Luci is in brumation :(

[PatsyB]

I had a feeling this was coming but I really wasn't ready for it. I'm kinda sad not seeing his little face this morning

So I came home for lunch yesterday at 12 and he was sitting in his hide already with his head hanging out but he was awake. He's been doing this lately but later in the day like 2-3 pm. I came home at 3 hand he was completely tucked into his hide, head is buried under one of the sides and he is still there this morning in the same position.

Someone here asked what to expect during brumation so I'm going to keep this updated and maybe post some photos too. Not that they are going to be good photos, he's going to be sleeping.

Here's what I've observed to this point. He started about 3 weeks ago getting very lazy. When we take him out of his tank. instead of running straight for 3 hours he would run around once and then go find his favorite hang out spot and sit there for the rest of his time. In his tank he would sit in one spot with very sleepy eyes. I bought him a hide and he used it, where in the past he would avoid them. He still pigged out, he didn't really change his eating habits.

I'm going to leave the lights on in his tank during the day, it's fall here and it's in the low 50's at night. I'm going to give him a bath on Friday, I'm worried because he was starting to get a weird shed on his belly. He pooped yesterday morning real good and my boyfriend said he pooped again during the day so I think he's mostly cleaned out. I didn't get to weigh him before he went down but on 9/10 he was 516 grams.

 

[PatsyB]

Here's his day one photo. I forgot that on Friday I rearranged his tank. I moved his hammock to the warm side of the tank and his hide to the cool side.

 

[donprec]

Oh no Patsy! I've been dreading brumation with my guys. Was so happy Precious bypassed it last year.
I think it's great if you'll keep us posted so we'll know what to expect and what's normal.
Here's to hoping it won't be for long!

 

[IndigoNight]

I'm sorry that you won't be able to play with your boy for a while. :c He sure is cute when he sleeps, though!
While it's sad, the nerdy observationist in me is a bit excited to see how it all unfolds. It feels like collecting data or something, haha! Hopefully this can help give some people (me included!) a better understanding of what to expect during brumation.

 

[PatsyB]

It is so sad. This afternoon I heard him move and got excited but he was just shifting. I think I'm worried about how he's going to act when he wakes up. Is he going to be changed in some way?

Don't think Dexter isn't loving having all the attention focused in her again

 

[PatsyB]

SOMEONE DECIDED TO POKE HIS HEAD OUT TODAY!

He's still real sleepy, tried offering him some mustards and butter worms and he didn't want any.

 

[IndigoNight]

Boy is he ever so handsome. I wouldn't think that he'll have any personality change or anything. He's just taking a nice little nap. :3
And he certainly has a nice lair to sleep in! That hide is really cool.

 

[lil' ése's mother]

he's beautiful! i think lil ése will look like this when he's older.

 

[PatsyB]

Thanks guys!

@IndigoNight I just bought the hide for him a few weeks ago and he took to it right away. I bought a real cute one for his sister, it comes tomorrow, I hope she fits in it

So since he was still awake when I came home from work I decided to give him a bath tonight instead of waiting until tomorrow when he could possibly be sleeping again and I would have to wake him up. So funny that only after a day and a half he felt so deflated. I weighed him, he is 521 grams. When I put him in the water he drank A LOT of it! He's back in his tank now and he's under his basking light warming up a bit. He keeps puffing himself up and stretching his beard. He's pretty awake at the moment so we will see what happens tomorrow.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Hang in there and keep us posted it is a great learning experience for all of us.. good idea on bathing him sooner than later for sure in case he does go back to sleeping.. I hope my little one doesn't brumate I love having her on my lap while we are watching tv she sleeps not sure if you should do that or not when they are brummating....

 

[PatsyB]

So far this morning he is still awake! He hasn't moved from his basking spot and I hand fed him a few pieces of greens. He sees the bowl of food but hasn't made any effort to walk over and eat them himself. It's looking like this was only a day thing for him. It's weird.

I had this whole discussion with him last night about how he had to still go to sleep when his lights went out last night even though he was sleeping for a day and a half! I peaked in on him a few hours after lights went out and he opened one eye but then quickly closed it.

 

[Hdrydr31]

What a funny Dragon he is...

 

[PatsyB]

What a goof! He is still awake, just not as active as he normally is. He still just kinda sits in his hide with his head hanging out. He ate some salad yesterday and 5 butterworms. I tried to give him some supers before I went to work but he turned his nose up at them so I just left them in case he gets hungry later.

 

[drzebra]

He sounds like the way Fenchurch was last year. Right now, all 3 of my adults are pretty well turning their noses up at food. Fenchurch and Arthur are hardly moving. Trillian is more active, but she still doesn't want to eat

 

[Fiona]

I did not take the time to do any research on this but by reading the posts I am guessing brumation is hibernation. but when you explain how he is acting during this I am thinking I was right Fiona is living a life of sleep.

everyone talks about the active things their dragons do and Fiona does none. I gave up on teaching her to like greens, figure maybe she is like a stubborn adult who never ate them as a child...so she eats super worms and I feed them the greens.

Fiona likes to be under her log all the time, never comes out. I put her in her basking spot. and when we first bought her the super worms she would eat 10 or so a day, now she eats very few every few days. I was wondering if she was going into hibernation.

i have been out of town for a few weeks so the kids have been feeding her, not sure how much she is eating, today i put her under her lights to warm her up and then into a bath, she did not drink. put her back under her lights and she is still sitting there for the second time today. but i am sure soon she will be under her log until next time.

 

[PatsyB]

I did not take the time to do any research on this but by reading the posts I am guessing brumation is hibernation. but when you explain how he is acting during this I am thinking I was right Fiona is living a life of sleep.

everyone talks about the active things their dragons do and Fiona does none. I gave up on teaching her to like greens, figure maybe she is like a stubborn adult who never ate them as a child...so she eats super worms and I feed them the greens.

Fiona likes to be under her log all the time, never comes out. I put her in her basking spot. and when we first bought her the super worms she would eat 10 or so a day, now she eats very few every few days. I was wondering if she was going into hibernation.

i have been out of town for a few weeks so the kids have been feeding her, not sure how much she is eating, today i put her under her lights to warm her up and then into a bath, she did not drink. put her back under her lights and she is still sitting there for the second time today. but i am sure soon she will be under her log until next time.

Fiona sounds like Dexter. She sits under her hammock for most of her day with her head resting on her log and one eye closed. Every now and then she will march around her tank for a few minutes but then goes back to her spot. I actually switched out hides and the hide that Luci has in the photos is now in her tank and she will lay across it. When I take Dexter out of her tank she will slowly walk around but only to find a spot to tuck her nose in. She doesn't really eat much salad either. She's always been like this so I stopped stressing about her. She's gaining weight and had good fat pads so she's eating something.

 

[Fiona]

that is me now.....getting her the way we did, the vet told daughter she was a healthy mature adult so I figure she has lived this long...I feed, water and keep her warm so she must be happy sleeping.

 

[DragonTales]

I'm wondering if my dragon is doing this to. Not sure yet still if it's a male /female. I just can't tell! But we'll say she... She is burrowed with her head out since yesterday. She hasn't come out to bask. What's the dealio? Is this normal dragon behavior? I'm a newbie...obviously.

 

[PatsyB]

I'm wondering if my dragon is doing this to. Not sure yet still if it's a male /female. I just can't tell! But we'll say she... She is burrowed with her head out since yesterday. She hasn't come out to bask. What's the dealio? Is this normal dragon behavior? I'm a newbie...obviously.

It's possible. I would say for the a week Luci would go into his hide and then stick his head out and sit with tired eyes for the rest of the day. Even after he woke up from his very short sleep he was doing it. Now he goes into his hide in the late afternoon and just stays there.

This morning I walked in on the cutest thing. He was in his hide sleeping and our cat Sasha was reaching up looking through the glass of his tank like she was waiting for him to wake up to play! I went to get my phone and of course she stopped.

For the most part he is awake and eating and running around his tank like usual but he does start to tuck in earlier in the day. When I come home from work now he is usually all the way in his hide sleeping so I don't think I've seen the end of this brumation thing.

 

[donprec]

Precious is sort of brumating, it started about 2-3 weeks ago.

I really think it started when sitting in the window basking for a few hours had to be cut short when the weather got colder. She would still go to the window but after about 10 minutes, I'd take her away when she got too cold. Then she'd act like I was punishing her and would just go straight back into her cage instead of maybe walking around or finding somewhere else to curl up and relax.
She hasn't basked these past couple of weeks, just lays underneath her hammock. I tried to put one of her favorite softer blankets there for her to cuddle in but she pushed it out of the way, just wants to be on the bare, cold floor of her enclosure.
She hasn't been warm like usual for a while so her appetite is not so great. She'll still eat worms but has barely touched her vegetables. She's lost 15 grams so far. What I find kind of strange is that normally she'll drink on average, about 3 ccs of water everyday (before this). Lately, she's barely taking any water. She hasn't pooped in a week, even after soaks.
Normally, she's quick to come right out of her cage, she's usually begging to. I have it set up so she can come in and out of her cage at will (when she's being supervised). She won't voluntarily come out now. But every day I'll take her out and offer her food. The good news is, the last 2 days, she did come out and walk around for a little while before going right back into her cage. We were so excited to see a little activity from her, we were like “Yay, Precious is back in the land of the living again!” but she goes back into the cage and underneath the hammock where it's cold and dark.
She turned 2 years old some time this month. My son and I are going to have a little birthday party for her this weekend, we brought a few presents for her and I ordered a cup of her hornworms which will come in on Friday. But we want our old Precious back