Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My 3-4 month old beardie, that i had 4 about a week is perfectly healthy and i don't see any signs of sickness but at night he always goes into a sort of 'hibernation' mode and is hard to wake up, when i turn the basking light on in the morning he always takes about an hour 2 wake up. Is this normal 4 beardies at night? He only wakes up before the first hour the light is on if u try to pick him up. Is he ok? Is this normal?

Thanx soooooooo much!

When do you turn off lights at night and what time do you turn them on in the morning? He may not be getting enough night time hours, if he is sleeping after lights go on. The most daylight time should be 14 hours, with 10 hours of night.

Does he sleep in a hide? With my own bearded dragon at that age, if he is sleeping in his hide, it takes him longer to warm up enough to crawl out and climb onto of his basking log.

If he is that slow to wake up it sounds like you are turning the lights on too early or turning the lights off too late at night. For my dragon's summer time hours, I have lights on at about 6am and lights out at 9pm (even though the sun is still up for almost 45 minites after lights out). The twilight time doesn't seem to bother him much, more natural anyway.

most the time he sleeps in a hide, and sometimes curled up in a ball in the corner or the tank, but once i saw him sleeping by leaning against the tank side with the fake background, it scared me,
are fake backgrounds a good idea, my beardie keeps trying to get into them...

It is normal for dragons to sleep in 'odd' positions. Many posters here have dragons that prop themselves up against the glass or sides of their tank, some almost completely upright on hind legs. My own dragon sometimes sleeps on his log so far forward that his head is supported by the temperature probe I have resting on his basking log. I use the probe to monitor the basking temps...which for the most part is accurate except when Splatt decides to lie on top of it. So the times he decides to use it as a hamlock, he is lying on the probe itself and leaning his head on the cord. he hasn't falling off his log yet doing this...and just looks soo cute sleeping that way I just love watching him. Once I master taking night photos will post a pic of him next time he is sleeping in this pose. In the meantime, here is one of Splatt sleeping.

Yes, it sounds normal to me. My dragons in the middle of the night are like dead wood if you pick them up. This is beacause of the cool down at night with the lights out. Just make sure his day temps are correct a basking spot of 110 if a babie and 105 is a good temp for adults. They need a body temp of 100 to digest food. The hotter the enclosure the more active, just keep a good gradient so the dragon can regulate his body temps 105-110 in the basking spot and down to 70-80 cool side. Night temp if your house does not go below 60 they will be fine with no light, or heat sources. Snakes are a good example of how temps effect their activity. When hot, snakes are more active, and more aggresive. Cool them down and you have a better chance of handling them easier. With the background, all my glass tanks have them. They seem just as likly to jump into the front open glass then they are into the background. Just an observation. Have fun with the new guy. Bearded dragons are such a great species, and pet.
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i thought that the basking area should be about 95 degrees, when its that high my beardie will gape, speaking of gaping, when do they gape? when they are hot i know, but is there any other reason?
At night the temp goes down to about 75 on both sides, sometimes the basking area 80, is this ok?

Yes your night temps are fine if all heat sources are off. As far as your beardie gaping at 95, what kind of thermometer are you using? Is it the ones that stick on the wall? If so I suggest going to a wal-mart and picking up a digital one with a probe they cost only around 11 bucks or so. With the probe put it exactly where the beardie basks I garentee you it is hotter then you think. on the hot side a ambient temp of 95 is fine but at some spot I suggest a slate stone for a basking spot the surfice temp will be way up in the hundreds. Check it out.
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Hi
it could be youre baskingspot is to low??
then it can take longer the tank get heated up and also the dragon wil heated up slower and get in motion.
mesuere youre baskingspot wel with a digital thermometer with a extra probe outdoor indoor type .
i prefeer 115-110 for small beardies and for adults 110-105.
i alsways have a cool spot round the 80.
byeeeeeeee

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