Gulping? Opening mouth at me? Help :(

[PatsyB]

I've had my General now since 2014. She is healthy and busy. Some people call it a 'bath' and some people call it a soak. Whatever. It involves letting your dragon soak in tepid water for 15 minutes or so. I have read the info on hydration...some say one thing some say another. Notice I DID say "I've been told' At any rate, General enjoys her 'soak' 'baths' I would rather let her soak and not take the chance of her being dehydrated, say what you want.

I've found my method of UV basking bulb and the ceramic heat emitter works very well as I have them positioned. I would NEVER let the temp drop as low as 65 degrees. The heat emitter keeps it below 80 during the night. The UV/heat bulb brings the basking spot up to 100-110 during the day.
My son worked for a noted herpetologist/ reptile breeder while at college and his advice has been spot on. .

As far as the brumation. I've never had any problems with rotting food! That is more or less an old wives tale as far as I'm concerned. . The dragon decides WHEN it is going to brumate. So exactly HOW is a dragon parent going to decide when to stop feeding it so it will have an empty stomach? Give me a break. Normal digestion continues in the coziness of the hide and the dragon can come out and defecate if it feels the need.

I quote: "since every bearded dragon is different it's recommended to keep the cage lights on for the same cycle throughout the brumation period and to continue feeding the bearded dragon Learn more about feeding bearded dragons.. Many bearded dragons will wake up occasionally during the brumation period and will eat and/or bask in their basking light Learn more about bearded dragon basking lights.. To do this, simply keep a bit of fresh food in their cage and monitor if it's been eaten or not." Source: http://www.thebeardeddragon.org/bearded-dragon-health.php During the General's last brumation She slept for about 8 weeks then came out all bright eyed and looked for chow. I gave her a few worms and a soak since she was awake. She enjoyed both. Then went back in her hide for another six weeks or so to sleep some more. I keep the heat emitter on all during the brumation and also keep the UV/heat Bulb over her basking spot like always, continuing her regular cycle.

We keep finding out more and more about bearded dragons as the years go on. We used to think that baths or soaks were necessary because they absorbed water through their vent, that has been proven to be false. Bearded dragons cannot absorb any water through their skin. So the only real reason to give a bath or a soak is if your dragon doesn't eat it's veggies and bugs and likes to drink water in it's bath, or if it's dirty and needs to be cleaned, or if it's shedding and you want to help loosen it's skin. Other than these reasons a bath or soak is unnecessary. Making your dragon go to the bathroom in the water is detrimental because it can cause a prolapse.

Experts suggest that we try to mimic their life in the wild as much as possible. There are even more and more people that are going bioactive with their bearded dragon set ups. In Australia where they live, temps soar in the day with the hot sun and drop dramatically at night time. This drop in temperature (and complete darkness) is necessary and helps the body rest and recuperate. The body further processes D3 and Calcium and the brain rests. At night the temp should be between 65-70 degrees.

Since you quoted another forum here, it's true, not all bearded dragons brumate the same and some will go down for weeks and some will go down for months. Some will get up to eat and go to the bathroom and some won't. That is why it is recommended that they do eliminate their bowels before they go down because we can't be sure they will get up when they have to go. The body slows down considerably during brumation and food will sit longer in their bowels while it's being digested. Also it's important to check for parasites before brumation. If a dragon has a high number of parasites and goes down for brumation, the parasites will take over and eat whatever nutrients the dragon has stored for brumation. Some people like to turn all the lights off while their dragon is brumating and some prefer to leave them on. I prefer to leave them on since you never know when your dragon is going to wake up.