Bearded Dragon Brumation

Brumation is the term used to refer to a period of lower activity as a result of reduced temperature.

Experience has shown that by mimicking a cool winter period, many reptiles including iguanas are more likely to breed.

When I first heard about bearded dragon brumation I thought it sounded a strange idea.

After all, I've spent all this time telling you they're from Australia and need a hot cage to live well.

Now here I am telling you it is a good idea to cool them down!

So firstly I should say that the only real reason to put your bearded dragons into brumation is to prepare them for breeding.

Therefore, this is something which one does once a year, and definately not for the first yar of a bearded dragon's life.

Also, it is not an extreme chilling - months at 5 degrees C of anything.

Infact, the main aim is just to provide enough of a "seasonal difference" for it to trigger the hormones of your bearded dragon.

Furthermore, whilst we need to cool down your lizard slowly and after preparation, it actually the warming up period which kicks your beardies into action.

In terms of preparation, you should ideally not feed your bearded dragon for a week before brumation.

This allows the gut to completely clear before the lizard is cooled, and eliminates the possibility of food going bad in the gut as the dragon is unable to digest it in the cool environment.

Here are specifics you will need:

The period of bearded dragon brumation should be roughly two months (give or take a week), with approximately a 20 degree C drop in temperature.

Coming from Oz, most bearded dragons require a basking spot of around 40'C. Therefore for winter brumation you would reset your thermomstat to provide 20'C of heat at the basking spot.

Ideally you will also have the bearded dragon's lights on a timer, which you will reduce slowly, mimicking the shorter day length of winter too.

A 10 hour day is ideal.

Then after this period, put everything back to normal and wait for the fun... ;-)