Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys,

So I had posted recently about my 9yo dragon who seems to be serious about brumating this year and I have some more specific questions. As i had mentioned before, in the past she has brumated a little - sleeping more, eating less etc - but always coming out every few days to bask, soak, poop etc.

This year, however, she is sleeping most of the time and seems pretty intent on brumating. I'm thinking it may be time to actually decrease her light time and help- her through the process.

Questions though...

1. She did sort of "wake up" the other day. I soaked her and she drank readily and pooped (she had eaten superworms a week or so before) basked a bit for that day and now is back to sleep. When/if she does this again - should I be offering food at this point? Im concerned about her eating and then going back to sleep with a full belly...but im also concerned about her not eating for so long
2. If she does continue to brumate should I wake her to soak her once a week or anything to let her rehydrate?

How do you guys do it with your guys? Im just not sure how to handle this process - especially since she will sleep for several days to a week and then wake up randomally...how do i proceed here?

thanks!
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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

You can do just as you did...if she wakes up, let her come out for a drink. Just dry her properly, and see if she wants to " stay up" or go back to sleep. Mine generally stay asleep for 3 months average, I don't let them any longer than that, and I don't wake them for anything. In 15 years I've had one beardie awaken with a respiratory infection, that was about 13 years ago, and she was treated and came around right away. Other than that, no problems whatsoever.

Thanks so much for your response!!!

So should I be continuing to slowly decrease her daylight hours?

When she does wake up - should I be offering food? Or not? Im assuming I shouldn't be feeding her until I know for sure she is done brumating, but it just seems so weird for her to eat nothing for so long!

Thanks again
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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

Yes, reduce the lights,and the temp. Or if she's already been sleeping off and on you can just turn them off, some people are nervous about doing that,so you can leave them on 7-8 hrs. if you are more comfortable. I don't feed mine, because they don't wake up, most dragons don't. If the temps. are cooler than usual, they just naturally sleep.

Yeah go ahead and reduce heat/lights. I know some turn the lights off completely but I think its a good idea to leave at least the basking light on for 8 hours a day. This keeps a natural day/night cycle and if your dragon does wake up she can bask.

I wouldn't feed anything to her if she does wake up on her own, at least not in the first day you see her.

I don't recommend soaking her once a week while she brumates...this will just cause her to lose more weight and may cause other problems. If she wakes up on her own, you can offer water via a clean eye dropper or even carefully from a spray bottle (slowly put pressure on the handle, will cause a little stream/drops to come out. Much easier with an eye dropper though).

once a dragon goes into a deep brumation, they don't tend to wake up at all for weeks, sometimes even a month or more. Weight loss is minimal and isn't a concern. They will be hungry upon waking up in the spring though

To help bring your dragon out of brumation in the spring...say in about 2-4 months from now, you can just increase temps and light...and let her come out on her own at that point.
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess

I don't bathe mine, either. I hear a surprising amount of people do that, but I'm under the impression that it could be harmful to a sleepy dragon, possibly aspirating water while drinking or just not being fully conscious and reflexive enough to be in the water.

Thanks so much for the help guys! I will adjust her lights over the next day or so, and will discontinue soaking her, instead going for the eyedropper technique.

Wish me luck! Im sure I will be back for more help, this whole thing is just making me a bit nervous
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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