Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone,

I've been really worried about my Bearded Dragon lately...
He has gone into a 'phase' where he is extremely unactive, its common for him to stay in one position the whole day, and never move, even for crickets...

Another problem is he isn't wanting to eat, I offer him crickets in the morning, and he sometimes eats one, but only if they come near him, its like he has gotten extremely lazy, but I worry because like I said, he only eats like one or two, and he doesn't eat every day... I also offer him Veggies, but they just sit and wilt away in his feeding bowl. He also has a water dish, but never drinks from it, so I mist him every day, or bi-daily.

Is this normal? Will he eventually come out of this phase? Or should I worry and see about getting him help?
Also, he is around a year old.

Thanks for any help!

-Fleenx

He could be going through a brumation type state where he is inactive. His biological clock could be telling him its winter and he needs to sleep for a while. Many dragons do this at a year old or older and they do it once a year very year. As long as he is not losing any weight and is keeping hydrated then he should snap out of it in 4-8 weeks. If you want to try to get him a little more active, you could try to raise the temp in the cage by a few degrees.

If he loses weight then you need to get him checked out. He should not lose any weight around his tail and on his legs. His belly will become a little thin but not anything else.

This dragon needs to be seen by a vet immediately. It could be something as simple as parasites or something more serious. This is absolutely not normal. This is not a brumation.

J. Melissa McQuaid

Now tell me, how does this behavior not constitute brumation?
I have some dragons that do the same thing durning cool down. They eat very littl, very inactive, and stay in one place all day. But once they are brought back to normal they jump back to being their old self again.

So again, how is this not brumation?

np

What temps do you have for his basking spot?

What substrate are you using?

Have you supplemented his food? With what?

Give a little more info on your setup and maybe we can help.

FYI, I would get him to a vet as well. I seriously doubt this is brumation either. But in addition to him seeing a vet I would also continue to seek advice on this forum as some vets are not well rehearsed in the needs of Bearded Dragons specifically.
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Rob Talkington

I want to ask you as well, why do you feel this isn't brumation?

It's the time of year where the temperature should be getting warmer not cooler. If it was fall I would agree with you but since it's the beginning of summer and there was no mention of a temperature drop it would lead me to believe it's probably not brumation.

Also, if this is a problem and this person waited 4-8 weeks to see if it goes away that could cause some serious problems.

In addition to that no additional information was given such as supplemens, temps, etc. I feel it's better safe than sorry to assume the worst case scenerio when giving advice especially when there's so little info to go by.

If this person were to read only a reply of "it's probably brumation" that would most likely be the end of it and no additional info would be given. What if this dragon has never had a calcium supplement? Or a multivitamin supplement and it finally caught up to him? I just think a reply of "it's probably brumation" is too easy in this particular post.
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Rob Talkington

I can understand that. But dragons do brumate all year round. It depends on the individual animal.

I can also understand that if you wait 4-8 weeks to find out, it can cause problems, but if you make sure the animal isn't losing weight, than there isn't anything to worry about. That is why if in the first week or two, weight is lost, take it to the vet. It helps to do it that way to reduce stress. But I can agree on the better safe than sorry. Good call.

Thanks for the comment.

Also, I didn't know beardies would brumate at any time of the year. I guess it doesn't make sense to me why a beardie would brumate in the middle of summer when the whole brumation thing, I thought, was to weather the cooler months of the year. Oh well, there's a lot of things in the animal kingdom that don't make sense to me. I'll just chalk that up as another one!
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Rob Talkington

I am a newebie to Beardies and this is my only one and MY BABY. ITZL was eating hissers, superworms and all kinds of greens and was very active, running around his aquarium and scratching at the "Beardie in the Glass". Then over a weeks period his activity slowed down to nothing and he doesnt eat anything. He looks healthy and is alert and hasnt lost any tail weight, altho his back and sides look less filled out and a bit wrinkled. He will drink as usual from the misting i give him, but not as often. He tends to be colored up to yellow now more too. Should i be worrying here? He is 2 yrs old, a male, in a 40 gal tank in my school office with crushed walnut shell substrate, cork bark to climb and bask on and a 60 watt basking bulb on a timer and a heat matt under the tank. He tends to bask most of the time. Please advise me if i should be worried. I have a great herp vet in Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald from Emergency Vets fame who sees my boas. Does Itzl need a trip to see Dr. Fitz? or is this a passing phaze of a hormonal male? I have had him since he was the size of a quarter and he is dear to me. Thanks for any help. susan

I'm no expert, but I don't know how a 60 watt bulb could heat a 40 gallon tank to the needed basking temperature of 100-105 degrees. Also, my son's lizard is on the walnut shells and seems to be suffering from impaction. I was advised to switch the substrate to washed playsand. I'm going to give that a try today. We have a 30 gallon tank and the 100 watt basking light combined with the heating mat isn't warm enough, so I'm going to try 150 watt. If it's not warm enough, they can't digest their food. Hope it helps.