Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This will be my first winter with beardies. I am so confused on the brumation thing...I am in california. when do i start and end? where is a good web site for me to learn more? do babies brumate also? or at what age do they? i am lost lol thanks

Really hard to say.

Some Dragons never brumate. Last winter I had 5 dragons and all of them brumated. But each one was different.

One was only 4 months old and 255 grams when she stopped eating abruptly on Nov. 4th. She dug in about 10 days later and slept until March 17th. I was extremely concerned about a dragon brumating at her size and age so I woke her every 2 weeks or so and gave her water with an eyedropper, I offered food but she would never eat. She would stay out for about 2 hours and then disappear. My male would disappear for a week or so and then one day he'd be looking at me from the basking spot wondering where his food was. The other 3 were down anywhere from a month to 2 months or so.

My theory on brumation is this. I am slow to shorten the 14 hour days and don't change it until I see that brumation is inevitable. I then provide cool side hides. When they brumate you want them to stay cool (70ish), at that temp. their metabolism is much slower and they will lose very little weight. I have heard that some reduce the warm side and basking spot temps. but I do not. My enclosures are large enough to have a 70 degree cool side and still maintain a 105 basking spot in case a dragon decides to get up and bask.

I have read that dragons don't brumate the first year. This has not been my experience but it may be yours. Ideally it would be better if a dragon was full grown before their first brumation. Regardless, I have fecals done in October just to be safe in case they do brumate.

Brumation is also known as "winter shutdown" or "shutdown."

It's a natural process that most (not all, but, most) bearded dragons go through once they're aproximately 1yr old or older. While uncommon, it's not unheard of, for younger dragons to brumate.

Brumation can last anywhere from a few weeks to as long as 5 months. It's usually initiated by shorter daylight hours and cooler temperatures.

Some people recommend brumating breeding females for at least 2 months to condition them, to give their bodies a break, prepare them for the next breeding season.

Unless you're breeding them I'd just letting them enter brumation on their own, keeping an eye out for reduced activity, and then lower the temps.

Have a good one!
HH
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