is my beardie brumating or is she sick?

[Alex Arrigone]

hi everyone, im not perticularly worried at this stage but would like reassuring that nothings wrong so i wanted to run it by the forum.

the last two weeks marley has become inactive and has gone into hiding in either its cave or behind leaves in the vivarium. its sometimes doesnt come out for days and on the days it does, its only for a few hours before heading back in to its retreats.

few things ive noticed over this time,

• she hissed the last time i put my hand near it and opened its mouth (before this kicks up a storm, im leaving her to it and not bothering her i was just putting some food in the viv)
• she isnt eating much,
• lost a bit of weight (alought might be me being paranoid)
• when she does come out and i give her water she is very thirsty
• and keeps digging.
• also very lazy (she went to eat a locust and as soon as it was out of reach of her sitting spot she gave up)
• doesnt always open her eyes as much anymore either (sqwints or keeps them closed)

i've not been very worried as it seems like the signs of brumation however wanted your opinion,

thanks for your help,

i thought a photo might help to give you a general idea.

 

[Germ]

How old is your BD? Photos of the setup along with a list of your husbandry specs would be helpful in the members giving you more accurate input, but it does sound like the possible onset of Brumation.

 

[Alex Arrigone]

shes about 7-9 months old now. not quite sure what you mean by husbandry specs but i'll try to answer as accurately as possible.

18/18/48 inch viv
basking buld with a basking spot temp of 110 ft
calcium sand
feed her locusts mostly but sometimes crickets and meal worms
lights on from 8 am - 8 pm
she refuses to eat greens which is an ongoing battle but she has started licking them (grapes)

i'll try and get some more photos of the viv uploaded tomorrow as the tank lights have gone off now.

when she pops out of hiding she is friendly and social and even wants to still go wondering round outside the viv as it does most days so im not too worried, it may be my ignorance towards deseases speaking but i figured shes fine. if she was ill i'm guessing her condition would have deteriated by now which it hasnt. it was more just to find out if i was missing something.

 

[Pat B]

Oh my....brumation. Your beardie is young to go into brumation but it does happen. My Spike went down at 10 months for almost 5 months. At the onset I didn't know what to think so I shut down all the lights and let him figure it out. He did....went to sleep. You could try turning out all the lights to see what she does. Brumating is a normal process for a beardie, however, not all beardies go through this process. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[manzeez]

Strees could play a part have you any other pets

 

[Alex Arrigone]

I have a pet dog but she doesn't go into the room with the viv in much. So i would say that's not a factor in this. My dog foes into the room with the viv once every two weeks for maybe an hour at the most.

i read last night that you can interrupt the brumation process. Is this recommended or should i let it go on naturally. I also read that its risky to let them brumate due to not waking up and diseases taking effect when there alseep.

just an update. She's had a big poo, and she was out and about this morning but wasn't too active. I gave her some live food but she refused to eat them.

am i accidentally disrupting the process by keeping her viv lights and heat on and putting food in? Or should i leave the viv as it is?

cheers for the help

 

[Germ]

Brumation is a natural process that is hard wired into their system & should be allowed to naturally run it's course. If the BD is healthy prior to starting, brumation should not cause any issues, again is a natural happening. I would leave the lights on their regular schedule until it has not come out for 2-3 days, then shut them down & leave the BD be, until it wakes & moves around on it's own.

 

[Alex Arrigone]

I know it varies but how long do they brumate for ? Once the viv is shut down and she asleep, is there anything i should do? How would they survive without food or water for that long?

 

[Pat B]

Every beardies brumation is different. I did absolutely nothing. I didn't mist him, feed him, wake him, etc. I did stroke him about every 3 days to make sure he was still alive... Their body basically shuts down. The metabolism slows, their breathing is shallow and they sleep. Good luck. I know it is sort of scary if you haven't been through the process but is is a natural thing for beardies to do.

 

[Germ]

Because they do not move or expend any energy, they do not require nutrition or hydration during this time, with very little weight loss. Again, this is a very natural stage in their life. If they should wake on their own, turn the lights back on their regular schedule, give a warm soak, offer some food, sometimes they will eat, other times not & they may go right back into brumation. If they go back to sleep or their version of brumation, after a couple of days to be sure that they have gone back down, shut down the lighting again. This is how I deal with brumation.If your enclosure is in a high traffic area, you may want to cover the enclosure with a blanket, being sure to allow an opening for ventilation & visually check on it for signs of any drastic weight loss without waking it, once a week or so.

As far as for how long Brumation can last, from a couple of days, to many months. One of my males would regularly brumate for 5+ months every year (I think Pat's Spike did very similarly, this year.), most of my others lasted for 2-3 months, if they brumated at all.

 

[Alex Arrigone]

hi everyone just an update. she's finally figured out what to do and has gone into brumation. i shut down the tank two days ago and she's been fast asleep since.

typically she hasnt found the best spot to take a nap. she's fallen asleep vertically wedged between the viv wall and a piece of drift wood. will she be ok sleeping like that for a long period of time? (she does sleep there often but i dont know if its ok when brumating. think she feels safe there).

cheers

 

[Pat B]

She's safe. My Spike did the same thing. If she hurts she will move. Good luck and let us know when she wakes up! Be patient.

 

[Ozzie&Dino]

Same here...Dino is in his hammock and sleeping and I check on him every day and just lift the sheet that is on half his habitat and he has moved around on his hammock but is still snoozing away. I miss him terribly and want him to wake up but I don't want to mess with nature Dino has been asleep for 2 weeks now.

 

[Pat B]

Spike went to sleep on is hammock and one of the suction cups came loose from the glass!! He took his sleepy self into a corner and went right back to sleep with his nose stuck up into the corner!!

 

[PatsyB]

I'm getting sad reading about this. I would miss Dexter terribly if she went into brumation.

 

[Ozzie&Dino]

For some reason it doesn't happen to every BD so maybe it will not happen to yours. I actually think in my case with having a second "baby" BD it helps a bit when the older one does decide to go into Brumation.

 

[manzeez]

When spike go,s in to brbrumation it melt,s my head but its the norm for most dragons it,s for the good . I have had spike for to year,s and i still feel the same

 

[Alex Arrigone]

hey everyone, thanks for all the help and its nice to hear other peoples experiences too. just to give you an update, after sleeping for only 3 days marley woke up, when she woke up i gave her a couple of hours on her own just to make sure she wasnt just getting comfortable before turning all the lights back on. its now been about a day since the lights have come on again and she's been docile. she hasnt moved much but has started eating again so i guess that her brumation is done and dusted now. thought id throw some pics in too.


she tends to spend most of her time since she woke up at the top of her drift wood surrounded by fake leaves, think she feels safe up there.





threw a few locusts in today, first time i've fed her since she woke up, decided to leave her alone yesterday to wake up properly before giving her food.


marley under her basking spot. i've been keeping a close eye on her the last few weeks to make sure she's ok. even though she's woken up now and is more active, she still seems to fall asleep/ close her eyes for a while. does this mean she's trying to go back into brumation? does waking up out of brumation for a few days then go back to sleep even happen or is she just waking up slowly?

thanks for all the help and stories

 

[manzeez]

she could be taking her time like you say she looks real well to me just keep an eye on her

 

[Qonundrum]

I have been concerned about my 7 month old male. He has not eaten and is in his hide constantly. Thanks to this post im going to shut his lights down and let him sleep.
He has a clean bill of health from the vet so I'm assuming hes going into brumination. I was the belief that this happened in the winter and not spring time.
Any more replies would put me more at ease. Up to 5 months huh? Wow.