Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In the last 4 or 5 days both of my beardies seem to be slowing down. They're not eating near as much and one really seems to be kinda blah.

I'm going to do a fecal and get one into the vet to rule out any parasites. Both of my dragons are not directly in front of, but fairly close to a couple of sliding glass doors.

Am I right that even though you haven't changed anything as far as light and temps go if the dragons can see natural light they will sometimes want to brumate?

Thanks for any help!!
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Rob Talkington

Yup..Daisy is down and all others are slowing down.
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www.classylizard.com

>>Yup..Daisy is down and all others are slowing down.
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>>www.classylizard.com
>>
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Rob Talkington

It's interesting you should post this. I have dragons housed in two different rooms in my house. One room gets a lot of natural light, the other very little. All of the cage environments are identical, including the lighting. My two full-size dragons in the window-y room are also acting like it is time to brumate and we have had a *much* cooler and much cloudier late summer than is usual for us. I don't change my light timers until October or so, but they are still acting sleepy and not eating as voraciously. The dragons in the darker room are not behaving this way. Interestingly though, the younger and smaller (and still playing catch-up after rescue)dragons are in the room with more natural light exposure and they are still very active and eating normally.

Best,
Michele
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4.3 Bearded Dragons (Rescues)
1.0 Corn snake (Rescue)
0.1 California King
4.5 Royal (Ball) Pythons (3 rescues)
1.1 Dogs (Rescues)
2.0 Cats (Rescues)
2.2 Humans
No, it's NOT a big house

If the younger beardies are under a year old I don't think they will probably brumate. That's what I've read, at least.

Take care,
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Rob Talkington

Yes, the adults that I do have that I have had since they were juveniles did not brumate until they were a year old. What I find interesting about my two little ones is that they *are* over a year old, but due to their prior circumstances (and who knows what kind of breeding stock), they are runts and still catching up to the size they should be at their age. I kind of look at them like premature infants in a way. When you look at developmental milestones for babies/children who were born prematurely you often have to adjust for gestational age. While these dragons were not born prematurely, size- and development-wise, they are way behind the curve. So I wonder if that might account for the fact that they don't seem (yet) to be remotely headed for brumation when others, not much older, in the same room are.

Best,
Michele
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4.3 Bearded Dragons (Rescues)
1.0 Corn snake (Rescue)
0.1 California King
4.5 Royal (Ball) Pythons (3 rescues)
1.1 Dogs (Rescues)
2.0 Cats (Rescues)
2.2 Humans
No, it's NOT a big house

Yeah, I think that would make sense. Their bodies probably don't have the fat stores necessary for brumation yet. Just like most dragons don't develop much fat in their fat pads until they are closer to done growing.
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Rob Talkington