Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all. My BD has been brumating now for about 2 weeks. I don't like it. Although I have not witnessed anything drastic in his health, I don't like the fact that he's not eating and he's sleeping all day. He hasn't lost too much weight (but a little weight loss is noticeable). I lowered the temps in his cage to about 85 and decreased his photoperiod to 10:14 (from his usual 14:10) to make his brumation a bit more natural. I'm wanting to gradually start increasing his temp and his photoperiod to bring him out of brumation. I want to to it ASAP so he'll get active again, feed, and I won't be so paranoid that he's taking a tailspin towards death by not eating. I was just wondering what others do to bring their BD's out of brumation. Do BD's typically snap out of it on their own or is there a trick I need to be tought? I know 2 weeks is not long at all compared to other accounts of BD brumation - so what is recommended? Thanks for all the advice in advance!

LW

You shouldn't see any weight loss in 2wks of brumation. I would be looking into the cause more. It's kind of hard to get a fecal when they aren't eating but I would try every trick in the book to get one.
Also, increase the light & heat. That may be your problem. If they don't have the right temps, they can't digest the food, so they won't eat. They use more enzymes & bacteria's where we use acids. Those enzymes & bacteria's are temperature dependent.

Good luck.
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Joel R

Coming some day.
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