Juvenile Brumation

[jeb]

Hi everyone!

I have a young bearded dragon -- he's about 5 month's old. He's been in and out of brumation for almost a month now. He eats sometimes, but not every day. Whenever he's awake I give him a warm bath and he poops. I bought him some hornworms for when he's awake to get him interested and he really loves them.

Obviously since he's sleeping a lot and not eating much he's not growing a lot. I know this is an important time for bearded dragon's, so I'm just worried that brumating this young will stunt his growth or cause problems for his health. He looks a little skinny, but still has his fat pads.

Any advice or info about a dragon brumating at this age would be appreciated! Thank you.

 

[Bianca Brown]

From what I was told here from alot of experience People that Bearded Dragon under 1 Year don't do the Brumation. I would check the Temps on your basking spot and maybe have him checked by a vet. My Lily is 1.5 Years old and going through Brumation the first time.

 

[jeb]

I hope things are going well for Lily during her first brumation!

Temps are fine - His basking and UVB bulbs are relatively new and I check regularly with a temp gun.

He went to the vet in late October - had and exam and a Fecal done and everything is fine.

He's not lethargic or sickly; he's clearly brumating. I am just worried because I know he's so young and it's not very normal for them to brumate at this age.

 

[Canicke]

true - not "normal": but - as you will find - "normal" is not really normal. they're all different. My first boy slept for months - in the corner UNDER the carpet. my current boy sleeps in the corner, under the light and eats a bit every few days (unless I get the superworms or dubias out - then he's a pig) and he's only up a few hours. my girl ? she's as lazy during the winter as she is during the summer. brumating? couldn't tell !!

 

[Hdrydr31]

Hmm I would kept note of his weight to see what really is going on if he's loosing alot then having things re checked isn't a bad idea. If he's not loosing weight you could wait him out til nicer weather..you could even though your bulbs are semi new try new ones all else fails you'll have a back up..you could also remove his hides if he's using them to kinda "force" basking. Maybe try different bugs..

Every dragon is different for sure.. My female is a year and a half and last winter she partially brumated lazy, sleep for a few days, awake but in hide a few days, not eat hardly anything, but in bath would poop and perk up then next day back to the same ol same ol... This is her first year of really trying to brumate but I'm still putting weight on her so I wake her every week for bath and opportunity to eat and she has just started eating like a pig when I wake her.. My male is just turning a year old and he is coming out basking but not wanting to eat..up until about a week ago he's not lost weight but now he has dropped a bit.. and he has started glass surfing something fearce which hes not done before...so I'm giving him free time out in a safe zone room to run some energy off him..so I changed out his UVB as his is 8 months old..so I'll see if things change..

that's just my 2 cents