Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I think it was a little too cool in my dragon's habitat at night - three weeks ago he dug himself a nice spot and went to sleep for several days. Brumation, I assume? Then I added a nighttime heat lamp and he woke up - sort of - but he won't eat.

Going on day seven that he has gone without food.

HELP

PS. He is less than a year old. I think he's male but not sure.

His habitat is a large (95 gallon) acrylic terrarium from big apple herp. I'm using powersun bulb and a ceramic heater during the day, and the ceramic heater and a red bulb at night. There is also a small heating pad inside, under the sand (covered with cloth so he will not burn himself should he dig down to that level).

I feed him crickets and strawberries (he loves them!).

His name is Oscar.

Hello,

First, I would like to say that you should reconsider feeding strawberries. Most breeders discourage feeding fruits to dragons, they would never encounter fruits in the wild, and though they wouldn't likely encounter crickets or mealworms in the wild, they are more in tune with their natural diet.

Also, it sounds like what you have in terms of heat might a bit much, what are the basking temps and the ambient temps?

About the lights, I stay clear of the mercury vapor bulbs, I was told by a few big breeders that some of the vapor bulbs will actually give blisters to dragons on their backs and one told me of radiation burns in the eyelids of some dragons.

And, another note, he may be brumating, I have had dragons brumate at under a year old, totally normal. And sometimes, since he is a boy, he may have woken up, but won't eat because he wants to breed, though that is hard to say.

Phil

Knowing the exact temperature of the cage will be useful.

Also, crickets and strawberries should not be the only thing he is fed. Fruits are fine in small amounts but the bulk of the diet for dragons a year old or older should be mixed greens (collards, endive, dandelions etc). Younger dragons should have more insects, crickets are a good staple insect when properly gut loaded and dusted with calcium etc. Though its also good to offer a variety of insects such as silkworms, superworms etc.

It will also be good to know the weight of your dragon, and if he is loosing any weight. IF he is over 8 months old he certainly could be in a breeding mode, which will interfere with his eating. Or he could still be wanting to brumate but is now too hot to do it.
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PHLdyPayne

Good link for deciding on greens and vegs.

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

A BD's enclosure should have a range of temps. The ambient (air) temp. should be in the high 80's on the hot side and below 80 on the cool side. He should have a basking spot with a surface temperature of 105-110. These should be measured accurately with a digital thermometer or temp. gun. At night his whole enclosure should cool into the 60's when possible.

Heat should come from above, as it is in nature by the sun, so get rid of the heating pad. All of a sudden I see lots of people talking about using red nightime bulbs. Regardless of what the pets stores say, BD's can see the light and therefore they should not be used.

I have 5 dragons born in August that are currently brumating. The best rule is if a BD doesn't eat that's OK as long as he is not losing weight and is already a health weight for his size. If he doesn't eat and loses weight or is underweight you need to bring him to the vet including a fecal test.