What Should I Do During Brumation?
Offer a small amount of food and water as you normally would, but don't force your beardie to eat. Occasionally waking them up to make them drink and keeping adequate humidity in the environment are important.
Do All Bearded Dragons Brumate?
Your bearded dragon may brumate every year, never at all, for long periods of time, or on and off through a season. Your beardie may brumate in the summer, winter, for a week, or for a month. Beardies under 1 year of age typically don't brumate, unless they were born very early in the year. Some are easy to awaken, others are near impossible. They may start to slow down and eat less and less, be less and less active, and defecate less and less until they go into full blown brumation.
Is It Still Brumation If They Do It In The Summer?
As stated earlier, bearded dragons brumate to survive the winters. Keep in mind though, they are native to Australia, which is on the other side of the world from America where they are popular as pets. Therefore, their biological clock (even if captive bred) may tell them it is winter, even though it is really summer on the side of the world you live in.
Pogona Vitticeps is a great, typically easy reptile to keep as a pet, but brumation should be taken seriously. Take the extra step in making sure your reptile is healthy enough to brumate to ensure you still have that wonderful pet in the spring!
