Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone.

So I have a 8.5yr old female bearded dragon whom i have had since she was a baby. She has never actually brumated in the past, although she does tend to slow down on eating and activity in general during the winter she still usually will eat, come and and bask etc.

The last couple of winters she seems to be sleeping more and eating less in the winter and this year I think she may actually be trying to truly brumate. She isn't eating her veggies at all, but will eat insects if offered. She has hidden away and is sleeping most of the time. Im wondering if I should actually assist her in brumating this year? I've never had to before, so honestly i'm not exactly sure how to do that. Im also concerned because she did just eat some superworms a coupld days ago so I want to make sure she poops those out before she does brumate, if she does.

So basically - any tips here? Does it seem weird to anyone else that a dragon of her age who has never really brumated before seems to want to now? Should I brumate her? If so - whats the process here...shorten her daylight hours, stop offering food etc?

Thanks guys!
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
2.2 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Uromastyx (Mali)
1.1 Corn snakes
0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
1.0 Rosy Boa
1.1 Green Anoles
1.1 House Geckos
0.0.2 Flying Geckos
0.0.1 Red Eye Tree Frog

Sounds like she has brumated in past years...just not as deeply as some do, with several weeks to 2-5 months of complete inactivity.

IF she is otherwise healthy, let her brumate. Typically, to help encourage brumating, reducing heat slowly over a period of 1-2 weeks till you are about 75F daytime air temp with night drops to 60-70F is fine. Lights should be reduce to about 8 hours a day. After 2-4 months, reverse the process to bring things back up to idea temps and 12-14 hours of day light.
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess

Thanks so much I will give that a try.

Should I soak her and try and get her to poop out her latest meal before doing this? Ive heard that brumating them with food in their gut is bad for them
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
2.2 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Uromastyx (Mali)
1.1 Corn snakes
0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
1.0 Rosy Boa
1.1 Green Anoles
1.1 House Geckos
0.0.2 Flying Geckos
0.0.1 Red Eye Tree Frog