Brumating?

[marisa]

I really didn't even know that BTS brumate until I read about it on this site... but I'm wondering. How do you know when a BTS is brumating? Will they ever come out for food or to bask? I am just wondering because my little 4 m.o. Ajax has been buried and hiding in his shelter for the past two days, but will poke his head out into the basking area, alert and everything, and he's still been eating. I don't want to bother him unnecessarily as he hisses and snaps at me if I dare try to uncover him, but I also don't know if he's brumating or just being a reclusive baby. As a side note, before he started hiding away so much I was holding him every day, and he'd stopped having a problem with my hand in the cage... he even took an hour long nap on my belly the day before he started hiding.

[dsteamn]

Sounds like brumating to me. Mine do different things. I have one that has severe MBD from his previous owner's neglect. He sleeps under his heat lamp about 60% of the time. One of my females dug down and I didn't see her for about six weeks. When she finally did come out, she got a drink of water, went under the light for about two hours and went back to bed. One little guy I have digs down but often times wlll have part or all of its head sticking out - still asleep. If I walk by him, he will open one eye and huff a little. Sometimes he even backs down in the mulch until I leave, and then pops out again.

When they do eat, my experience shows that they prefer more protein and less fruits and veggies, but they often go weeks and weeks without a bite. They tend to get more testy if you bother them when they are in brumating sleep. I guess its kind of like if soemone were to wake you up in the middle of the night.

Just keep a clean water bowl in with your BTS so if it wakes up, it can get a drink. Other than that, they really just like to be left alone. Its always hard when they go away but spring will be here soon enough and they will all be back up frolicking around.

[marisa]

Awesome. Thanks SO much for your reply; I was really concerned he'd got it into his head he wouldn't ever have to see me if he hid away... haha. He's still eaten when I've offered food... so I will continue to do so but I won't get too worried if he declines. As far as the heat lamp goes, I've read that when they're brumating it's important to turn it off... the temp in my apartment is about 72ish so it's not that I'm worried about it being cold, it's just that... he ALWAYS sleeps almost right under the heat lamp. I figure that there must be a reason he does that? I have no idea.

[dsteamn]

If he sleeps under it, I certainly wouldn't take it away from him. I found in the beginning that if I paid attention, my BTS would teach me a lot of things he needed for himself. If they stayed on the colder side of the tank, I turned it off. If they still wanted the heat, I left it on.