wayneg77]

Please i kinda know its like hibernation

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[mxw0rld]

Please i kinda know its like hibernation

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So with brumation it will happen suddenly and without warning. You will think omg what am I doing wrong when everything is correct.

What happens is their body (internals) tell them that it is that time of the year to go rest. You see in the wild when the temperatures start to drop they won't be able to find the insects or the vegetation that they need to survive, as it dies off and with the cooler temps they wouldn't be able to digest their food anyways. So they will dig under the dirt, sand whatever they can find to keep safe.

You are probably saying right now in your head but I'm giving him the lights and the food so why is he doing this, right? Well…… you have to understand that this is in their DNA from millions of years ago and we've only been raising bearded dragons in captivity for the last almost 30 years.

A lot of BD owners will let their beardies go to sleep and turn the lights off and wait for them to wake up. It could take months for this to happen and that is perfectly normal. And their are a few BD owners that will turn the lights on every 3rd day or once a week. It really is up to you, as this is your BD and I can not tell you how to raise your BD.

Me, personally I let them do their thing as it is in their DNA. It is what God intended for them to do and it is what they do. But again this is me and my BD.

If you have anymore questions just ask! That's what I'm here for!!

 

[RaeAnn]

I know very little about brumation I haven't had to deal with it yet. so thank you mxw0ld your response was insightful to me as well.
During this time should the Beardie still be offered food, given baths and handled? Or is it best to leave the dragon alone and maybe limit the amount of food offered? I ask because I would like to know before that time comes and I figured it may be helpful stuff for Wayneg77 to know


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[mxw0rld]

I know very little about brumation I haven't had to deal with it yet. so thank you mxw0ld your response was insightful to me as well.
During this time should the Beardie still be offered food, given baths and handled? Or is it best to leave the dragon alone and maybe limit the amount of food offered? I ask because I would like to know before that time comes and I figured it may be helpful stuff for Wayneg77 to know


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Great questions!!!

Basically that depends on you and how you want to deal with brumation. If you are like me and let them sleep it out then no handling, no food, no lights, nothing. It's like you don't have a pet for 4 months.

But - some people like to wake theirs up after a few days and offer them food, turn on the lights and give them a bath.

Totally up to you on his you want to handle brumation!

 

[RaeAnn]

Great questions!!!

Basically that depends on you and how you want to deal with brumation. If you are like me and let them sleep it out then no handling, no food, no lights, nothing. It's like you don't have a pet for 4 months.

But - some people like to wake theirs up after a few days and offer them food, turn on the lights and give them a bath.

Totally up to you on his you want to handle brumation!

Awesome to know it's not a "one size fits all" type of thing. Thank you


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[wayneg77]

Thanks great info he does seem to want to sleep during the day if i let him sleep it out what do you recommend about his temps without having any heat (lights)

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[mxw0rld]

Thanks great info he does seem to want to sleep during the day if i let him sleep it out what do you recommend about his temps without having any heat (lights)

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Another great question!

It really does sound like he is going into brumation and they're is nothing you can do to stop this. It is his internal clock working.

BD sleep/rest better in cooler temps as we know that from just daily sleeping at night.

This all depends again on if you are going to let him sleep it out or wake him up.

But for me what I do is make sure he has a box that his entire body will fit in, including his tail. So during the day I will put the lights on for 8 hours at about the 65-75F range.

There is one thing you have to remember and do especially if you are going to let them sleep it out. Is once a week give them a bath. In the wild when they bury down they can keep their selves hydrated with the moisture in the ground. Well we don't have moisture in our enclosures and do NOT add water to your enclosure. If you bath them/let them sit in the water once a week for 20-30 minutes they will absorb the water. BD's absorb water thru their vents.

One last thing you need to remember is food. If you are going to let them sleep or even if you wake them up you have to make sure that they have digested ALL their food and have had a bowel movement before going to sleep or if you wake him up once a week, before going back to sleep. If they go into brumation with food inside them that has not been digested, the food will rot which will cause them to get an infection.

Hope this helps!

 

[wayneg77]

Thanks your info helps alot now i know my BD is ok and i dont have to worry anymore

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[mxw0rld]

Thanks your info helps alot now i know my BD is ok and i dont have to worry anymore

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Like I said earlier you are the THIRD person today that has asked the same questions and is going through the same things.

Yes, this is all normal! Good luck and keep us posted on how he is doing!

If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask!

 

[Hdrydr31]

He is 3 years old and normally very active its just been the last week he's not bothered coming out his temps are 26 cold side and 37 on hot side

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Yea I would bring your temps down as said above..
Every dragon does brumation differently and some don't go into their sleep.. Adults will typically either really be sluggish, some sleep soo deeply you can move them around and they don't wake up...the key is to keep their environment such as lighting the same as it would be in nature.. lighting are shorter periods. If they seem alert and come out offer live food, offer greens in case your not around and they come out they can nibble.. make sure they bask to digest, and like above make sure they poop before going back to hide..
My 1 1/2 year old female did a partial brumation she was super sluggish some days she would eat some days she wouldn't she would have stayed in her hide but I kept bringing her out as she was too young and skinny to safely brumate... she is starting to slow down as our weather has been getting cooler so my guess is that she will brumate this fall... not sure what my 9 month male will do he's 500gr so I will let him if he does as he's at a good weight..
You just want to bring them out and bathe them just make sure you keep close eye on them if they are really sleepy as you don't want their head to go under.. see if they want to drink dribble some water on their nose.

 

[wayneg77]

Just a quick update rex has decided to come out for a bask today he also did some glass waving lol didn't touch his greens though after a while he went back in his hide and started to Scratch around a lot like he was trying to dig

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[mxw0rld]

Just a quick update rex has decided to come out for a bask today he also did some glass waving lol didn't touch his greens though after a while he went back in his hide and started to Scratch around a lot like he was trying to dig

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Are you sure he's a boy and not a girl? Sounds like it could bee eggs!

 

[wayneg77]

Yeah he's a boy from what I can tell I've compared him to photos of males and his bits underneath match

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[wayneg77]

Forgot to say he was 2 when we got him and we've had him a year never seen him do this before and the guy we got him off said he was a male also

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