Brumation - Who, What, Why, When and Where?!

[rick01]

With your 'possibly' gravid female I'd be keeping the temps up until you're sure she isn't going to lay. I'm guessing that your male can still see the female, if so try blocking his view of her he may then slow down some. As to heat, how cold does you house really get? Desert temps drop below 10C so if they're brumating temps aren't a problem.

Rick

[jojo1977]

i have 3 girls and 1 male all live together and have for 3 years the youngest is about 3 the male has slowed right down and the girl abit should i now reduce the temp a bit more basking spot only 95 now and still getting 14 hours of day light.

[rick01]

Yes - you should be reducing the temps and lighting times down til the heating is off and the dragons are pretty much asleep all the time. Then switch off all lights, if possible put the dragons somewhere cool and leave them until they start to stir again. At that time just reverse the procedure. Do re-read the original sticky here as I do cover this pretty well.

Rick

[antangeldon]

Hi, my female beardy has been in brumation for approx 3 weeks now and although very rarely she gets up has a little wander round and then just lies down and goes back to sleep, im really concerned that she hasnt eaten anything at all. Ive never dealt with this before so i wuld rather ask for advice than leave her to it, how long should i expect her to go without eating? should i spray her every few days or just leave her alone, only reason i ask is she sometimes sleeps under the heat lamp but i cant turn it off because of my other female she shares the tank with.
Any help anyone can offer would be wonderful, she is my baby and just want whats best for her.
Thanks
antony

[rick01]

It can take up to 3 months before she'll start eating again so don't worry and spraying her will do nothing other than expose her to the risk of respiritory infections. Food will already be in the viv for your other dragon so just let her decide herself when she feels hungry again.

Rick

[Breadrun]

Hi, great post but i have a question...reading this made me a little worried as my beardie never really brumates, yes he slows down in the winter and is a bit darker most the time and sleeps more but as soon as he has his food he gets the same as he always is, sitting high on his rock with bright colours and alert, in your post you say to do what your dragon wants which i think would be to have him live how he always lives, id feel a little guilty to know he was in a dark shoebox somewhere because knowing what he is like i dont think he would like it, he's quite happy going the odd week in winter just in one spot with one eye open but after about a week he will perk up again, what do you think, should all beardies brumate or is it kinda up to them like my one is, saying this hoever i do realise every lizard is different, for instance some owners have a strict time to turn lights/heating off and on but my beardie kinda acts like me, he will normally stay up while im up (sometimes 4am) or if he is sleep he will let me know by going int he corner of his viv at usually about 11pm, sorry to kinda change the subject i just wanted to let you know that my beardie is perhaps a little different to others, thanks for ur help

[xander1796]

my 12 month old beardie rheah is going through this exact same thing, he eats well, basks for a few hours by himselmself then sleeps the day way and when i get up in the morning he's still asleep lol but i have to admit that this thread has really put my mind at ease since it does seem quite common. his temps are perfect, he had his 6month check up only amonth ago and he looks like a picture of health but i'm beginning to thing he's just awee lazy bugger lol

[caoboth]

Im guessing my beardie norbert is going through his first brumation however hes only around the 12 month old mark. From what i read i assummed that he would pass over this year due to his age.

He does get up and walk around a little but then sits back down for some sleep.

Andy

[Emjay]

My Beardie is now brumating! No more lizard hugs for a while

[kerryrep22]

great sticky! just found this, cos this is exactly what my male beardie is doing, he is an adult, so safe to brumate.

So, seems to be lots of differing advice on here, so what do I do. Can I just turn the light and the heat off in the viv, and leave him to sleep in his hide, is it safe for him to not have UV for a couple of months? Room temps rarely drop that far below 20 oc, so is that gonna be ok? cheers