Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, this is my first year with BD'S, and my one Female who is only about 8-9 months old is starting to dig in the sand under her hide-away. My questions are about everything for Burmation what are all the right steps to take and how long? Feeding, lighting, sand dept, temps, etc..

My sand is about 2 1/2 - 3" deep. My winter hides are 1/2 logs pushed down into the sand somewhat on the cool end. I block off warm side hides. Generally they stop eating before they brumate so they clear their digestive tracts. If the dragon is small(under 350) I wake them every 2 weeks and give them water with an eyedropper so they stay hydrated. My adults I wake every 5 weeks for the same purpose. In the wild they probably dig into soil that is more moist than sand and in most homes here the humidity is extremely low in the winter. I don't adjust the lights until they are sure they want to sleep. Some do some don't. Toughest is when one in an enclosure does and his/her mate remains awake. lol.

It would help knowing your dragons weight.

She is 194 grams as of 9/23, also does she still need the UVB light of just the heat? Do you still provide a basking light during burmation? Thanks

I would really discourage her from brumating at that weight. Last year I had one brumate at 245 and was worried all winter. The other problem is that when females brumate they generally develop eggs when they awaken and at less than 200 that is very risky. My vet wanted to spay mine last year, I declined, but it worked out OK. Keep in mind, I have many dragons and experience though. I mated her to make sure the eggs were fertile to reduce the risk of egg binding.

But to answer your questions. I continue to have the lights go on and off on a timer. I slowly back the lights on time along with the normal daylight if you have only one dragon. It gets more complicated when you have many in the same room and some are juvenile on 14 hour days. I maintain the basking spot but try to lower the ambients on the cool side a little. Ideally I'd like a cool side to be about 70. As I stated before you'd have to supply a cool side hide and make sure it's used rather than a warm side hide. Cool temps. lower metabolism and allow them to brumate for long periods with very little weight loss. In your case I'd be real worried about 20 grams. I would also definately get a fecal done prior to her brumating.

Do they have to have sand to confortably brumate? I keep shelf liner in my cages. Also, my dragon (just under one year old and 380 grams) is hanging out on her warm side (not basking though) and she's still eating but she's kind of sluggish. Do I just let her figure out what she wants to do and let her do it?

Every dragon is different. I have one female that doesn't really brumate. She is a pure heat lover. She lays in the warmest part of the light and really never moves. She eats and poops rarely this time of year. I hand feed her a few worms occaisionally and put her on the window ledge sometimes when we have a warm weekend day.

In regards to the sand. I don't think it is a necessity but I think they like it better. Mine go under a 1/2 log and dig all the sand out to fill in the entrance almost completely. I think they feel safer and it blocks most of the light.

Much of the time when some of my dragons are brumating they are not even asleep. Just resting with their eyes open.

I always have fecals done prior to brumation season. Then I block my warm side hides. I then place 1/2 logs on the cool sides of my enclosures with dragons old enough to brumate. Then I let them do whatever they feel is best for them. If I can see them I at least put a salad in everyday in case they are hungry while I'm at work. After the first year you will know how they will act and how to respond. The dragon that stays in the heat lives with her mate that digs in under a 1/2 log. He comes out every few weeks for a day or 2. She has her own 1/2 log but just chooses to stay in the light anyway.

Another female housed alone digs in under a 1/2 log and never comes out. I just wake her every 5 weeks and give her water with a dropper. She is always VERY thirsty so I think it is a good plan. She'll stay out for 3 hours and then dig in again till I wake her in 5 more weeks.

I'm new to this and I think it's going to be hard to go through our first brumation. I'm a worrier anyway so it will be tough to leave her alone if she decides to disappear for awhile. But I'll give her water every few weeks and I'll weigh her to make sure she's not losing weight. Thanks for your help.

Yes, thanks for the advise, there not like my snakes when I don't see them from nov to may at the latest, only see them when they take a drink. Also you said my dragon is to light on her weight to burmate is there a way to keep them from doing so?

What is your dragon doing?

I always believe that you have to rule everything else possible out before you jump to the conclusion that the dragon wants to brumate without prior history. I have an about 8 month old male that is 260 that is still up. He seems a little subdued but who knows since he's only been here a month and subdued means he hasn't tried to bite me recently. lol.

If they want to brumate I don't know any way to stop them. When I had one brumate at 245 last year that was the lightest weight I had heard of. You should leave the daylight hours at 14 on / 10 off and not shorten them. If you already did that could have sent her a signal. I never change my times prior to them going down but mine still brumate.

I have individual thermostats in each enclosure. So my temps. are always consistant. But again mine brumate anyway.

If you don't use a thermostat and the room temp. gets lower it is likely that the dragons ambient temps. are lower too, unless you move the bulb closer or something.