Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How can I wake up my beardie from brumation? I think she is getting thin and I'm not happy about the weight loss. She has been sleeping since early Nov. She has maintained her weight until recently. She is not emaciated but i can start to feel her tail bones. what is a healthy way to get her up and eating?

temps are 95-day 70-night , uvb, about 11 hours of daylight, of course no food (she only woke up once, I misted her and she was back down within the hour)

joijoi
-----
1.2 Bearded Dragons (Dezirae, Artimis & Papi)
0.2 Dogs (Timex & Brady)
1.0 Sulcata (Speedy)
1.0 Guinea Pig

2.2 Horses (Joey, Lady, Cherokee & Crystal)
2.0 Beta Fish

Why are you still running lights and heat?, you should have killed them back in November. Also you need to monitor weight weekly with a gram scale and give her a bath occasionally at that time. Normally I would say cycle your lights and heat back on, that would normally pull them out but since you didn't turn them off this may be more difficult. Raise the temps some, 105 basking. You may have to take away her hide and force her under the light, a couple long soaks might help also and since the lights and heat are there you might as well be feeding also since she's still digesting.
-----
Heart Mountain Herps

Thanks Sean...I'm very frustrated. It seems I always get too many diff opinions. I was told to just "reduce" daylight time when they go down and that it is best not to move them or wake them up. UGG...ok...so I will increase temps, do I just pull her out from underneath her shelf liner and put her up to bask? what if she just goes back down...keep taking her back out? i was told not to feed her unless i know she will stay up b/c if she goes back to sleep she wont be able to digest her food. is this true? sorry...this is my first brumation and I'm very nervous. Was i supposed to just turn everything off for her?

i know...way too many questions! lol

marilee
-----
1.2 Bearded Dragons (Dezirae, Artimis & Papi)
0.2 Dogs (Timex & Brady)
1.0 Sulcata (Speedy)
1.0 Guinea Pig

2.2 Horses (Joey, Lady, Cherokee & Crystal)
2.0 Beta Fish

Try giving her some warm soaks. that ussually does it for me. And increase the heat and lights to about 14 hours a day.

peace,
nate

I am having the same problem, my beardie went into burmation in like late September, and is just willing to move around if I take him from his area and place him in the heat spot. He has been eating some since I started this every other day routine, but he normally ends up in his resting area way before the lights go out. Just like you I cut the lights back, but never totaly shut them off cause his eyes were open mostly through the day. What I wanna know is, was that bad for me not to have shut the lights off since september? I mean did I mess his body up cause the lights stayed on and he wanted to sleep??? As of right now I am rehabilitating him to come back by putting him under the light and showing food to him, that works most of the time. I am really conserned for his well being all the time some might think I'm nutz, but I just have a thing for beardies.

ps. I live in Nova Scoatia, when would a normal time for a bearded dragon to come out of burmation be???
-----
Lizard Smoke

Yep, everyone has their opinions. I don't mind different ones but what I don't like is when people that have no idea what they're talking about give theirs because it just confuses things. I've seen people reduce it successfully but you've got to reduce it so far you might as well just turn them off. What I do is cycle them down 1 hour per day until they're off, stop feeding once they go below 4 hours. You do need to check weight once a week and give them the occasional bath to help keep them hydrated, I usually do this while I'm weighing. If they stay awake after I put them back in I'll also offer a little food but if you do you need to kick your lights back on for at least 4 hours. Waking them up once a week doesn't hurt anything and they should lose very little if any weight during brumation this way. Weight loss is a sign that something is wrong and they need to get up and probably see a vet (worms, etc. will cause this). By keeping the lights on more than 4 hours and the heat so high I would say that she has never really fully gone down, she is probably still digesting patially and that's why you're seeing the weight loss. Hope that helps.
-----
Heart Mountain Herps

I do what heart has recommended, you can try to do a short cool down for a month and then take the dragon out from its sleep. this time shut off everything and maybe put a sheet over the inclosure if there is a lot of light in the room where you keep the dragon. but before you do that take a stool sample to the vet. I have had a few spells with pin worms and they will cause your dragon to act this way. even though your dragon is sleeping a lot it could be coming from worms . crickets are a big time pin worm carrier. so I would go that wrought first.
good luck
peach

typically brumation can be brought about by reducing daylight length and temperture gradually over a month, about an hour a week and temps about 5 F till you are down to 10 hours day, 14 hours night and basking temp 90F or so with ambient temps daytime around 70F and nighttime temps to whatever room temperature you have.

when my dragon brumated, she did it on her own, mostly because the house temperature dropped significantly during the early winter months. the apartment had horrible insulating and heating costs was high so i didn't keep it above 68f. my bearded dragon took this to mean it was time to brumate and went to sleep of her own accord. i reduced lighttime hours to 10 and changed the basking light from a 125 w flood light to a about a 75watt so it would not get too warm in the tank.

as your dragon is already in brumation,but is loosing weight fast, when they shoudl loose very little weight during brumation. i would bring the daylight back to 12-14 hours and the basking temp to n ormal, 95-115F. in the morning, bring him out of his hidey hole, after the lights have been on for about an hour and put him on his basking spot. give him some time to warm up then give him a bath to help hydrate him. once he seems alert, offer some mixed greens and a few crickets. if he doesn't start to perk up and eat more normally, try adding some pediatrilite [or however that's spelled] or gaterade to help restore lost electrlites from dehydration. some low fat non sweetened fruit yogurt can also be offered, to h elp get the beneficial gut flora going again. if he continues to remain lathargic or suffer rapid weight gain over the next couple days, a vet check should be done.
-----
PHLdyPayne

yea my bearded dragon is in brumation i guess, because he wont eat and is geting really thin to. But my beardie is away alot..??

Thanks for everyones help. I pulled her out of her spot and gave her a good soak. After further inspection, she really hasn't lost much, if any, weight. She ate some rep-cal pellets and a couple supers and seemed pretty happy. Yet this am she's back in bed! I just put her on her basking spot again and increased daylight hours to 14. This was my first for brumation and thankfully I will be better prepared next time.

Joijoi

-----
1.2 Bearded Dragons (Dezirae, Artimis & Papi)
0.2 Dogs (Timex & Brady)
1.0 Sulcata (Speedy)
1.0 Guinea Pig

2.2 Horses (Joey, Lady, Cherokee & Crystal)
2.0 Beta Fish