Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Proud owner of a 4 year old female BD here. She's really never had any health problems and is very alert and responsive. About a year ago she went into brumation (or, what I believed at the time to be brumation). Since then she has decreased her activity level, eating only once a week, and she still hasn't "snapped out of it". As you can imagine, she has dropped quite a bit of weight over the past year.

I'm thinking that this has gone far enough and that she needs to at least eat more to put on some more weight. She's not lethargic - very alert and loves to take baths....she just won't eat as often and she hangs out in her cave all day long, as if she's taking a year-long brumation.

So far, I've tried some things such as increasing the temp in her cage and lengthening the photoperiod in her cage to get her to come out of brumation....to no avail. I'm sure you all wanna know: it's about 105 in there with a combination of UVA and UVB 10.0. Currently, her photoperiod is set for 14/10 light/dark.

1) Do beardies typically brumate beyond one year? (don't think so but I'm sure there are some exceptions).

2) Could she be holding eggs? She's never laid eggs in the past. I'm putting a nest box in her cage tonight (following the recommendations of a previous post....thank you!).

3) Has anyone experience anything similar? What were your experiences? I'd like to get some feedback on what some of you have gone through with prolongued brumation, gravid females, etc.

Cheers,

Rupert

(maybe if someone can tell me how to post a pic I'll let you all see what my set-up is like).

I think first I'd find a good vet. www.arav.com is a good place to start. I would bring in a fecal sample and discuss your observations. When vets do a fecal flotation they are looking for coccidia, although this could be a problem I would consider the other parasites as well such as pin worms and tape worms.

1) No Beardies do not ever Brumate for a year. 4 months is about the longest.

2) Unlikely, beardies eat like crazy while the eggs are forming and growing inside of her, then they pretty much stop one day. Then they lay the eggs a day or 2 later if the conditions are right.

I like you spirit though. That's what I do, I try everything until I find out what solves the problem.

3) I have plenty of experience with brumation and gravid females but I just don't have anything that I think is similar to your circumstances. Sorry. Maybe others do.

In general, changing climate conditions cause Beardies to brumate. Things like shorter days, changes in humidity, barometric pressure, or lower temperature. Even though we regulate light and temp. they still are aware of the season and some will brumate anyway regardless of my best attempts to stop them. But again I really don't feel this is your problem.

The basking spot temp. should be 105. The ambient temp (air temp.) on the hot side should be high 80's to low 90's. The cool side should be 75-80. I mention this because you say "it's about 105 in there" and I don't know what that means. You need to measure your temps accurately. Buy a couple of digital thermometers with separate probes and put one on the basking site and adjust the lighting to get 105. One reason she may not be eating is she cannot get warm enough to digest her food properly or she is too warm and just to uncomfortable to eat.

For posting a pic. I use photobucket.com it is free. I download the pick there and then copy the "URL Link" from there into the "Image URL" below.

Thanks for the post; I have a shipment of new bulbs coming in to give her fresh UVA & UVB lighting. Currently, the thermometers read 105 in the hot side / 85 in the cool side (and even cooler than that in her cave, which is on the cool side). I might try to adjust the lighting a bit so that it's a little warmer in her cave.

Yeah, I doubt that she's carrying eggs because she's lost quite a bit of weight, but it wouldn't hurt to put the nest box in there.....who knows, the change in scenery might get her to snap out of brumation.

If new bulbs, altered lighting regime, and the nest box do not work then I'll take her stool sample to the vet. I have my doubts about parasites / coccidia also because she's very alert and her stool is normal (in coloration, consistency, and odor).

I take cool side hides away in the summer. You should try this.

I can only think of 4 possibilities for a dragon to be losing weight.

1. illness, parasites, etc.

2. Improper conditions to digest food properly.

3. Stress

4. Inadequate supply or intake of food. You should try another feeder. I'd suggest silkworms.

there are a couple things that come to mind. First, what are you feeding her? How often do you offer the food? What is her substrate? Was it always this or did she have different substrate in the past (like in the last year or so)? What is your cage setup? (ie how big etc)

Check her hydration. A very dehydrated dragon won't eat. Not sure if you tried already, give her a nice soak in luke warm water. See if this gets her to drink.

Something like parazap (a sort of herbal tea designed for reptiles) to help stimulate appetite as well as promote healthy gut flora. It can help prevent internal parasites but I am not convinced it can actually cure them. It certainly can help the dragon's body fight off some forms of parasites naturally (such as coccidia levels) But I haven't heard anything saying parazap is actually harmful or has long term effects...so even if it doesn't do squat about killing parasites, it has many other benefits. Just prepare as directed on the bottle or website ( www.parazap.com I think the site is.
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PHLdyPayne