Bearded dragon brumation/hibernation

A couple of weeks ago I noticed Gonzo, my bearded dragon, was acting a bit differently. Previously had always sat on a log close to the basking light, up fairly high. Lately had taken to hiding under newspaper. When I first got him he was not interested in a hiding place. I tried hiding dens but he always remained up high.

At first I wasn't sure what has caused his behaviour to change. He was still eating well, but only crickets. Greens, dandelions (his favorite) and other foods did not seem to interest him. The cage temperature had not altered but it was like he has decided to go into hibernation/brumation. When I lifted the newspaper to see him he was generally asleep. I couldn't figure out why.

It is winter at the moment in the southern hemishpere and the other reptiles are hibernating but Iwas surprised he had taken to it, as the internal temperature of the cage had pretty well remained the same. Not having had a bearded dragon before, I didn't quite know what to expect.

It was only just the other day that I realised that I had been shortening the snake cage days a bit here and a bit there and, as they run on the same timer, it has initiated the brumation in the bearded dragon. I feel a bit dumb about this as I should have realised.

My concern was kicked off by my wife, who kept on asking me "Is Gonzo OK? He's hiding. Are you sure he's not sick" I guess my immediate response was one of concern rather than thinking clearly of what had happened to change his behavior. I just adjusted the cage temperature down a bit to suit and let him hibernate.

Some days, the simplest things pass us by. I guess I was fooled by the blue tongues, who will go year round if you let them.

I think I will keep the bearded dragon lizard in the outdoor cage with the blue tongues and the snake necked lizard over the summer. You can see this cage on this page at reptile-cage-plans.com.

Snake shedding and other things

I received an email the other day that asked me about a young snake shedding.

The question was:
"I was just after a bit of information, we brought my daughter a spotted python for her birthday. This is the first time we have had a snake so we are learning slowly, the snake is approximately 7 months old,we were feeding her 1 pinkie a week but this didn't seem to be enough as by about day 5 she seemed to be hungry again, so we have started to give her 2 pinkie's on feed day. Should we be feeding on just one day or should we stagger it over the week?
Also since we have had the snake which has been just over 5 weeks she has shed twice and on both occasions the skin only seemed to scuff off in sections and not come off as one piece as I thought it would, we did on both occasions swim her in warm water as all the books say to do. But I was wondering if we were doing something wrong?, whit the way she is shedding and the frequency. Because she looks healthy and has increased in size since we have had her."

I replied:
"Feeding her the two pinkies on the same day is fine. In the wild snakes are oportunistic feeders and if they found a nest they would eat their fill rather than go away and come back in a couple of days.

The shedding twice is not as issue as the snake is young and obviously growing. Shedding times can vary and you did not mention how far apart the sheds were so I am assuming a few weeks. I am also assuming from your letter that the soaking worked for the snake and you were able to easily remove the unshed skin.

It may be that the snake's cage is not humid enough. Put another container of water in there and perhaps position it near the hear mat or the heat source so that sufficient humidity is produced. I also do not know what sort of cage accessories you have. For example a nice climbing branch is useful as they like to climb and it also allows a rough surface for the python to help itself shed by catching the old skin.

If you are still having trouble, soaking the snake in water almost always works if you use the following tip. Crumple up some newspaper to make numerous newspaper balls about the size of golf balls, enough to cover the bottom of the soaking container. Wet them and add them to the water. There should still be a small amount of unabsorbed water in the bottom of the container. If you can keep the temperatures appropriate, you can leave the snake in there overnight, but try for at least a couple of hours. Very often the snake will be able to use the paper as it crawls around to pull off loose skin on its own. This is what we want because it's the least stressful to the snake. However, if the skin is still there after soaking, you can GENTLY restrain the snake and use a wet paper towel, wrapped around the snake's tail, to carefully pull off the offending skin."

Shedding is an issue that many owners have trouble with at one stage or another. I have been fortunate with my snakes and have not had any issues. Making sure the humidity is adequate and there are enough rough surfaces in the cage is a major step to reducing shedding problems.

The website reptile-cage-plans.com also has a range of articles that cover many
issues. Some of the the articles include:

• Where do you start to build a snake cage?
• Materials for Reptile Cages
• How to Build an Indoor Land Turtle Table
• Ball Python Cages
• Examples of Reptile Cages
• Snake Cage Size
• Lizard Cage Size
• Cleaning Reptile Cages - Keeping them healthy
• Building an outdoor snake-necked turtle enclosure
• Setup for aquatic turtles in small tanks
• Converting Cage Dimensions to Gallons and Temperature Converter
• Salmonella and Reptiles
• How to make fake trees for reptile cages
• An approach towards socializing snakes
• UV-lamps for Terrariums and their effectiveness
• Zen and the art of reptile maintenance
• Handling Snakes for the Nervous Folk
• Information on Disinfectants Commonly Used with Reptiles
• Reptilian Ethology (behavior)

There also others and a range of care sheets and other resources on the resources and articles pages.