Worried about my beardie and brumation

[TechnoCheese]

Hello! I originally posted this on tortoiseforum.org , but because it’s a tortoise forum and not a beardie forum, the answers were, understandably, not as helpful as I assume they would be here.

So for about the past month, my beardie has been getting lethargic, and recently is starting to spend all day in his hide for periods of about 2-3days, with one day being awake but still sitting in the hide, or coming out for about an hour to bask, and then going back to sleep for 2-3 days. I am assuming that he is trying to brumate.


The problem is, he’s still accepting food(super worms, but will only take a bite or two of greens), but the last time I fed him was about a week ago because he’s been sleeping so much.


I want to start putting him into brumation, but he has not pooped since he last ate, and I need him to poop so that I can take a fecal sample to the vet to get it checked for worms.


His poop has been a bit runny lately, and I’m not sure if it’s because I need to change his diet, he has worms, or it’s a side effect of trying to go into brumation.


I feed him superworms as a main staple(I know, not the best staple with the fat, but I assumed since he’s still growing it wouldn’t be too much of a problem. Am I incorrect to assume that?) with the occasional dubia roach(trying to start a colony but my cat ate all of the males :/). For greens I usually feed spring mix without the spinach, and the occasional dandelion or two if I can find it. I usually feed some filaree too, but I haven’t had it in my yard in a few months so he hasn’t had much.


Pancake is about 18 inches long, and 429 grams (0.95 pound). Sadly, I haven’t kept track of his weight, so I don’t know if he’s losing weight.

He is approximately 11 months old.


My questions are-

- If he wants to eat, should I feed him?

- is a fecal test an absolute necessity?

- should I start putting him into brumation, or should I just let him do his own thing?

- does he look too skinny, and does he seem to be a healthy weight?

-should I not feed him unless/until he starts to loose weight? Not sure if this is a stupid question or not, but it was recommended to me in a reptile site I moderate.

Enclosure is currently a 40 gallon tank with home made excavator clay and eco earth. I am certain that he does not have an impaction. Basking temp ranges from 107-100 degrees, and it is currently 75 degrees in the coolest part of the enclosure. It’s usually 80-83, my AC just happens to be working today, which is unusual lol. He will be moving to my sulcata’s 5x2.5 foot closed chamber enclosure once my tortoise is living outside, which should be this month(hopefully).

I am open to any and all suggestions and advice. Thank you!

 

[PatsyB]

He is a big good looking boy! I wouldn't let him brumate until you can get a fecal done, especially since it's runny. Now when you say it's runny, do you mean it has a lot of water but it's formed? or is the actual poop itself runny? I would stop using supers as a staple and try to get him to eat some other types of bugs. He's a good size and supers are just going to make him huge.

Mine have been toying with brumation for months now. My boy comes out for a week or so and I offer him food, sometimes he eats and sometimes he doesn't. Then he poops and goes back into his hide for another week.

 

[TechnoCheese]

He is a big good looking boy! I wouldn't let him brumate until you can get a fecal done, especially since it's runny. Now when you say it's runny, do you mean it has a lot of water but it's formed? or is the actual poop itself runny? I would stop using supers as a staple and try to get him to eat some other types of bugs. He's a good size and supers are just going to make him huge.

Mine have been toying with brumation for months now. My boy comes out for a week or so and I offer him food, sometimes he eats and sometimes he doesn't. Then he poops and goes back into his hide for another week.

Thank you! Your schedule is basically what I’m doing with him right now. He refuses greens, and will only eat worms/small roaches. He’s been sleeping for the past two days.

The poop itself was pretty soft/runny, and he’s only pooping in small amounts because he hasn’t eaten much.

I’ll definitely try to add more variety to his diet

 

[rigby1987]

Hi I'm new here aswell imy also worried about my bearded dragon. I'll make a new post as not to hijack yours . I hope you get sorted.