What are the signs of your reptile going into brumation?

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rixusaku
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What are the signs of your reptile going into brumation?

Postby rixusaku » Fri Sep 17, 2021 1:25 pm

I know it's starting to get into the fall season but it's still pretty hot where I live (however I have turned the AC down a degree). Usually Noodle will hide for a while when he's about to shed, which i suspect he'll do so toward the end of this month, but it's usually not an all day hiding process for him. Usually when he hides due to pre-shedding he basks for a bit every day. Lately for the past week it seems that he's hiding all day long. I try to leave him alone but sometimes I'll wake him up just for quality of life checks. He's still eating when I give him food and he still comes up to drink, but since he's brumated in the past I'm wondering if he's starting to brumate now. I'm not sure when his schedule for that is.

So I want to know if this is just a new preshedding behavior and I don't have to worry about brumation yet or if he's going into brumation. When I pick him up he feels really cold, but his temps are good in his enclosure (90-85 on warm side and 80-85 on cool side with basking temps at around 105).

If he's going into brumation I want to stop feeding him, but I'm wondering if I should keep feeding him for now? As I said, he's not basking (unless I wake him up) but he's at a good weight for brumation.

Brumation just really freaks me out since I'm going to be worried the whole time if he's alright or even alive but I know it's natural, that he'll be safe, and that I should leave him alone. I'm also wondering how I keep the humidity up if hes brumating. Do I still mist and turn the substrate or should I not even bother?

What should i do?
| Noodle | Male | 3 years | Northern |
| My Care Experience: Since January 2021 |
bartholemew
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Re: What are the signs of your reptile going into brumation?

Postby bartholemew » Sat Sep 18, 2021 4:21 pm

When Bart goes into brumation he usally stops eating and hides only coming out to drink. I keep doing everything normally but making sure I'm not bothering him too much. It's good to check for worms before they go into brumation because otherwise the worms will eat at his food supply and he could die but that is the worst-case scenario whenever a bts goes into brumation. the coldness is normal. It does sound like he is but maybe wait a bit longer because as you said he could be just getting ready to shed. So my advice is to give it a few days then check on the situation.
Good luck I hope this helped.
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rixusaku
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Re: What are the signs of your reptile going into brumation?

Postby rixusaku » Tue Sep 21, 2021 8:46 am

Thank you! A lot of people are telling me that the acceptance of food is a big indicator. He's still eating and coming out during feeding day, so for now I'm going to assume he might just be hiding more than usual for shed.
| Noodle | Male | 3 years | Northern |
| My Care Experience: Since January 2021 |

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