Bath time for Beau

After waking up Lolly and Beau after what I thought were signs that it was time to do so, Lolly has proceeded to curl up and go back to sleep!  I was happy enough to let her as she had taken a good drink or two, had something to eat and been to the toilet.  Beau had done all but go to the toilet and has been quite restless for the last day or so.  I haven't wanted to let him return to deep slumber until his digestive system was clear, so I have left daytime light and heat on.

Today, I figured that Beau's restlessness might have been due to a him having a little trouble going potty as it were.  He was a little grumpy as well from what I could tell.  Well....wouldn't you be too??  I have understood for a while that if Beardies are having problems clearing their bowels that a warm bath can be very beneficial.  With that in mind I prepared a suitable container with nice warm water and gave Beau a good soaking this morning.  As you can see from the photo here, he was not fussed with the bath...  Low and behold, around lunchtime it had done the trick!  Beau was a lot more settled and so I turned off the lights after cleaning up.

I'll see how he is tomorrow before I turn on any light or heat sources.  For now, he looks nestled into a nice spot, half buried in the insulating coconut husk that lines the Dragon's Den.  If he is settled and sleeping tomorrow, I will leave the lights out until I see some more definitive signs of stirring for spring.

As I have mentioned before, reptiles that do sleep for long periods do not hibernate like mammals do.  Reptiles brumate.  This is where their metabolism slows right down to the point where they do not need to eat or drink for months on end.  It is ok to wake them as I have done in the last week or so.  They maintain a high level of conciousness at different times during this period of inactivity.  Disturbing them is not something that should be done regularly.  This cooling period is vital in the production of healthy sperm and eggs in many species of reptiles.  So for people looking to breed their pets, brumation is an important part of the process.  However, others, who have no interest in breeding may in fact, never allow their animals to brumate.  This can be best achieved through limiting interaction with natural indications of season like day-length and maintaining a constant heat and light source throughout the year.  Very small indicators can trigger reptiles into brumation.  Even with full heat and light through artificial means, Lolly still curled up and went back to sleep this week.  Most likely because of the external indicator of natural day-length she would have gained through the sunlight in the room of her enclosure.