Hank's Ranger Log — Bask and Bark

November's here in the North Georgia mountains. The mornings have a bite to them now, the light's gone by suppertime, and everything out in the woods is settling in for the cold months. If you keep a bearded dragon, you might be seeing the same thing happen inside the tank: your dragon's eating less, sleeping more, and spending a lot of time tucked away in the cool corner instead of under the basking lamp.

First thing to know: that slowdown is probably normal. It's called brumation, and it's the reptile version of winding down for winter.

What brumation actually is

Out in the wild, bearded dragons brumate through the cooler months, when food gets scarce and the days get short. Their whole system downshifts — metabolism slows, appetite drops, and they spend most of their time resting in a cool, dark spot. It's not true hibernation like a bear does it. A brumating dragon still wakes up now and then to shift around, take a drink, or catch a little basking time before settling back down.

In captivity, most dragons start slowing down in late fall or early winter — usually October through December up here in the Northern Hemisphere. It can last a few weeks or stretch to three or four months. Every dragon runs on its own clock.

The signs to look for

A dragon heading into brumation will usually show you a few of these at once:

• Eating less, or refusing food altogether
• Sleeping a lot more than usual, sometimes looking a little dazed when they do wake
• Hiding away, burrowing, or digging at the substrate
• Spending time on the cool side of the enclosure instead of basking
• Passing droppings a lot less often, or not at all for stretches

None of that by itself is a reason to panic. What matters is the overall picture: a brumating dragon is slow, but stable. Clear eyes, steady breathing, and weight that holds more or less steady.

Brumation or illness? Know the difference

This is the part that matters most, because a sick dragon can look a lot like a sleepy one at first. Here's how to tell them apart:

Probably brumation: your dragon is sluggish but responsive when you pick them up, eyes are clear, breathing is quiet and normal, and their weight stays roughly the same week to week.

Call the vet: steady weight loss (more than about 10%), sunken eyes, mucus or discharge around the eyes or mouth, labored or open-mouthed breathing, runny or odd-colored droppings, weakness on one side, or anything that just feels wrong to you.

A vet check before a dragon's first brumation is a smart move, and a fecal parasite check is worth doing too — parasites are a lot harder on a dragon when its system is running slow. And one hard rule: dragons under a year old generally shouldn't brumate at all. If a baby dragon goes lethargic and stops eating, treat that as a health concern, not a season change, and get to the vet.

How to look after a brumating dragon

Mostly, the job is to let them rest and keep conditions safe around them:

• Shorten the light cycle a bit to match the shorter days — around 6 to 10 hours of UVB is plenty. Keep the bulb fresh (they need replacing every 6 to 12 months) and at the right distance.
• Keep the temperatures safe. The cool end can run cooler than summer, but the enclosure should never drop below about 61°F (16°C). Cold is fine; freezing is not.
• Always offer fresh water. Dragons wake up to drink, even when they're not eating.
• Don't force food. A big meal sitting in a cool gut can spoil and make a dragon sick. Offer small amounts if they show interest, and don't worry if they turn it down.
• Weigh them once a week and write it down. A small, slow dip is normal. A sharp or steady drop is your cue to call the vet.
• Leave them be. Resist the urge to wake them up and handle them all the time. Rest is the whole point of brumation.

When the days start lengthening again, your dragon will come back around on their own — appetite first, then energy. Just ease the lights and heat back to the normal schedule and let them set the pace.

A quick word on the dogs, too

Same season, different animal. A big shepherd-type dog handles a cold snap a lot better than a small short-coated dog, but cold is still cold. Shorten the evening walk when the wind cuts, dry them off when they come in wet, and check paws for cracked pads and ice-melt salt. They'll still want to go out — that's their job and their joy — but a smart ranger doesn't ask a dog to stand around in weather you'd rather not stand in yourself.

Winter's a quiet season, out on the trail and in the tank. The trick is knowing what's quiet because it's resting, and what's quiet because something's wrong. Watch the weight, watch the breathing, and when in doubt, ask a vet who knows reptiles. Your dragon will thank you for it in the spring, the only way a dragon can — by waking up hungry and ready to bask.

— Hank