Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can anyone tell me more about this? My beardie, P. Mimmy is not moving much and will hardly eat or go to the bathroom. This is normal right? How often should I offer her food since her appetite is down? Are there things I should watch for that might signal something else is wrong besides the hibernation part?

Check the temperatures, both basking and air temps. If these have dropped, could be brumation. How about her overall condition? Does she look like she does when she's sleeping at night normally or is she really dark? Has she lost weight? Where is she hiding? What were her last poops like?

Bearded dragons sometimes go into brumation even if the cage temps are the same as always. What is really important to watch for is to make sure the dragon isnt' slowing down for other reasons, like parasites, impaction or illness. If you are not sure, then take her to a vet to examine.

If burmation is what she is doing you cna reduce her light from 14 hours a day to about 10 hours a day and don't feed at all. If she comes out then you can offer a small meal. I wouldn't offer alot as sometimes dragons will go back into brumation after being up for a few hours. I would just offer fresh greens instead of insects, or a few silkworms, more to ensure moisture than food.

More information about brumation can be learned by doing a search in the forums.
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PHLdyPayne

Dont feed a brumating dragon. if it even eats the food will rot away in the dragons stomach since they cannot digest food without heat. dont turn the heat light on during brumation. it will do nothing to help the dragon. Keep an eye on your dragons weight. it should drop very, very slowly. if it is dropping fast then something is wrong.
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sincerely,
Jonathan D. de Kluyver
JDDK Reptiles
Quality Reptiles and Amphibianswww.jddkreptiles.com