Reptile & Amphibian Forums

P Hi First off Id like to say this is a awesome site,very informative..
Just got introduced to BD,a friend from work knew I had gecko;s and we have snakes,she offered me the BD;s with a 90 gallon tank the lights etc.
We frequented a reptile show last weekend there was vendor there that does adoptions,so we adopted a third BD it is missing a small piece of her tail and shes small compared to my other 2,she is doing great eating well,hopefully will see some growth on her soon.
Going threw some threads I noticed some talk about brumation.What exactly is this? im assuming its like a hybernation period is this correct? And is there a certain time of the year that this happens? Are there things that you shouldnt do when they are in this stage?

Hello there and welcome to the list.

Brumation is a slow down period for bearded dragons. Usually it happens during the winter months, when the days get shorter etc. Not all bearded dragons will go into brumation on their own, some will do it even if there has been no change in day length or temperatures.

It is not a concern if your dragon decides to go into brumation unless they start to look sick (wrinkle skin, loss of weight, etc). Brumation is good to trigger manually if you are planning to breed your dragons. This can be done by reducing the amount of light and heat gradually over a period of a couple weeks till temps are about 85-95F under the basking light and nighttime temps are allowed to drop to 65-75F or room temperature of your home and light is reduced to about 10 hours a day. Feeding should be reduced greatly then stopped completely within the first week of reducing temps. Fresh water should be kept in the cage consistantly or light misting of the dragon or cage walls, if that is the only way your dragon will drink water.

Brumation typically lasts 2-4 months and there should be very little weight loss during this time. It is also very good ideal to ensure your dragon is completely healthy before starting them into brumation, get a vet examination and fecel done before reduing lights and heat. The reduced temps could cause parasites or other illnesses to become worse if they are already there.

During brumation your dragon may periodically wake up and sit in their basking spot for a few hours. Offer water but no food, unless it stays up for a few days (sleeping at night as usual) then increase temps etc back up to normal and start feeding again. MOst times they will come out for a few hours every couple days or weeks but go back into brumation after wards.

Once 2-4 months have gone by, increase daylight time and temperatures over a week or two, till everything is back to normal 'summer' temps (ie 14 hours daylight, basking temp 95-105F for adults, ambient around 85-90F) and resume feeding. Start with small meals then increase them to normal feeding levels to ensure your dragon is fully awake and everything is working fine.